A “borderline case” of syntactic variation

Abstract

Dialectal maps of morpho-syntactic phenomena sometimes display patterns that either differ quite drastically from the traditional dialectal boundaries (which are mostly based on phonology or the lexicon) or show otherwise unexpected patterns. This paper argues to take these deviations seriously, namely as a potential tool to detect the different types and qualities of syntactic micro-variation. As a case study, differing patterns concerning the distribution of the infinitival marker zu across various infinitival constructions within the Alemannic dialect group will be examined and it will be argued that an analysis of the infinitival marker as the lexical realization of the [±coin] value within a theory of temporal anchoring, as proposed in Ritter & Wiltschko (2014), provides the necessary flexibility in order to capture these differing variational patterns.

(Negative) Polarity Items in Catalan and Other Trans-Pyrenean Romance Languages

“…In order to refine our understanding of the distinction between (negative) polarity and negative concord, the present study aims to present an overview of the set of items that behave like Polarity-Sensitive Items (PIs for short) in Catalan and other Romance varieties spoken in the Pyrenees, including Languedoc Occitan, Gascon Occitan and its Aranese variety, Benasquese and Aragonese (Llop 2020). The existing research on the varieties of this area has provided important data not only on the linguistic continuum embodied in these varieties (Bec 1968;Nagore 2001;Suïls 2011;Suïls et al 2010) but also some inter-linguistic connections and intra-linguistic differences among them which would go unnoticed if the distinction between polarity and concord were forced to conform to the (often very artificial) geographic boundaries ostensibly separating these language varieties (Bucheli and Glaser 2002;Brandner 2020). Additionally, synchronic micro-syntactic differences between and within these dialects can be taken as a mirror of diachronic patterns and diachronic changes which would otherwise go unattested due to the lack of historical evidence (Ledgeway 2013).…”