Yes/no interrogatives and focus in Sardinian
In this article, I analyze several structures used to form yes/no questions in Sardinian within a cartographic generative framework. The leading hypothesis (building on previous work) is that the standard yes/no question device is based on the activation of FocP (see Rizzi 1997 et seqq.). Whereas two mechanisms (involving fronting to the left periphery) are already quite well known, the syntactic properties of a third type, formed with the element ite (originally meaning ‘what’), are described for the first time, based on the inquiry of speakers. I show that ite is also located in FocP, similar to the question particle a, though it functions quite differently. The final analysis challenges the view that Int(errogative)P is universally needed to license yes/no questions; it seems instead that in Sardinian IntP is available in a very limited way and subject to specific conditions, which are also addressed in the article.
References (60)
References
Aboh, Enoch O., and Roland Pfau. 2011. “What’s a wh-word got to do with it?” In Mapping the Left Periphery: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, vol. 5, ed. by Paola Benincà, and Nicola Munaro, 91–124. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
ASIt = Atlante Sintattico d’Italia, [URL], last consulted June 6, 2015.
Belletti, Adriana. 1990. Generalized Verb Movement: Aspects of Verb Syntax. Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bentley, Delia. 2004. “Definiteness Effects: Evidence from Sardinian.” Transactions of the Philological Society 102: 57–101. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bentley, Delia. 2009. “Focus fronting in the layered structure of the clause.” Paper presented at the
10th International Conference on Role and Reference Grammar (RRG 2009), Berkley, [URL], last consulted September 24, 2015.
Bentley, Delia. 2010. “Focus fronting in the layered structure of the clause.” In
Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Role and Reference Grammar (RRG 2009)
, ed. by Wataru Nakamura, 4–27, [URL], last consulted September 24, 2015.
Bianchi, Valentina, Giuliano Bocci, and Silvio Cruschina. 2015. “Focus Fronting and its Implicatures.” In
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2013: Selected Papers from ‘Going Romance’ Amsterdam 2013
, ed. by Enoch O. Aboh, Jeannette C. Schaeffer, and Petra Sleeman, 3–19. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Blasco Ferrer, Eduardo. 1986. La lingua sarda contemporanea. Grammatica del logudorese e del campidanese. Norma e varietà dell’uso. Sintesi storica. Cagliari: Edizioni della Torre.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brody, Michael. 1990. “Some Remarks on the Focus Field in Hungarian.” UCL Working Papers 2: 201–225.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cardinaletti, Anna, and Lori Repetti. 2010. “Functional Vowels in Main Questions in Northern Italian Dialects.” In
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2008: Selected papers from ‘Going Romance’ Groningen 2008
, ed. by Reineke Bok-Bennema, Brigitte Kampers-Manhe, and Bart Hollebrandse, 37–58. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Cheng, Lisa. 2003. “Wh-in-situ.” Glot International 7: 103–109, 129–137.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cinque, Guglielmo. 1999. Adverbs and Functional heads: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Contini, Michele. 1995. “ ‘Visti l’as?’ Un trait syntaxique et prosodique sarde dans le catalan del’Alguer.” In Estudis de lingüística i filologia oferts a Antoni M. Badia i Margarit, vol. I, 221–248. Barcelona: Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Costa, João, and Ana Maria Martins. 2011. “On Focus Movement in European Portuguese.” Probus 23: 217–245. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cruschina, Silvio. 2007. “Marking Yes/No Questions.” Paper presented at
CIDSM
2, University of Cambridge, January 26–27, 2007.
