The instrument-subject alternation in the dialect of Reggio Emilia

Abstract

Abstract This paper is dedicated to a cross-linguistic comparison of the Instrument-Subject Alternation in Italian and the dialect of Reggio Emilia. This phenomenon lies at the interface between semantics and syntax. It is syntactic in nature but ruled by two main semantic constraints, i.e., the Constraint on the Instrumental Subrole and the Deliberation Constraint. The comparative analysis reveals that the semantic constraints that rule the Instrument-Subject Alternation hold for both Italian and the dialect of Reggio Emilia. Differences between the two languages are found in the lexicon, i.e., in the way the two languages lexicalize the same concepts.