Modeling Syntactic Change under Contact: The Case of Italiot Greek

Cristina Guardiano,Melita Stavrou

doi:10.3390/languages6020074

Cristina Guardiano, Melita Stavrou

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/languages6020074

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Abstract

In this paper, we investigate patterns of persistence and change affecting the syntax of nominal structures in Italiot Greek in comparison to Modern (and Ancient) Greek, and we explore the role of Southern Italo-Romance as a potential source of interference. Our aim is to highlight the dynamics that favor syntactic contact in this domain: we provide an overview of the social context where these dynamics have taken place and of the linguistic structures involved.

Highlights

The relation between Greek and Romance in Southern Italy represents an ideal setting to explore syntactic microvariation and to investigate the impact of horizontal transmission1 on syntactic change: these communities are a “natural laboratory” (Katsoyannou 1999) to observe the mechanisms of language change under contact.Our research in this area focuses on nominal structures, with two main purposes: 1. a
We suggested that: (a) the patterns of divergence between Italiot Greek and other varieties of Greek are mostly due to innovations introduced in Italiot Greek under the pressure of contact with Romance; (b) in certain domains, these innovations have been more pervasive than in others, and (c) Calabria Greek has been more impermeable to changes than Salento Greek
In the domains we focused on so far, a condition that seems to trigger the processes of reanalysis inducing structural change is the availability of overlapping linear strings4 between the source (Romance) and the target (Greek) language

Summary

Introduction

The relation between Greek and Romance in Southern Italy represents an ideal setting to explore syntactic microvariation and to investigate the impact of horizontal transmission on syntactic change: these communities are a “natural laboratory” (Katsoyannou 1999) to observe the mechanisms of language change under contact.Our research in this area focuses on nominal structures, with two main purposes: 1. a. The relation between Greek and Romance in Southern Italy represents an ideal setting to explore syntactic microvariation and to investigate the impact of horizontal transmission on syntactic change: these communities are a “natural laboratory” (Katsoyannou 1999) to observe the mechanisms of language change under contact. Our research in this area focuses on nominal structures, with two main purposes: 1. Define the role of horizontal transmission in triggering language change To examine these points, in this paper we summarize the findings of our previous work, we combine them with novel evidence, and we tentatively identify the structural factors which favor or hamper horizontal change.

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Conclusion