A Comparative Syntax of the Dialects of Southern Italy

The book investigates the little studied syntax of the dialects of southern Italy. In addition to providing a descriptive account of a wide range of syntactic phenomena , the discussion shows how the model of language embodied in Chomsky's (1995) Minimalist Program can be profitably extended to the study of the syntax of southern Italian dialects, focusing on such topics as Case-marking and finite, infinitival and participial complementation.

Introduction. 1. Case Marking. 2. Finite and Infinitival Complementation: Null Subjects and Control. 3. The Personal Infinitive. 4. Auxiliary Infinitival Constructions. 5. Auxiliary Selection. 6. Want-passives.