Reflexive Clitics in Aromanian

Project Information

AROSYN

Grant agreement ID: 657663

DOI

10.3030/657663

Project closed

EC signature date 27 March 2015

Start date 1 September 2015

End date 31 August 2017

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 183 454,80

EU contribution

€ 183 454,80

Coordinated by

THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AROSYN (Reflexive Clitics in Aromanian)

Reporting period: 2015-09-01 to 2017-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Reflexive/SE-clitics and their role in the argument structure of verbal predicates have posed significant questions for Romance and other languages. This project aims to investigate the morpho-syntax of reflexive/SE-clitics in Romance and their consequences for argument structure, by studying SE-structures in a cluster of Aromanian varieties spoken in North-Western Greece. Aromanian is a highly endangered and understudied Eastern Romance variety which is closely related to Romanian, Megleno-Romanian, and Istro-Romanian, but which has also been in close contact with Greek. Aromanian has SE-clitics which behave differently from SE-clitics in other Romance languages (including Romanian) in significant ways. One of the aims of this project is to compare the Aromanian SE-structures to those reported for Eastern Romance (with an emphasis on Daco-Romance), and Romance more generally, and identify the grammatical features responsible for such variation. This project involves extensive fieldwork on a fairly uncharted dialect, based on solid theoretical assumptions, and differs from previous research in that it follows a micro-parametric approach to dialectal syntax within a small set of closely related varieties.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work carried out throughout the project:

• Comprehensive survey of existing literature on Aromanian varieties targeted by project.

• Comprehensive survey of theoretical work on SE-structures in Romance and Greek.

• Creation of questionnaire for interviews:

Task 1: Translation from Greek to Aromanian – targeted specific structures and conditions involving clitic SE.

Task 2: Acceptability judgments – targeted structures not acceptable in Greek but potentially acceptable in Aromanian

Task 3: Free story –creation of repository of natural speech from a language that is dying.

• Interviews with native speakers (bilingual in Aromanian and Greek) at 4 locations in Metsovo municipality, Greece (villages Anilio, Metsovo, Milia, Votonosi): socio-linguistic profiling used; 24 speakers interviewed.

• Data transcription, glossing and analysis.

Overview of main results:

• Aromanian SE-clitics are very productive, and are found in various structures with (at least partially) distinct properties (on a par with Romance and Greek, among other language groups):

o Passive structures
o Anti-causative structures
o Reflexive & reciprocal structures
o Impersonal structures
o Middle structures

• The whole SE-system is Romance-based but strongly aligned with Greek non-active (medio-passive) system (possibly due to bilingualism).

More specifically:

• SE-passives have syntactic and semantic properties similar to those found in Romance SE-passives but also Greek medio-passives.

• SE-reflexives/reciprocals are ambiguous between a reflexive/reciprocal and passive reading (like Greek, and unlike Romance). However, SE also marks non-naturally reflexive verbs (like in the rest of Romance), whereas Greek uses the non-active voice and afto- or alilo-incorporation.

• SE-middles behave similarly to most Romance languages and Greek (e.g. allow by-phrases), although they are slightly more productive than Greek middles (e.g. compatible with more event types).

• SE-impersonals are intransitive constructions derived from transitive verbs only, on a par with Greek and unlike Romanian and Romance. Additionally, they are not compatible with an object theme DP (unlike Italian or Spanish, but like Romanian or French).

• Anticausative verbs are normally marked by SE, like Romance (Greek has both marked and unmarked anti-causatives). They lack an implicit agent (like Romance and Greek). SE-marking does not correlate with internal/external causation.

• BE-participial constructions are strictly adjectival, like Greek (and unlike most Romance languages (including Romanian), which have both adverbal and adjectival BE-participles). They can be eventive or non-eventive, and are usually found with transitives only (like Greek, and unlike Romance).

• Possession is expressed via a number of strategies whose interaction is structured around factors such as co-referentiality, long- vs. short-distance binding, alienable vs. inalienable possession, and information structure.

• The Aromanian varieties investigated mark certain Stage Level predicates only with a definite clitic which cross-references a deep object/surface subject topic, supporting proposals that BE-predicates have variable structure cross-linguistically.

• 4 research reports

• Proposal for research monograph

• Cambridge Workshop on Voice (CamVoice), 22-24 May 2017

• 12 presentations at international peer reviewed conferences & as invited guest

• 2 dissemination events for the local Metsovo municipality

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

• Novel and significant data from a cluster of undocumented and socio-linguistically unique varieties, using modern theoretical tools for data collection and analysis.

• First time a micro-comparative approach was used, which shows that variation among closely related varieties is systematic (competing strategies form subset relationships, on the basis of features).

• Multiple publications on various empirical and theoretical aspects of Aromanian SE-structures to be made available to researchers and non-researchers alike.

• Raw data can form the basis for a future digital archive, universally and long-distance accessible.

• The role of bilingualism in the generation of novel grammars: Aromanian SE shares many properties with Greek non-active voice, although in many respects it behaves like Romance SE.

Distribution is both Romance-like and Greek-like; morphology is Romance-like; productivity is also Romance-like, at least for passives, middles, anti-causatives and reflexives/middles; semantics and syntax are Greek-like. This means that what sounds like Romance may be more Greek-like underneath.

• Romanian (and Eastern Romance more generally, including Southern Italo-Romance) seems to be closer to Aromanian (and Greek) compared to standard Romance, in relation to certain phenomena. For example, Romanian (but also Spanish) may allow by-phrases with short (SE) passives, under strict conditions (at least for some speakers), contrary to most Romance languages. On the other hand, Aromanian uses them freely, on a par with Greek. Moreover, it lacks verbal BE-passives, like Greek and unlike Romanian. Finally, although a few speakers have a dative reflexive possessor, also found in Romanian (but also in other Romance and non-Romance Balkan languages), its distribution is aligned with non-reflexive possessors in Greek, and tends to be substituted by the null possessor strategy (also available in Greek and Romanian/Romance).

• Non-standard varieties are proper linguistic systems, although they are non-dominant in their use.

• Oral varieties are the natural form of language: they are extremely dynamic, and they are a lab for investigating the interaction of various linguistic sub-systems. In this case, we also have a bilingual setting, which constitutes an additional factor.

• Dissemination events/public engagement: provided a platform for the researcher and the local community to discuss and exchange views on various topics on Aromanian, Greek, other Romance languages, non-standard varieties, oral varieties, endangered varieties and language preservation (heritage), language and culture, language and history, bilingualism and language, language policy, language and identity.

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