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This book is a research monograph on impersonal si constructions (ISC) in Italian within the Minimalist program framework. The book offers a new point of view on ISCs, providing a new set of crucial data that were previously unknown, and pointing out many characteristics of ISCs that were overlooked before. It results in the introduction of additional means of syntactic analysis at the edge between narrow syntax and pragmatics.

This volume offers an original theoretical and methodological approach to the hotly debated issue of epistemic modality. The analysis is conducted in a rigorous typological frame developed after a careful consideration of a wealth of cross-linguistic data, and focuses on Italian, a language often disregarded in comparative analyses. The complexity of the Italian epistemic system provides relevant information that will undoubtedly foster a better understanding of the topic. A new definition of epistemic modality is proposed on a functional basis and the structure of the Italian epistemic system is closely described. The morpho-syntactic characteristics of Italian epistemic forms are regarded as the result of the dialectic between universal functional pressures and peculiar system resistances. Shaped by the system, epistemic modality emerges as an intrinsically linguistic category, which cannot be downsized to a mere conceptual notion, as other approaches would propose.

Le parole di una lingua non sono mai isolate ma si usano in combinazione e non con qualunque parola ma solo con alcune. Per parlare bene bisogna usare le combinazioni appropriate. In italiano si dice un tozzo di pane per indicare un pezzo di pane, ma si dice anche un tozzo di carne? E una discussione si solleva? O si solleva un'obiezione? Una discussione si affronta, ma un'obiezione? In italiano non si dice fare un appuntamento con qualcuno ma fissare o prendere un appuntamento. Ogni lingua preferisce combinazioni diverse e quindi e facile sbagliare quando ci si serve di una lingua straniera. A volte pero anche il parlante nativo sbaglia o non e sicuro.Questo dizionario ricostruisce l'ambiente linguistico di circa 6.500 entrate per aiutare ogni parlante a comunicare in italiano. E destinato allo straniero che ha una conoscenza avanzata della lingua italiana ma anche al parlante nativo che e in cerca della parola giusta. Sara inoltre molto utile per i traduttori, per il mondo aziendale, scientifico e quello dell'insegnamento. Un dizionario che si distingue dai normali dizionari monolingui e bilingui perche indica sistematicamente le combinazioni lessicali (circa 220.000), molto spesso spiegandole e/o accompagnandole con esempi (12.000) per chiarirne l'uso.---Words are never used in isolation but in combination and not with any word but only with certain specific words. To use a language properly the appropriate combinations must be used. In Italian a piece of bread is a tozzo di pane, but is that the case for meat? Is a tozzo di carne an appropriate combination? If you want to make an appointment with somebody you should not say (as in English) fare un appuntamento but fissare un appuntamento. An Italian affronta una discussione (enters or tackles a discussion), but is it possible for him to say affrontare un'obiezione (to enter or tackle an objection)? Yes it is, as this dictionary shows. So every language has its own preferences in word combinations, misleading non-native speaker into making mistakes influenced by their own language.This dictionary reconstructs the frame to which 6,500 Italian entries belong and aims to help non-Italian speakers with an advanced linguistic competence to find the appropriate word combinations for communicating in Italian. Moreover, this dictionary can also be useful for native speakers who want to improve their lexical choices in writing and speaking Italian, as for translators, business people, researchers, teachers, and students.The dictionary, contrary to ordinary monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, systematically lists (nearly 220,000) word combinations, with explanations and with examples (approx. 12,000) to demonstrate their usage.Also available: Dizionario Combinatorio Compatto Italiano, a compact paperback student edition with 3,000 entries listing almost 90,000 word combinations.

Language acquisition is a human endeavor par excellence. As children, all human beings learn to understand and speak at least one language: their mother tongue. It is a process that seems to take place without any obvious effort. Second language learning, particularly among adults, causes more difficulty. The purpose of this series is to compile a collection of high-quality monographs on language acquisition. The series serves the needs of everyone who wants to know more about the problem of language acquisition in general and/or about language acquisition in specific contexts.

