Existential constructions in the early italio-romance vernaculars
This thesis analyses existential constructions in the early Italo-Romance vernaculars based on evidence from a relatively large corpus of texts dating from C13th to C16th âą Our principal findings concern (i) the complementary distribution of the pro-form and the locative phrase in early Tuscan; (ii) the emergence of the pro-form in existentials with overt encoding of definiteness; (iii) the presence of an optional expletive which, particularly in Tuscan, does not have subject properties. With respect to (i), the available data indicate that, while in early Tuscan the pro-form and the locative phrase cannot co-occur within the same clause, thus suggesting that, at this stage, the former exclusively encodes a locative argument, in early Sicilian the pro-form and the locative phrase are not in complementary distribution. This would seem to indicate that the pro-form has been reanalysed into a marker of existentiality which joins with the copula to spell out an existential predicate, as is the case with Modem Italian (Bentley 2006). As for point (ii), the available data show that, while the Latin-based pattern [Copula][Noun phrase], i.e., Fue uno filosofo, '(There)was a philosopher' (Novellino, LXXVIII, p. 89),
Ciconte, Francesco Maria
Existential constructions in the early italio-romance vernaculars. This thesis analyses existential constructions in the early Italo-Romance vernaculars based on evidence from a relatively large corpus of texts dating from C13th to C16th âą Our principal findings concern (i) the complementary distribution of the pro-form and the locative phrase in early Tuscan; (ii) the emergence of the pro-form in existentials with overt encoding of definiteness; (iii) the presence of an optional expletive which, particularly in Tuscan, does not have subject properties. With respect to (i), the available data indicate that, while in early Tuscan the pro-form and the locative phrase cannot co-occur within the same clause, thus suggesting that, at this stage, the former exclusively encodes a locative argument, in early Sicilian the pro-form and the locative phrase are not in complementary distribution. This would seem to indicate that the pro-form has been reanalysed into a marker of existentiality which joins with the copula to spell out an existential predicate, as is the case with Modem Italian (Bentley 2006). As for point (ii), the available data show that, while the Latin-based pattern [Copula][Noun phrase], i.e., Fue uno filosofo, '(There)was a philosopher' (Novellino, LXXVIII, p. 89),
existential construction early romance vernacular analysis existential construction early italo romance vernacular base evidence relatively large_corpus text date principal finding concern complementary distribution pro form locative phrase early emergence pro form overt encode definiteness iii presence optional particularly subject property respect available_data indicate early pro form locative phrase occur_within clause thus suggest stage former exclusively encode locative argument early sicilian pro form locative phrase complementary distribution would_seem indicate pro form marker join copula spell existential predicate case modem italian point available_data show latin based pattern copula noun_phrase philosopher