Cruschina, Silvio. 2011. Discourse-Related Features and Functional Projections. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cruschina, Silvio, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2009. “Focus Fronting in Sardinian and Sicilian.” In Proceedings of the XXXV Incontro di Grammatica Generativa, ed. by Vincenzo Moscati, and Emilio Servidio (STiL-CISCL Working Papers 3), 118–130. Siena: Università di Siena.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Damonte, Federico, and Jacopo Garzonio. 2009. “Per una tipologia delle particelle interrogative nei dialetti italiani.” Rivista Italiana di Dialettologia 32: 97–111.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Floricic, Franck. 2009. “Negation and ‘Focus Clash’ in Sardinian.” In Information structure and its interfaces, ed. by Lunella Mereu, 129–152. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Frascarelli, Mara. 2007. “Subjects, Topics and the Interpretation of Referential pro: An Interface Approach to the Linking of (Null) Pronouns.” Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 25: 691–734. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Giurgea, Ion, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2012. “Verum focus and polar questions.” Bucharest Working Papers in Linguistics 14: 21–41.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Giurgea, Ion, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2014. “Polarity fronting in Romanian and Sardinian.” In
Variation within and across Romance Languages: Selected papers from the 41st Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL)
, Ottawa, 5-7 May 2011, ed. by Marie-Hélène Côté, and Eric Mathieu, 173–197. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Gutzmann, Daniel, and Elena Castroviejo Miró. 2011. “The dimensions of verum.” In Empirical Issues in Syntax and Semantics 8, ed. by Olivier Bonami, and Patricia Cabredo-Hofherr, 143–165, [URL], last consulted February 6, 2016.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Höhle, Tilman N. 1992. “Über Verum-Fokus im Deutschen.” In Informationsstruktur und Grammatik, ed. by Joachim Jacobs, 112–141. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jones, Michael Allan. 1993. Sardinian Syntax. London/New York: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jones, Michael Allan. 1997. “Sardinia.” In The Dialects of Italy, ed. by Martin Maiden, and Mair Parry, 376–384. London/New York: Routledge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jones, Michael Allan. 2011. “VP-Fronting in Sardinian: A Structural Paradox.” University of Essex Reseacrch Repository, [URL], last consulted February 6, 2016.
Jones, Michael Allan. 2013. “Focus, fronting and illocutionary force in Sardinian.” Lingua 134: 75–101. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kitihara, Hisatsugu. 1995. “Target α: Deducing strict cyclicity from Derivational Economy.” Linguistic Inquiry 26: 47–77.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Krifka, Manfred. 2001. “For a structured meaning account of questions and answers.” In Audiatur Vox Sapientiae. A Festschrift for Arnim von Stechow, ed. by Caroline Fery, and Wolfgang Sternefeld, 287–319. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Krifka, Manfred. 2008. “Basic notions of information structure.” Acta Linguistica Hungarica 55: 243–276. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Leonetti, Manuel. 2009. “Remarks on focus structure and non-specificity.” In Definiteness and DP Structure in Romance Languages (=Arbeitspapier 124), ed. by María Teresa Espinal, Manuel Leonetti, and Louise McNally, 83–111. Universität Konstanz, [URL], last consulted February 6, 2016.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lörinczi, Marinella. 1999. “L’interrogazione in sardo / Preguntai in sadru.” Romanistik in Geschichte und Gegenwart 5: 101–112.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido. 2000. Infinitive Constructions with Specified Subjects: A Syntactic Analysis of the Romance Languages. New York: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido. 2008. “Syntaktische Anmerkungen zur Informationsstruktur und zum Satzmodus im Sardischen.” Paper presented at the GGS Workshop, Berlin, May, 1-3, 2008.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido. 2010. “Special Questions in the context of the left periphery in Sardinian (I).” Paper presented at the
Journées d’études “Questions spéciales”
, Paris, CNRS, March, 12, 2010.
Mensching, Guido. 2012. “Anmerkungen zur sardischen Syntax anhand des Vivaio Acustico delle Lingue e dei Dialetti d’Italia (VIVALDI).” In (Das) DISKRETE TATENBUCH. Digitale Festschrift für DIETER KATTENBUSCH zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. by Carola Köhler, and Fabio Tosques. Berlin: Humboldt Universität, [URL], last consulted September 13, 2015.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido. 2015. “New insights on the question particle a in Sardinian.” Isogloss 2, 1–33.
