Parallels in romance nominal and clausal microvariation

This article explores parallels in the dimensions of microvariation characterizing the functional structure and organization of the Romance nominal and clausal groups. Within a parameter hierarchy approach it is argued that observed synchronic and diachronic variation across both domains can be readily captured in terms of a single set of higher- and above all lower-level parametric options. This parallelism constitutes a welcome finding in that it points to how the available parametric space can be constrained and defined in terms of a set of common transcategorial principles and options.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Editura Academiei Române via http://www.lingv.ro/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=137%3Arrlarhiva2015&catid=36%3Areviste-ilb&Itemid=9

International Workshop of Syntactic Variation of Catalan and Spanish Dialects, 26-28 June 2013, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

This is a review of the papers presented at the "International Workshop of Syntactic Variation of Catalan and Spanish Dialects" (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, June 26-28, 2013)

Exploiting microvariation: How to make the best of your incomplete data

n this article we discuss the use of big corpuses or databases as a first step for qualitative analysis of linguistic data. We concentrate on ASIt, the Syntactic Atlas of Italy, and take into consideration the different types of dialectal data that can be collected from similar corpora and databases. We analyze all the methodological problems derived from the necessary compromise between the strict requirements imposed by a scientific inquiry and the management of big amounts of data. As a possible solution, we propose that the type of variation is per se a tool to derive meaningful generalizations. To implement this idea, we examine three different types of variation patterns that can be used in the study of morpho-syntax: the geographical distribution of properties (and their total or partial overlapping, or complementary distribution), the so-called leopard spots variation, and the lexical variation index, which can be used to determine the internal complexity of functional items

Microvariation in Spanish Comparatives

I would like to thank M. Yoshida and an anonymous reviewer for comments and suggestions, the Universidad San Sebastián de Osorno for help with the experiment, M. Ortega for drawing the pictures included in the questionnaire and F. Ordóñez and F. Roca Urgell for inviting me to participate in this volume.Si bé les comparatives de desigualtat amb el marcador que (Pedro es más inteligente que yo) han rebut molta atenció en l'estudi de l'espanyol (e.g., Bolinger 1950, Plann 1984, Sáez del Álamo 1990, Gutiérrez Ordóñez 1994, Romero Cambrón 1998, Brucart 2003 o Reglero 2007), la variació dialectal no ha figurat de manera prominent en la bibliografia. La microvariació a l'espanyol de Xile proporciona proves clares a favor de l'existència d'una anàlisi amb oració reduïda i d'una anàlisi com a SP del segment que-XP; això contrasta amb l'espanyol estàndard, on només la primera anàlisi és possible. Aquesta microvariació és resultat de tenir dues entrades lèxiques per que (complementador pur vs. preposició) o bé de la inexistència d'una de les dues. L'anàlisi com a SP és consistent amb el canvi gradual de de a que en la història de les comparatives en espanyol (Romero Cambrón 1998).While phrasal comparatives of inequality with the comparative marker que 'than' (Pedro es más inteligente que yo 'Pedro is more intelligent than 1.sg.nom') have received a fair deal of attention in the study of Spanish (e.g., Bolinger 1950, Plann 1984, Sáez del Álamo 1990, Gutiérrez Ordóñez 1994, Romero Cambrón 1998, Brucart 2003 or Reglero 2007), dialectal variation has not figured prominently in the literature. Microvariation within Chilean Spanish provides evidence for the existence of both a reduced clause analysis and a PP analysis of the que-XP in the context above, as opposed to standard Spanish, where only the former analysis applies. This microvariation is the result of the availability of two distinct lexical entries for que (a pure complementizer vs. a preposition) or lack thereof. The PP analysis is argued to be consistent with the gradual change from de 'of' to que in the history of comparatives in Spanish (Romero Cambrón 1998)

Employing geographical principles for sampling in state of the art dialectological projects

The aims of this paper are twofold: First, we locate the most effective human geographical methods for sampling across space in large-scale dialectological projects. We propose two geographical concepts as a basis for sampling decisions: Geo-demographic classification, which is a multidimensional method used for the socio-economic grouping of areas. We also develop an updated version of functional regions that can be used in sociolinguistic research. We then report on the results of a pilot project that applies these models to collect data regarding the acceptability of vernacular morpho-syntactic forms in the North-East of England. Following the method of natural breaks advocated for dialectology by Horvath and Horvath (2002), we interpret breaks in the probabilistic patterns as areas of dialect transitions. This study contributes to the debate about the role and limitations of spatiality in linguistic analysis. It intends to broaden our knowledge about the interfaces between human geography and dialectology

Patterns of variation in existential constructions

The main goal of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand, to highlight the patterns of variation among the existential constructions found in Italo-Romance and Sardinian dialects; on the other, to examine the observed microvariation in a comparative perspective in order to identify common properties and general tendencies. Starting from a description of the variation concerning the primary components of existentials and depending on the copula selected, I show that, irrespective of the superficial morphosyntactic variation attested, all Italo-Romance existential constructions share a fundamental property: their distinguishing features can all be viewed as the reflex of the persistence of formal properties continuing or overlapping with a source construction. This construction is either the locative predication, when be is selected, or the possessive structure, when the existential copula is have. The pivot of the existential construction therefore shows properties typical of arguments, which are however subject to a high degree of instability and variation because it has been semantically reanalysed as the predicate of an abstract contextual domain serving as the argument of the existential proposition. This mismatch between the syntactic and the semantic characteristics of existential structures contributes to the microvariation encountered

What is “residual verb second”? And what does Romance have to do with it?

Peer reviewe