COMPARATIVE SYNTAX

Consolidate advanced knowledge of minimalist syntax with particular regard to the microparametric and macroparametric comparative perspective. Enforce the capacity of crically reading current theoretical literature, formulate original hypotheses, collect data in support of a hypothesis, present original empirical observations and theoretical proposals in a research paper.

1. Knowledge and understanding
The student knows the minimalist framework and understands the literature that refers to it, with particular regard to the syntax of nominal expressions.
The student knows the main phenomena that arise across languages in the syntax of quantified expressions and understands divergences and convergences in macro/microvariation in familiar and unfamiliar languages.
The student knows the general syntax-semantics interaction and understands how it applies to the empirical domain of quantified expressions.
The student knows and understands the macrovariation among modern European languages, and/or languages belonging to different groups and families, and/or the microvariation among diachronic, dialectal, diastratic varieties of the same language with particular regard to indefinite nominal expressions.
The student has full understanding of the technical terminology and annotation methodologies that permit to do research on languages of which she/he has no direct competence.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding
The student knows how to conduct bibliographical search on an empirical domain, using web-resources such as catalogues (Cerca'; Opac; ecc.); and digital archives (Wos, Scopus, MLA International Bibliography, LLBA, Ebrary, Ebsco, etc).
The student knows how to select bibliographical resources, use them in a critical argumented fashion, pointing out convergences and divergences between alternative hypotheses, spelling out empirical predictions and the contribution of each hypothesis to the understanding of the phenomenon, pointing out the empirical fieldwork needed to validate alternative hypotheses.
The student knows how to conduct fieldwork, with one or more of the following methodologies: create stimuli for data elicitation, collect grammaticality judgements, create on-line questionnaires, collect a corpus, consult existing corpora, collect data from reference grammars and language descriptions, etc.
The student knows how to analyse the collected data according to well-established methods in generative grammar.
The student knows how to annotate the data collected to make it accessible to the general scientific community.

3. Making judgements:
The student is able to formulate empirically and theoretically grounded original hypotheses, capturing the dialectal, diachronic, diastratic microvariation, or the macrovariation found across languages of different families and/or language groups.
The student is able to provide relevant linguistic data in favor of her/his hypothesis, to point out possible counterarguments and to treat them with independent hypotheses.
The student is able to capture points of divergence and convergence between alternative hypotheses and operate a synthesis of the two.

4. Communication skills. The student is able to
- write a paper with sound argumentation and appropriate terminology on an original phenomenon;
- keep their written contribution to the established limit (5000 words);
- write an informative abstract (500 words);
- provide 7-10 adequate keywords for the indexation of the contribution.

5. learning skills: The student is able to
- continue her/his empirical and theoretical research in the master thesis or in future PhD curriculum
- continue life-long education in support of any professional activity related to languages and language communication.

Knowledge of formal syntax in particular of the minimalist framework. E.g. what has been learnt in General Linguistics 2 (LT2300). N.B. In the second semester an introduction to syntax course is offered in English, with the on-line modality. Introduction to syntax can be taken as an alternative to comparative syntax OR as free choice credits. https://www.unive.it/data/course/317925/programma

The different categorial nature of determiners
The structure of indefinite determiners in Italian
di+art is not a partitive PP
Existential Quantifiers and quantitative ne
Partitive complements and gender mismatch
Indefinite determiners in Romance languages (Iberoromance, Galloromance, Dacoromance)
Indefinite determiners in Italoromance (Italian dialects, regional varieties of informal Italian)
A protocol for indefiniteness
A protocol for partitivity
Presentation of projects

The following papers by the instructor and collaborative authors will provide the content of the lessons. The student is required to start her/his bibliographical research from one of these papers, aiming at an updating of the state of the art and / or an interdisciplinary approach.

Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 1992. Partitive ne and the QP-hypothesis. A Case study. In E. Fava (ed.) Proceedings of the XVII Meeting of Generative Grammar. 121-141. Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier.
Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 2015a. Cartography and Optional Feature Realization in the Nominal Expression. U. Shlonsky (ed.) Beyond Functional Sequence. The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, Vol 10, 151-172. OUP.
Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 2015b. Il determinante indefinito: analisi sintattica e variazione diatopica. In Casini, S. et al. (eds) Plurilinguismo e Sintassi, Roma; Bulzoni, Atti SLI Siena, 27-29/09/2012. vol. 59, 451-466.
Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 2016. The syntax of the indefinite determiner dei in Italian. Lingua 181: 58-80.
Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 2018. Indefinite determiners. Variation and Optionality in Italoromance. In D’alessandro, R. & D. Pescarini (eds.) Advances in Italian Dialectology. Sketches of Italo-Romance Grammars, vol. 1, 135-161. Amsterdam: Brill.
Cardinaletti, A. & Giusti, G. 2020. Indefinite determiners in informal Italian: A preliminary analysis. Linguistics 58.
Giusti, G. 1997. The Categorial status of Determiners. In Haegeman L. (ed.) The New Comparative Syntax, 95-123. London: Longman.
Giusti, G. 2015. Nominal Syntax at the Interfaces, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press.
Giusti, G. to appear. A protocol for indefinite determiner in Italian and Italoromance. in Ihsane, T. (ed.) Bare nouns vs. ‘partitive articles’: disentangling functions. Leiden/Boston: Brill, Syntax and Semantics.
Giusti, G. submitted. Partitivity in Italian. A protocol Approach to a tripartite phenomenon. In Giusti, G. and P. Sleeman (eds) to appear Partitive Determiners, Partitive Pronouns and Partitive Case. Linguistische Arbeiten, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter
Marti, L. 2008. The Semantics of Indefinite Noun Phrases in Spanish and Portuguese. Natural Language Semantics 16: 1-37.
Zanoli, E. 2019. How Society shapes Language. BA thesis in Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Language Sciences. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Written paper (5000 words) on an original topic, to be written under the supervision of the instructor. Interdisciplinary research questions are encouraged, including theoretical, applied, diachronic, educational linguistics, psycholinguistics, language impairments, learning disorders, bilingualism, language and gender.
The submission of an abstract with the research questions and the mothodology is part of the final grade. The submission must respect the deadline (Nov. 22nd) and must contain 7-10 keywords for the indexation of the paper in web archives.
The evaluation will be graded according to the following rates. Abstract and keywords (10%); originality the proposal (30%); capacity of argumentation (30%); knowledge and critical use of previous literature (30%).

Class lectures, collaborative workshop, virtual classroom (to be linked)

English

written