, last consulted February 6, 2016.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido. 2016. “Morfosintassi: Sincronia.” In Manuale di linguistica sarda, ed. by Eduardo Blasco Ferrer, Peter Koch, and Daniela Marzo, 270–279. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter. ![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2010a. “La periferia sinistra romanza: topicalizzazione, focalizzazione e interrogazione in sardo.” In Actes du XXVe Congrès International de Linguistique et de Philologie Romanes, Innsbruck, 3-8 septembre 2007, ed. by Maria Iliescu, Heidi Siller-Runggaldier, and Paul Danler, vol. 7, 189–197. Berlin/New York: De Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2010b. “The Left Periphery in Sardinian.” In Syntactiv Variation: The Dialects of Italy, ed. by Roberta D’Alessandro, Adam Ledgeway, and Ian Roberts, 261–276. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mensching, Guido, and Eva-Maria Remberger. 2016. “Sardinian.” In Oxford Guide to the Romance Languages (OGRL), ed. by Adam Ledgeway, and Martin Maiden. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Motut, Alexandra. 2010. “Merge over Move and the empirical force of economy in Minimalism.” Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics 33: 1–54.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Obenauer, Hans-Georg. 2004. “Nonstandard wh-questions and alternative checkers in Pagotto.” In Syntax and Semantics of the Left Periphery, Interface Explorations 9, ed. by Horst Lohnstein, and Susanne Trissler, 343–384. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Poletto, Cecilia, and Jean Yves Pollock. 2004. “On the left periphery of some Romance wh-questions.” In The Structure of CP and IP: The Cartography of Syntactic Structures, vol. 2, ed. by Luigi Rizzi, 251–296. New York: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
RAS 2006 = Regione Autonoma della Sardegna. 2006. Limba Sarda Comuna. Norme linguistiche di riferimento a carattere sperimentale per la lingua scritta dell’Amministrazione regionale, [URL], last consulted Feb-ruary 6, 2016.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Remberger, Eva-Maria. 2009. “Null subjects, expletives and locatives in Sardinian.” In Null subjects, expletives and locatives in Romance, ed. by Georg Kaiser, and Eva-Maria Remberger (Konstanzer Arbeitspapiere des Fachbereichs Sprachwissenschaft 123), 231–261. Konstanz: Universität Konstanz.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Remberger, Eva-Maria. 2010. “Left peripheral interactions in Sardinian.” Lingua 120: 555–581. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rizzi, Luigi. 1991. “Residual verb second and the wh-criterion.” Technical Reports in Formal and Computational Linguistics 2, 1–28, University of Geneva.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rizzi, Luigi. 1997. “The fine structure of the left periphery.” In Elements of Grammar: Handbook in Generative Syntax, ed. by Liliane Haegeman, 281–337. Dordrecht: Kluwer. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rizzi, Luigi. 2001. “On the position ‘Int(errogative)’ in the left periphery of the clause.” In Current Studies in Italian Syntax. Essays Offered to Lorenzo Renzi, ed. by Guglielmo Cinque, and Giampaolo Salvi, 287–296. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North Holland.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Rizzi, Luigi. 2004. “Locality and Left Periphery.” In Structures and Beyond, ed. by Adriana Belletti, 223–251. New York: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Roberts, Ian. 1993. Verbs and Diachronic Syntax: A Comparative History of English and French. Dordrecht: Kluwer.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Romero, Maribel, and Chung-hye Han. 2002. “Verum focus in negative yes/no questions and Ladd’s p /¬p ambiguity.” In Proceedings of
Semantics and Linguistic Theory
, vol. 12, 204–224. Ithaca, NY: CLC Publications.
Vanrell, María del Mar, Francesc Ballone, Carlo Schirru, and Pilar Prieto. 2014. “Intonation and its interfaces in Sardinian polar questions.” Loquens 1, [URL], last consulted February 6, 2016. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
VIVALDI = Vivaio Acustico delle Lingue e dei Dialetti d’Italia, ed. by Dieter Kattenbusch. Berlin: Humboldt-Universität, [URL], last consulted November 2, 2015.