Some Preliminary Comparative Remarks on French and Italian Definite Articles
Some Preliminary Comparative Remarks on French and Italian Definite Articles
This chapter examines parametric variation within the nominal domain and shows that crosslinguistic variation across a variety of nominal constructions can be linked to a single parameter: the presence versus absence of an overt determiner in French versus Italian. Drawing on the determiner phrase hypothesis and remnant movement, it compares three structures in French and Italian: superlatives, which-phrases with a silent noun, and mass nouns/partitives. It illustrates how Romance bare plurals arguably contain a definite article of the sort seen overtly in French partitives. It also discusses interrogatives and English possessors.
Keywords: parametric variation, crosslinguistic variation, French, Italian, determiner phrase, superlatives, which-phrases, mass nouns, partitives, definite article
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