DOI: 10.5507/ff.14.24440606.04

Italian Polarity Fragments as Elliptical Structures

Emilio Servidio

A class of Italian fragments is discussed in which a phrase is followed by the equivalent of either yes or no. The discourse pragmatics of the fragments makes clear that contrastive topicalization is involved, and a range of syntactic evidence makes it possible to argue that the fragments are derived via clitic left dislocation of the topic plus deletion of a TP. These fragments can also be shown to be island sensitive, and the pattern of island sensitivity complies with a nonrepair theory of islands and with the pragmatics of contrastive topics. Contrastive topics might also play a role in the licensing of the TP ellipsis.

pages: 61-74



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