Italian Dialects Research Articles

Tracce d’uso del pronome dimostrativo espletivo nelle varietà d’italiano vernacolare fiorentino e pistoiese

This research into the expletive demonstrative pronouns consists of a comparison between the varieties of Italian language in Florence and Pistoia and the dialect of Salerno. The linguistic analysis points out the use of this pronouns like extra-phrasal elements with explicative semantic function. They are used only during the conversations, but not in the monologues. unlike the expletive pronouns in the non-pro-drop languages like English, French and Northern Italian dialects, in which these pronouns are expressed in both situations. The form quello, I have observed in the varieties of Italian Language of Florence and Pistoia, as well as chello/chillo I have observed in the dialectal variety of Salerno, correspond to the expressions il fatto è che.../sta di fatto che… In italian language spoken in Florence and Pistoia the expletive demonstrative pronoun quello is exclusively used in the initial position of the main clauses, otherwise in the dialect of Salerno it can occur also in the causal, temporal and completive clauses, in which the expletive demonstrative pronouns occupy the subject (or topic) position between the complementizer and the verb and they are used with explicative semantic function and their use is optional and limited to the conversation.

Song and poetic text Bella ciao in a mosaic of languages, cultures and arts

The development of textology and intertextuality opens up new perspectives in the interpretation of famous texts, including the song of the Italian Resistance participants Bella ciao . Its numerous polymodal representations in different languages and arts account for the need to systematize them on uniform methodological grounds. The material of the article is the song and poetic text in Italian dialects and in the common Italian neo-standard, its translations into Romance languages, interpretations in Russian, Caucasian and other languages, as well as multimedia and polychannel versions. The goal of the article is to discuss intertextual, semantic and semiotic parameters of the text; to establish the parameters of internal and external intertextuality of the versions of the original text; and to characterize the precedent phenomena serving as the basis for the development and transformation of their aesthetics. The study aims to build and interpret the precedent links and associations of the song Bella ciao in its intertextual transformations; to determine its specificity in the semiocultural conditions of reading and interpretation and at the same time to evaluate its place in the context of Italian and world culture. The methodology is based on a set of methods at the intersection of linguosemiotic, functional and semantic approaches focusing on such parameters of the text as precedence, variation, correlation of linguistic and non-linguistic codes, comparison of the original and translations, polycode, polymodal and translation transformations. The study has established that, as a result of numerous intertextual transformations, the original text expressing unique Italian cultural meanings acquires new interpretations acting as a starting point or the development of both precedent and new plots. It is used as a polycoded intersemiotic model for the creation of new interpretations and, in the long term, becomes a tool for the preservation and reproduction of cultural memory.

Dialectometry-based classification of the Central–Southern Italian dialects

Abstract This paper provides a new classification of Central–Southern Italian dialects using dialectometric methods. All varieties considered are analyzed and cast in a data set where homogeneous areas are evaluated according to a selected list of phonetic features. Using numerical evaluation of these features and the Manhattan distance, a linguistic distance rule is defined. On this basis, the classification problem is formulated as a clustering problem, and a k-means algorithm is used. Additionally, an ad-hoc rule is set to identify transitional areas, and silhouette analysis is used to select the most appropriate number of clusters. While meaningful results are obtained for each number of clusters, a nine-group classification emerges as the most appropriate. As the results suggest, this classification is less subjective, more precise, and more comprehensive than traditional ones based on selected isoglosses.

Italian at Public Schools: Historical Conflicts in the State of Santa Catarina

This paper focuses on the teaching of Italian language in public schools in some cities of the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil by framing it into the context of Brazilian linguistic diversity. In the last decades, cities founded by Italian immigrants that arrived in Brazil during the XIX century promulgated laws that assured the inclusion of the Italian language in the curriculum of their public school system, even though the majority of the immigrants spoke Italian dialects. The article, then, besides dealing with the linguistic repertoire of the immigrants, shall also try to analyze the linguistic oppression that those immigrants were subjected to during the Estado Novo period of Brazilian politics, seeking to access the consequences of that oppression for the new generations. The chief aim of the paper is, therefore, to problematize the relationship between linguistic oppression and prejudices still in place regarding the use of Italian dialects, trying to put into question the validity of the teaching of standardized Italian in communities formed mainly by dialectophones.

