The ‘MIXPAR’ project

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents an overview of a project aimed at creating and developing an extensive database of mixed perfective auxiliation systems. The project, named MIXPAR (MIXed PARadigms), compiles comprehensive data on mixed paradigms attested across a wide range of Italo-Romance dialects, in which the two auxiliaries have (H) and be (E) alternate intraparadigmatically, giving rise to diverse distributional patterns. After a brief introduction to the notion of mixed paradigms in Italo-Romance, the paper describes the core structure of the database by outlining the main dimensions of variation, each encoded as an individual variable with clearly defined values, including Form, Cell, Auxiliary, Dialect classification, among others. Each variable is discussed together with the methodological challenges involved in its annotation, such as the assignment of values in cases of ambiguity or overlap. Despite these challenges, the database is designed as a robust and extensible resource that contributes both to the documentation of mixed auxiliation systems and to the broader study of inflectional paradigms in Romance dialectology.