Word Order variation in L1 and L2 Italian speakers : the role of Focus and the Unaccusativity Hierarchy

This paper investigates the Italian Word Order variation in the position of subjects (S) with respect to finite predicates (V) in two adult populations: L1-Italian speakers and L1-French L2-Italian speakers. We test how discourse focus (Belletti, 2001) and a decomposed approach to Unaccusativity, i.e., Unaccusativity Hierarchy (Sorace, 2000), determine the SV/VS variation in L1 and L2 populations. The results of a forced-choice preference task show that both factors constrain the Italian word order in L1 and L2 Italian speakers: the VS order was preferred in the narrow focus and with Change of Location unaccusative verbs in both populations, although with different proportions. Overall L2 speakers chose the SV order more consistently than L1 speakers but they did so mainly with the less-core unaccusative verbs of the Unaccusativity Hierarchy. We account for these findings suggesting a return to the original version of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2005), which predicts that interface phenomena, including those at the syntax-lexicon interface, represent a vulnerable domain in L2 acquisition

The Italian National Project of Astrobiology-Life in Space-Origin, Presence, Persistence of Life in Space, from Molecules to Extremophiles

The \u2018\u2018Life in Space\u2019\u2019 project was funded in the wake of the Italian Space Agency\u2019s proposal for the development of a network of institutions and laboratories conceived to implement Italian participation in space astrobiology experiments

Word order variation in L1 and L2 Italian speakers: the role of focus and the unaccusativity hierarchy.

This paper investigates the Italian Word Order variation in the position of subjects(S) with respect to finite predicates(V) in two adult populations: L1-Italian speakers and L1-French L2-Italian speakers. We test how discourse focus (Belletti, 2001) and a decomposed approach to Unaccusativity, i.e., Unaccusativity Hierarchy (Sorace, 2000),determine the SV/VS variation in L1 and L2 populations. The results of a forced-choice preference task show that both factors constrain the Italian word order in L1 and L2 Italian speakers: the VS order was preferred in the narrow focus and with Change of Location unaccusative verbs in both populations, although with different proportions. Overall L2 speakers chose the SV order more consistently than L1 speakers but they did so mainly with the less-core unaccusative verbs of the Unaccusativity Hierarchy. We account for these findings suggesting a return to the original version of the Interface Hypothesis (Sorace, 2005), which predicts that interface phenomena, including those at the syntax-lexicon interface, represent a vulnerable domain in L2 acquisition

Locality Effects in the Acquisition of Nominal Ellipsis: Evidence from Italian Children’s Spontaneous Production

This paper investigates whether the principle of locality constrains the spontaneous production of nominal (NP) ellipsis by three typically developing monolingual Italian-acquiring children (age range 1;05-2;05) available in the CHILDES database(MacWhinney, 2000). We ask whether early productions of elliptical nominal phrases are constrained by locality. In so doing, we aim at verifying whether RM operates in the anaphoric dependency involved in NP ellipsis, which crucially does not imply movement, as it does in A’-chains. Meanwhile, our paper contributes to previous acquisition research on NP ellipsis, by describing the formal properties of the remnants of NP ellipsis in children’s early production, thus adding Italian to the languages investigated so far

The Italian National Project of Astrobiology - Life in Space - Origin, Presence, Persistence of Life in Space, from Molecules to Extremophiles

The ‘‘Life in Space’’ project was funded in the wake of the Italian Space Agency’s proposal for the development of a network of institutions and laboratories conceived to implement Italian participation in space astrobiology experiments. Of primary concern for this project is the study of the origin of life in the Universe, a focus that will promote investigation into prebiotic chemistry in various possible scenarios, whether in polar or nonpolar solvents (e.g., Titan’s environment). Such results will link with study of the effects of simulated space conditions on possible chemical biosignatures