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There is no agreement among generative scholars about the extension of the class of the so-called pseudo-relative constructions. It is also standard practice/procedure to equate them with 'predicative relatives' of traditional and... more
There is no agreement among generative scholars about the extension of the class of the so-called pseudo-relative constructions. It is also standard practice/procedure to equate them with 'predicative relatives' of traditional and non-generative studies, but even such studies differ as far as the extension of such a class of relatives is concerned. Our proposal is to consider the 'subject-object asymmetry' as the distinguishing feature of pseudo-relatives: since this asymmetry is exceptionless only after verbs of perception, we conclude that this is the only context where pseudo-relatives constructions occur. We propose that such constructions form a 'Larsonian shell', where the antecedent is the subject and the pseudo-relative clause is the predicate.
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ABSTRACT In the tradition of generative grammar, two different definitions of "subject" have been proposed: we name the first one "structural", since it is based on the constituent structure of the... more
ABSTRACT In the tradition of generative grammar, two different definitions of "subject" have been proposed: we name the first one "structural", since it is based on the constituent structure of the sentence, and the second one "thematic", because it makes use of the concept of thematic role. We argue that both definitions are necessary, since they deal with two different entities, i.e. the structural subject and the thematic subject, which are to be kept distinct. In particular, we show that opacity phenomena are induced by the "thematic" subject, and not by the "structural" one (in showing this, we make use of the notion of "Complete Functional Complex" recently proposed by Chomsky); this kind of analysis allows us to dispense with the so-called "i-within-i condition", which appears theoretically unsound. Some cases of behavior of anaphors which seem to run against our proposal are also discussed, and it is shown that they can be accounted for on the basis of independent principles.
The paper focuses on the debate as it is dealt with in chapter 4 of Chomsky (1986), where the MIT linguist defends his own view of “knowledge of language”, especially answering some objections by Dummett. In this same chapter Chomsky also... more
The paper focuses on the debate as it is dealt with in chapter 4 of Chomsky (1986), where the MIT linguist defends his own view of “knowledge of language”, especially answering some objections by Dummett. In this same chapter Chomsky also discusses some conclusions drawn by Kripke (1982) about the notion of “private language”, following and developing Wittgenstein’s view on the issue: Kripke’s arguments are not directed against Chomsky’s view of language and knowledge of language, but, if they were shown to be tenable, they would undermine the whole theoretical construction of generative grammar, as Chomsky himself (1986: 226) suggests. The paper therefore examines Chomsky’s answers to Kripke and Dummett and tries to give an assessment of the debate.  Chomsky’s answers appear as essentially convincing; this does not mean, however, that the issue of what “knowledge of language” is has really found a completely satisfactory answer. This problem is dealt with in the final part of this paper, also referring to some suggestions by a cognitive scientist (Pylyshyn 1980; 1984).
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The well known difficulties of the definition of "transitive verb" found in the school grammars ("a verb which expresses the action that passes from the subject to the object") can be overcome by examining the origin of the term... more
The well known difficulties of the definition of "transitive verb" found in the school grammars ("a verb which expresses the action that passes from the subject to the object") can be overcome by examining the origin of the term "transitive" in Greek and Latin grammarians, where it refers primarily not to the "passage of the action", but to the "change of the grammatical person".
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The aim of the paper is to propose a restoration of three passages of Thomas of Erfurt’s Modi significandi (or Grammatica speculativa) as they appear in Bursill-Hall’s edition (a critical edition of the text is still lacking): as a matter... more
The aim of the paper is to propose a restoration of three passages of Thomas of Erfurt’s Modi significandi (or Grammatica speculativa) as they appear in Bursill-Hall’s edition (a critical edition of the text is still lacking): as a matter of fact, they look contradictory with the overall doctrine of the Modistic grammarian. To this end, a tentative reconstruction of the tradition of the text is presented, from the most ancient manuscripts (especially, Clm 22294) until the most influential printed editions (Waddding 1939, Fernández García 1902, Bursill-Hall 1972). On this philological basis, a new reading of the involved passages is proposed, where the contradictions referred to above disappear.
