Projects

Syncretism in Germanic

This project explores the case syncretism in the pronoun system of German dialects and Germanic languages in general. We claim that there are contexts in which syncretism is favored (e.g. the third person sg. is more prone to syncretism than first and second person sg.), specifically, that syncretism takes place more easily in those categories which prefer inanimate referents.

Participants in the project:
• B. Alber
• S. RabanusThe Typology of Truncation. Joint project with Sabine Arndt-Lappe, University of Siegen.

For this project we have collected a database of about 90 truncation patterns. Our goal is to establish a set of constraints which can generate the various truncation patterns and to explore the predictions that the factorial typology of these constraints generates.

Participant in the project:
• B. Alber

Cimbrian as a test case for synchronic and diachronic language

The goal of this project is to collect, digitalize and tag linguistic data from the German variety of Cimbrian, spoken in the so called Tredici Comuni (provincia di Verona), Sette Comuni (provincia di Vicenza) and in Lusern/a (provincia di Trento).
The project is funded by the Cariverona Foundation, Verona.

Participants in the project:
• B. Alber
• S. Rabanus
• A. Tomaselli

2009 – 2011
The interpretive correlates of reflexivization in the languages of Europe and India. In cooperation with UiL-OTS, Utrecht University.
This project, which offers joint supervision by Verona and Utrecht researchers, is linked to two projects currently undertaken at the UiL-OTS (Utrecht University) on the reflexivization processes occurring in natural languages, studied at both the typological/descriptive and the theoretical/explanatory levels:
- a first project (coordinated by E. Reuland) aiming at the decomposition of linguistic universals regarding reflexivization phenomena, so as to make them more plausible in cognitive and evolutionary terms;
- a second project on Indian languages, aiming at an accurate description of their reflexivization phenomena, coordinated by M. Everaert, and conducted in collaboration with K.V. Subbarao from Delhi University.
The Verona-Utrecht project will deal with the interpretive aspects of reflexivization. First, the available data-base will allow to identify constructions expressing an interpretation similar to that expressed in many European languages by reflexive or reciprocal pronouns, or by equivalent markers. Then, the task will be to find out which other interpretations may be expressed by these constructions in the given language(s).

Participants in the project:
• D. Delfitto
• G. Graffi
• P. Cotticelli

2008 – present

The internal Structure of Constraint Systems. Joint project with Alan Prince, Rutgers University.

The goal of this project is to determine with full exactness the detailed structure of constraint interactions in a grammar. The empirical side of the project is focused on the typology of word stress. We are developing an explicit procedure which extracts the higher-level properties of predicted stress systems from the fine-grained lower-level information present in the evaluation by the constraints.
The project has been funded by a Cooperint-fellowship 2008, University of Verona, to Birgit Alber.

Participant in the project:
• B. Alber

2008 (submitted)
Comparison and formalization of the LIS (Italian Sign Language) and the LSF (Langue Française des signes): Towards an automatic translation / Comparaison et formalisation de la LSF et de la LIS: vers une traduction automatique. Galileo Program 2008-2009. In cooperation with the University of Bordeaux.

Participants in the project:
• Denis Delfitto
• Gaetano Fiorin
• Chiara Melloni

2008
Modelling propositional attributions and pronominal anaphora. In cooperation with the University of Bordeaux 1, LaBRI.

Participant in the project:
• Denis Delfitto

2007 – present (up to 2010)
Bantu, Chinese, Romance nouns and noun phrases. European Network directed by L.L. Cheng. Participating Institutions: Leiden University, SOAS, University of Essex, ZAS, University of Verona, University of Trieste and University of Trento. Financier: NWO Council for the Humanities (D36900: language and literature studies of other language groups).
This project proposes to bring together Bantu linguists with Chinese and Romance linguists who have published extensively in the nominal domain.
http://web.mac.com/llcheng/NWO_Network/Network_Home.html

Participants in the project:
• Denis Delfitto
• Gaetano Fiorin
• Chiara Melloni
• Bianca Basciano

2007 – present
Linguistic development in dyslexic children. In cooperation with UiL-OTS, Utrecht University (project: Language, learning and dyslexia lab, directed by F. Wijnen).

Participants in the project:
• Gaetano Fiorin (Verona-Utrecht joint PhD program)
• Maria Vender

2003 – present
MorBo/Comp project. Directed by Sergio Scalise, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the Bologna University.
http://morbo.lingue.unibo.it/

Participants in the project:
• Chiara Melloni: research on various aspects of the theory of compounding (headedness, classification, typology), data collection and analysis, responsible for the description of Russian compounding and supervision of other Slavic languages
• Bianca Basciano: data collection and anaysis of Chinese compounds

2004 – 2007

Language genesis and evolution . In cooperation with UiL-OTS, Utrecht University, and the University of Trieste.

Participants in the project:
• Denis Delfitto
• Gaetano Fiorin
• Chiara Melloni

Other projects:

Positively evaluated PRIN (national research projects):

2007
• Semantic aspects of complex lexical units. Directed by S. Scalise (University of Bologna).

2006
• Natural language ontology and models of linguistic variation. Directed by D. Delfitto (University of Verona).

2004
• A case study in parametric linguistics: Clausal structures and subordination. Directed by G. Longobardi (University of Trieste).

2003
• Synchronic and diachronic variation in the Indoeuropean languages of Europe: Formal and semantic typology of the temporal/aspectual domain. Directed by P.M. Bertinetto (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa).