In this paper, we analyse some aspects of syntactic variation in Campidanese, comparing the urban varieties of Cagliari and Oristano with some selected rural dialects. The main focus of the paper is on perfective auxiliary selection. Assuming Perlmutter’s Unaccusative Hypothesis, we shall show a) that it is possible to formulate rules accounting for the distribution of perfective auxiliaries in the different dialects; b) that these rules also account for the verb occurring in existential constructions (although with some exceptions); and c) that the different auxiliation options documented in these varieties can be ordered along an implicational scale. Building upon previous similar comparative work on Romance perfective auxiliation, we shall also show that present-day Oristanese and some of the rural varieties in our sample display a triple, rather than a binary, auxiliation choice, and that this is to be understood as a transitional stage between the more conservative auxiliation rule still attested by the rest of rural Campidanese, and the more innovatory system of urban Cagliaritano. Not surprisingly, given what is independently known about the linguistic history of Sardinia, the syntax of auxiliation in conservative rural Campidanese coincides with that of Logudorese. Finally, we shall discuss the implications of our morphosyntactic study for the internal subclassification of Campidanese.

Variation in auxiliary selection, syntactic change, and the internal classification of Campidanese Sardinian

Loporcaro, Michele
;
2013

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse some aspects of syntactic variation in Campidanese, comparing the urban varieties of Cagliari and Oristano with some selected rural dialects. The main focus of the paper is on perfective auxiliary selection. Assuming Perlmutter’s Unaccusative Hypothesis, we shall show a) that it is possible to formulate rules accounting for the distribution of perfective auxiliaries in the different dialects; b) that these rules also account for the verb occurring in existential constructions (although with some exceptions); and c) that the different auxiliation options documented in these varieties can be ordered along an implicational scale. Building upon previous similar comparative work on Romance perfective auxiliation, we shall also show that present-day Oristanese and some of the rural varieties in our sample display a triple, rather than a binary, auxiliation choice, and that this is to be understood as a transitional stage between the more conservative auxiliation rule still attested by the rest of rural Campidanese, and the more innovatory system of urban Cagliaritano. Not surprisingly, given what is independently known about the linguistic history of Sardinia, the syntax of auxiliation in conservative rural Campidanese coincides with that of Logudorese. Finally, we shall discuss the implications of our morphosyntactic study for the internal subclassification of Campidanese.
2013
Settore L-LIN/01 - Glottologia e Linguistica
Repertorio plurilingue e variazione linguistica a Cagliari
Angeli
Ausiliry selection; Sardinian; campidanese
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
183_Loporcaro_Putzu_aux_camp.pdf

Accesso chiuso

Tipologia: Published version
Licenza: Non pubblico
Dimensione 5.2 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
5.2 MB Adobe PDF   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11384/128325
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
  • OpenAlex ND
social impact