Revisiting Syntactic Microvariation and Diachrony in the Dual Complementizer Systems of Upper Southern Italy1

AbstractThe primary aim of this work is to propose a diachrony of complementizer systems in the upper southern Italian dialects (USIDs). While previous diachronic studies have focused mainly on the transition from Latin to Romance, we aim to address several unanswered questions about the transition from medieval southern Italo‐Romance—in particular the system documented by Ledgeway (2005)—to the attested modern USID ones that are claimed to derive from it. Using the cartographic framework, and in particular the split‐CP (Rizzi 1997), our revisitation of the literature leads us to identify at least six distinct modern systems, which differ morpholexically (what we consider “dual” systems, e.g., presenting both che and ca) and/or syntactically (which we consider “split” systems, i.e., lexicalizing both Force° and Fin°). We ultimately propose that these systems should be interpreted as distinct stages in two separate diachronic developments. This is accounted for both through novel empirical insights concerning the conservative nature of the complementizer system found in e.g. Verbicarese—which we argue coincides with the one found in 17th–19th century Neapolitan‐‐, and through the view that complementizers are generated in Fin°, which presents theoretical advantages concerning the expression of (illocutionary) force and (modal)/finiteness marking.

Code-Switching, Queering Food and Narrative Construction in Monica Meneghetti’s Memoir What the Mouth Wants

ABSTRACT This article examines the extent to which the Italian-Canadian queer writer Monica Meneghetti, in her memoir What the Mouth Wants, challenges and disrupts heteronormative notions of gender and sexuality through the code-switching of food terms in Italian or in a Northern Italian dialect. Code-switching is used primarily to evoke memories of Meneghetti’s late mother through the author’s favourite dishes, and of the homophobia (or rather biphobia) directed at her by her father, with whom she used to make fresh pasta and cook Italian meals. The memories and flashbacks, interspersed with present-day accounts of the preparation of Italian childhood meals with her polyamorous family, allow the memoir’s protagonist to build a new sense of family: a queer Italian-Canadian family. Drawing on feminist and queer food studies, the article reveals that Meneghetti uses code-switching to signal point of view and to construct the memoir’s characters and plot, as code-switched food items are also linked to the notion of memory and to what it means to write the memoir.

Sviluppo della competenza plurilingue nell’era digitale

The multilingual approach plays an important role in language teaching, therefore also in the teaching of German as a foreign/second language (DaF = Deutsch als Fremdsprache; DaZ = Deutsch als Zweitsprache) and Italian as a foreign/second language. Aim of this volume is to show how metalinguistic and cross-linguistic awareness, central pillars of multilingual didactics, can be developed through the use of lexicographic resources, corpora and new technologies. The contributions present research and didactic experiences of various kinds that are of interest to different levels of education (school, university, etc.); although the didactics of German is in the focus of many essays, references to other languages, primarily Italian, but also English, Romanian, Ladin and other Italian dialect varieties, are not missing.

The grammaticalization and grammatical meaning of a ‘do’ support verb in the northern Italian Camuno dialect

Abstract This paper provides a case study of the grammaticalization of ‘do’ as a support verb in the northern Italian dialect of Camuno. It demonstrates the relative compatibility of fa ‘do’ with different semantic types of supported verbs through the results of an elicitation experiment. A comparison of results from adjacent dialects reveals a series of progressively more grammaticalized forms with three stages: ‘pragmatic’ ‘do’-support, largely restricted to agentive-subject, activity verbs, where question type depends mainly on the pragmatics; ‘agentive’ ‘do’-support, where use with that core group of verbs is largely categorial, and there is more use with theme-subject, change-of-state verbs and a few experiencer-subject, stative verbs; and ‘generalized’ ‘do’-support where optionality remains only with the most resistant stative verbs. Along with loss of lexical content in ‘do’, comes a reduction in salience of the special question meaning. Furthermore, a question with lexical fa ‘do’ (in an optional FS dialect) implies physical evidence exists to determine the truth of a proposition. In a question with bleached fa ‘do’ (in an obligatory FS dialect) the connection to reality has been lost leaving only the implication, and fa ‘do’ has then become an epistemic modal.

Semantičko-pojmovna analiza frazema sa komponentom život u srpskom, francuskom i italijanskom jeziku

Idioms provide important material for cross-linguistic and cross-cultural studies, as they reflect both a universal way of thinking inherent in different linguistic cultures and the peculiarities of a given society and culture. The subject of this research are Serbian, French and Italian idioms containing the lexemes (Serb.) život / (Fr.) vie / (It.) vita. Idioms are excerpted from several general and phraseological dictionaries of the Serbian, French and Italian languages, daily and weekly newspapers, and electronic media. The examples are grouped into conceptual fields according to the background images that motivate their meanings. The aim is to identify the similarities and differences in the con- cepts to which the selected idioms refer in the observed languages, as well as to determine the extent to which the concept of life motivates positive phraseological meanings, and the extent to which it contributes to the negative semantics of idioms. Appropriate descrip- tors that represent similarities between idioms are attached to the excerpted examples us- ing the method of semantic decomposition. Corpus analysis confirms the anthropocentric character of phraseology, which is reflected in the fact that the majority of idioms are related to human behavior, characteristics, states and good and bad behaviours toward others. Furthermore, the findings of this research show certain specificities regarding the phraseological expression of speakers of the observed languages, while a large number of equivalent examples, i.e. idioms of the same semantic concept, indicate similarities in the perception of life in the Serbian, French, and Italian linguistic cultures, as one of the basic, fundamental concepts.