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The paper examines the different ways in which the notion of ‘recursion’ has been conceived and defined in linguistics, from Chomsky’s early works to the present day. Two meanings appear to especially stand out: recursion as an iterative... more
The paper examines the different ways in which the notion of ‘recursion’ has been conceived and defined in linguistics, from Chomsky’s early works  to the present day. Two meanings appear to especially stand out: recursion as an iterative operation and recursion as self-embedding of structures. Furthermore, it is argued that a particular type of self-embedding, namely the clausal one, has been the focus of attention of most linguists, independently of the theoretical frameworks they subscribe to.
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Titolo del volume: Interpretazioni filosofiche dell’Esamerone nella letteratura medievale / Philosophical Interpretations of the Hexaëmeron in Medieval Literature, a cura di / edited by Giovanni Catapano, Fabio Zanin. Articoli di:... more
Titolo del volume: Interpretazioni filosofiche dell’Esamerone nella letteratura medievale / Philosophical Interpretations of the Hexaëmeron in Medieval Literature, a cura di / edited by Giovanni Catapano, Fabio Zanin.
Articoli di: Enrico Moro, Adriana Farenga, Clelia Vittoria Crialesi, Matteo Scozia, Antonio Petagine, Giovanni Catapano, Giorgio Graffi & Stefano Pagliaroli, Andrea Fiamma.
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Summer School STORIA DEL PENSIERO LINGUISTICO E SEMIOTICO Coordinamento Intersocietario per la Storia del Pensiero Linguistico e Semiotico L’evento concreto del parlare. Dalla semantica storica all’esegesi testuale, da Occidente a... more
Summer School
STORIA DEL PENSIERO LINGUISTICO E SEMIOTICO
Coordinamento Intersocietario per la Storia
del Pensiero Linguistico e Semiotico

L’evento concreto del parlare. Dalla semantica storica all’esegesi
testuale, da Occidente a Oriente

La quarta edizione della Scuola estiva del CISPELS è dedicata al parlare
come “evento concreto”, secondo l’espressione programmatica di
Karl Bühler. Nella sua determinatezza e compiutezza, ogni “parlare”
rinvia ai parlanti che lo attualizzano, alle loro enunciazioni, alle
articolazioni della sintassi – attestate, annotate e computate
nei corpora –, alla selezione e composizione discorsiva dei
simboli, alla tessitura testuale. Gli apporti sistematici e originali
di Bréal, Benveniste e Tesnière saranno illustrati da studiosi che
accompagneranno poi i corsisti nella lettura e nel commento di pagine
scelte, nell’illustrazione delle leggi e dei metodi che a loro dobbiamo e
sono tuttora operanti. Il corso orienterà poi il suo sguardo verso Est,
verso la riflessione teorica – metalinguistica e metatestuale – russa di
epoca moderna, risalendo fino alla tradizione – linguistica e simbolica
antica – greca e medio-orientale. Un percorso dalla semantica
storica all’esegesi testuale, e da questa alla restituzione di ogni
testo interpretato all’evento che ne ha determinato la genesi e ne
ha avviato la circolazione culturale.
La Scuola estiva CISPELS 2019, alla sua quarta edizione, continua
quindi l’iniziativa pubblica del Coordinamento Intersocietario per
la Storia del Pensiero Linguistico e Semiotico, nato nel 2014/15 e
cresciuto grazie alla collaborazione di otto Società di area linguisticosemiotica:
l’Associazione Italiana degli Slavisti (AIS), l’Associazione
Italiana di Studi Semiotici (AISS), l’Associazione per la Storia della
Lingua Italiana (ASLI), la Società di Filosofia del Linguaggio (SFdL),
la Società Italiana di Filologia Romanza (SIFR), la Società italiana di
Glottologia (SIG), la Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI), e arricchitosi
nel 2019 con l’ingresso della Società Italiana per lo Studio del Pensiero
Medievale (SISPM).
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