Le parole di una lingua non sono mai isolate ma si usano in combinazione e non con qualunque parola ma solo con alcune. Per parlare bene bisogna usare le combinazioni appropriate. In italiano si dice un tozzo di pane per indicare un pezzo di pane, ma si dice anche un tozzo di carne? E una discussione si solleva? O si solleva un'obiezione? Una discussione si affronta, ma un'obiezione? In italiano non si dice fare un appuntamento con qualcuno ma fissare o prendere un appuntamento. Ogni lingua preferisce combinazioni diverse e quindi è facile sbagliare quando ci si serve di una lingua straniera. A volte però anche il parlante nativo sbaglia o non è sicuro.Questo dizionario ricostruisce l'ambiente linguistico di circa 6.500 entrate per aiutare ogni parlante a comunicare in italiano. È destinato allo straniero che ha una conoscenza avanzata della lingua italiana ma anche al parlante nativo che è in cerca della parola giusta. Sarà inoltre molto utile per i traduttori, per il mondo aziendale, scientifico e quello dell'insegnamento. Un dizionario che si distingue dai normali dizionari monolingui e bilingui perché indica sistematicamente le combinazioni lessicali (circa 220.000), molto spesso spiegandole e/o accompagnandole con esempi (12.000) per chiarirne l'uso.---Words are never used in isolation but in combination and not with any word but only with certain specific words. To use a language properly the appropriate combinations must be used. In Italian a piece of bread is a tozzo di pane, but is that the case for meat? Is a tozzo di carne an appropriate combination? If you want to make an appointment with somebody you should not say (as in English) fare un appuntamento but fissare un appuntamento. An Italian affronta una discussione (enters or tackles a discussion), but is it possible for him to say affrontare un'obiezione (to enter or tackle an objection)? Yes it is, as this dictionary shows. So every language has its own preferences in word combinations, misleading non-native speaker into making mistakes influenced by their own language.This dictionary reconstructs the frame to which 6,500 Italian entries belong and aims to help non-Italian speakers with an advanced linguistic competence to find the appropriate word combinations for communicating in Italian. Moreover, this dictionary can also be useful for native speakers who want to improve their lexical choices in writing and speaking Italian, as for translators, business people, researchers, teachers, and students.The dictionary, contrary to ordinary monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, systematically lists (nearly 220,000) word combinations, with explanations and with examples (approx. 12,000) to demonstrate their usage.Also available: Dizionario Combinatorio Compatto Italiano, a compact paperback student edition with 3,000 entries listing almost 90,000 word combinations.

The present article addresses the following question: what variables condition syntactic transfer? Evidence is provided in support of the position that third language (L3) transfer is selective, whereby, at least under certain conditions, it is driven by the typological proximity of the target L3 measured against the other previously acquired linguistic systems (cf. Rothman and Cabrelli Amaro, 2007, 2010; Rothman, 2010; Montrul et al., 2011). To show this, we compare data in the domain of adjectival interpretation between successful first language (L1) Italian learners of English as a second language (L2) at the low to intermediate proficiency level of L3 Spanish, and successful L1 English learners of L2 Spanish at the same levels for L3 Brazilian Portuguese. The data show that, irrespective of the L1 or the L2, these L3 learners demonstrate target knowledge of subtle adjectival semantic nuances obtained via noun-raising, which English lacks and the other languages share. We maintain that such knowledge is transferred to the L3 from Italian (L1) and Spanish (L2) respectively in light of important differences between the L3 learners herein compared to what is known of the L2 Spanish performance of L1 English speakers at the same level of proficiency (see, for example, Judy et al., 2008; Rothman et al., 2010). While the present data are consistent with Flynn et al.'s (2004) Cumulative Enhancement Model, we discuss why a coupling of these data with evidence from other recent L3 studies suggests necessary modifications to this model, offering in its stead the Typological Primacy Model (TPM) for multilingual transfer.

The western European present perfect is subject to substantial crosslinguistic variation. The literature, however, focuses on individual languages or on comparisons of a restricted number of languages. We piece together the puzzle and do so in a data-driven way by comparing the use of the present perfect through a parallel corpus based on the French novel L’Étranger and its translations in Italian, German, Dutch, European Spanish, British English, and Modern Greek. We introduce and showcase Translation Mining, a software suite combining a parallel corpus database with annotation and analysis tools. Translation Mining allows us to generate descriptive statistics of tense use across languages but also to visualize variation through its multidimensional scaling component and to link the variation we find to the underlying data through its integrated setup. We confirm that the present perfect competes with the past and we reveal the fine-grained scalar nature of the variation. To complete the puzzle, we ascertain the dimensions of variation, ranging from lexical and compositional semantics to dynamic semantics and pragmatics.1

Semantic norms for properties produced by native speakers are valuable tools for researchers interested in the structure of semantic memory and in category-specific semantic deficits in individuals following brain damage. The aims of this study were threefold. First, we sought to extend existing semantic norms by adopting an empirical approach to category (Exp. 1 ) and concept (Exp. 2 ) selection, in order to obtain a more representative set of semantic memory features. Second, we extensively outlined a new set of semantic production norms collected from Italian native speakers for 120 artifactual and natural basic-level concepts, using numerous measures and statistics following a feature-listing task (Exp. 3 b). Finally, we aimed to create a new publicly accessible database, since only a few existing databases are publicly available online.