Kilka uwag o fonetyce ligi bałkańskiej

The focus of this article is the origins of (1) reduced vowels in languages of the Balkan Sprachbund, (2) lenition of soft stops, (3) its (pre)nasalization, (4) the change of ninto rin the Tosk dialect of Albanian and a similar process in Old Romanian as well as the Istro Romanian, Maramuresh and Oltenian dialects of this language, a parallel change of Latin linto rin common Romanian and certain Italian dialects.

Bridging the Gap: Creation of a Lexicon of 150 Pairs of English and Italian Idioms Including Normed Variables for the Exploration of Idiomatic Ambiguity

Bridging the Gap: Creation of a Lexicon of 150 Pairs of English and Italian Idioms Including Normed Variables for the Exploration of Idiomatic Ambiguity

Founding a mathematical diffusion model in linguistics: the case study of German syntactic features in the North-Eastern Italian dialects

Founding a mathematical diffusion model in linguistics: the case study of German syntactic features in the North-Eastern Italian dialects

A Comparative Analysis of Romanian and Southern Italian Untensed Finite Clauses

The paper compares the Balkan phenomenon known as “infinitival loss” in two varieties of Romance that have not been in direct contact, i.e., Romanian and some southern Italian dialects. The aim is to investigate how the Romance clausal structure realizes a phenomenon that does not generally appear in Romance. We focus on two main properties: the fine structure of the complementizer field, with left-dislocated elements sandwiched between two overt complementizers, and that of the inflectional field, in which clitic pronouns and clausal negation adjoin to Tense and Mood, respectively. The differences between the two varieties of Romance are reduced to the different first-merge positions of the particles characterizing untensed finite clauses. Comparison with Romanian permits a better understanding of the southern Italian dialects, which show micro-variation and optionality in the position of complementizers and particles and the realization of negation.

Analisi onomasiologica e motivazionale delle denominazioni dialettali italiane di ‘pomo d’Adamo’

This study aims to identify and analyse the main lexotypes for the notion ‘Adam’s apple’ in Italian dialects. The comparative analysis of data collected by the Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland and the Italian Linguistic Atlas reveals a fair variety of expressions which in most cases are distributed in continuous and homogeneous areas. Generally, according to the main denomination models that distinguish the parts of the human body, these nouns are the result of redetermination processes or metaphorical associations, especially with the plant world. On the motivational level the most productive category refers to the roundness and protrusion of the Adam’s apple, with interesting crossings with cultural references of biblical and popular origin.

« Sarà primavera dai ». L’uso della particella dai in italiano e in dialetto trevigiano

This conversation analytic study aims to describe the actions performed by speakers of Italian and Trevigiano – a northern Italian dialect – by using the particle dai in everyday conversations. Our analyses draw on a corpus of formal and informal phone calls, where dai appears as preface and at the end of turns that initiate new courses of action, at the end of some responsive turns (or Turn-Constructional Units) and in post-expansions (that is, turns in third position). The actions embodied by these turns – requests, proposals and assessments – have in common the momentary deontic imbalance in favor of the speaker, who tells, asks or proposes to the coparticipant to do something. The particle also accompanies assessments of events to which the speaker has no direct experience (thus from an epistemically subordinate position). This study highlights the fuzziness of the boundaries between deontic and epistemic rights in everyday talk.

The Gascon evolution of Latin ‑ll‑: A new theory

Abstract In Gascon, Latin ‑ll‑ has evolved to the word‑medial result ‑r‑ and the secondarily word‑final result ‑t in most of Gascony, along with word‑final palatal variants. These results are generally assumed to have originated from a lost retroflex stage, paralleling existing retroflex results for ‑ll‑ in South Italian dialects and in Western Asturias. The present study offers an alternative theory by positing a delateralization of a lateral to a voiced non‑spirant alveolar stop *d, with no change in the point of articulation. The *d is shown to be an areal phenomenon in that it is the source of the Upper Aragonese ‑ll‑ results and is a sound that is found currently in some Basque dialects. The same theory of a non­spirant alveolar *d stage for ‑ll‑ explains the eventual presence of retroflexion in Western Asturias. While on the surface any Basque influence on the Gascon sound changes appears unlikely, this study shows that both the initial change to an alveolar stop, and the word‑final palatal results, can plausibly be attributed to Basque influence.

ИЗАЗОВИ У ПРЕВОЂЕЊУ ФРАЗЕОЛОГИЗАМА ИЗ ИТАЛИЈАНСКОГ ЈЕЗИКА НА СРПСКИ ЈЕЗИК: ФРАЗЕОЛОГИЗМИ СА ИМЕНИЦАМА КОЈЕ ОЗНАЧАВАЈУ АРХИТЕКТОНСКЕ ОБЈЕКТЕ И ЊИХОВЕ ДЕЛОВЕ

In this paper, we have referred to the theory of translation in a broader sense, but we have paid special attention to the translation of idioms, which due to its unique form and meaning is not easy to translate into another language. The basic material for this work consists of Italian phraseological expressions which include nouns that can denote residential, but also architectural objects of other purposes (negozio/ shop, chiesa/ church, museo/ museum, etc.). We have also included in the research phrases in which one of the components denotes separate spaces of the mentioned buildings, as well as certain elements that are part of their constructions. We have excerpted phraseological expressions from several monolingual and bilingual, both general and phraseological dictionaries. The paper focuses on the comparison of their language structures in the original (Italian) and target (Serbian) language, the issue of equivalence, possible untranslatability, as well as the inevitable socio-cultural impact during the transfer from one language to another. The main goal of our research is to determine the most common level of translation equivalence in the transfer of selected Italian idioms into Serbian language (complete, partial or zero equivalence).

Review of Smuggling in Syntax, by Adriana Belletti and Chris Collins (Eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press

This edited volume, Smuggling in Syntax, comprises eleven chapters which delineate a wide range of interesting applications of a smuggling approach in syntactic derivations cross-linguistically. The languages treated in this volume include the Germanic languages (English) and the Romance languages (French, Italian, and Northern Italian dialects). After summarising the contributions of different syntacticians to smuggling derivations in ten chapters, it is acknowledged that smuggling could be seen as a strategy for circumventing locality constraints on movement under the framework of the Minimalist Program, which is not only conducive to optimizing the process of syntactic derivation, but also in agreement with the economic principle of language. Though many derivations yielding smuggling need further investigation, this book indeed opens up a new perspective for the in-depth study of syntactic derivation.

Varietà di lingua nel romanzo di “Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana” di Carlo Emilio Gadda

”. The novel is an exceptional example of plurilingualism, therefore Gadda mixes technical terms, literary elements, Latinisms, Greek terms, new forms, and foreign words and phrases (English, French, German, Spanish). Further the collection of Italian dialects (Roman, Milan, Neapolitan, Venetian), the study intends to provide a stylistic analysis of the innovation of Gadda’s expression in the lexicon. The results of this linguistic fieldwork sets out to demonstrate also the lexicon and terms of the technical-scientific language of Gadda: for example terms and phrases of physics, engineering, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, biology, mechanics, geology, geography, astronomy, philosophy, theology, linguistics and rhetoric; as Gadda has a competence of the technical terms because of his studies as an electrical engineer at the Polytechnic and later his practical experience. It is an analysis, even elementary, of the linguistic composition of Gadd’s prose that can be used to understand the technique of his experimentalism, and how much he knew how to treasure every experience to enrich it and vary it on wider stylistic networks. This linguistic material mixes many ingredients such as: technical and scientific languages, various registers of speech, vernacular, jargons, archaisms, Latinisms, mixed with words of Gadda’s creativity, creating what the French called

Varietà di lingua nel romanzo di “Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana” di Carlo Emilio Gadda

This article focuses on the lexical components active in Gadda’s novel “Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana”. The novel is an exceptional example of plurilingualism, therefore Gadda mixes technical terms, literary elements, Latinisms, Greek terms, new forms, and foreign words and phrases (English, French, German, Spanish). Further the collection of Italian dialects (Roman, Milan, Neapolitan, Venetian), the study intends to provide a stylistic analysis of the innovation of Gadda’s expression in the lexicon. The results of this linguistic fieldwork sets out to demonstrate also the lexicon and terms of the technical-scientific language of Gadda: for example terms and phrases of physics, engineering, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, biology, mechanics, geology, geography, astronomy, philosophy, theology, linguistics and rhetoric; as Gadda has a competence of the technical terms because of his studies as an electrical engineer at the Polytechnic and later his practical experience. It is an analysis, even elementary, of the linguistic composition of Gadd’s prose that can be used to understand the technique of his experimentalism, and how much he knew how to treasure every experience to enrich it and vary it on wider stylistic networks. This linguistic material mixes many ingredients such as: technical and scientific languages, various registers of speech, vernacular, jargons, archaisms, Latinisms, mixed with words of Gadda’s creativity, creating what the French called pastiche.