http://hdl.handle.net/10278/89 Mon, 20 May 2013 18:22:51 GMT 2013-05-20T18:22:51Z http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2957 Title: On Verb Movement in Brazilian Portuguese: A Cartographic Study Author⁄s: Tescari Neto, Aquiles Abstract: This thesis investigates the issue of Verbal raising in Brazilian Portuguese, from a Cartographic perspective, mainly based on Cinque (1999). Since adverbs and floating quantifiers have been traditionally taken as diagnostics for V-movement, the starting point of this investigation is to test the validity of such diagnostics from a Cartographic lens. This is achieved on the basis of Romance and English. It is suggested that "lower ("left-edge") adverbs are reliable diagnostics for V-raising, given the fact that, even in English, the V must raise past (some of) them. It is also explained why "higher adverbs" and Universal Floating Quantifiers are not (reliable) diagnostics, on the basis of their position of Merge in the Cinque Hierarchy and the assignment of scope to them (à la Kayne 1998). The thesis suggest, from a Cartographic perspective, that Brazilian Portuguese has Verbal Raising which is limited to a medial projection in the clause, namely, T-Anterior. Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2957 2012-12-31T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2542 Title: La sintassi delle espressioni nominali latine Author⁄s: Iovino, Rossella Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2542 2011-12-31T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2272 Title: Antisymmetry and Sign Languages: A Comparison between NGT and LIS Author⁄s: Brunelli, Michele Abstract: This aim of this dissertation is to provide a first (partial) account for a wide range of syntactic constructions in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) within an antisymmetric framework. On the one hand, it tries to evaluate the attested crosslinguistic variation between these two languages; on the other hand, it assesses whether the observed differences can be derived from a strict specifier-head-complement deep structure where only leftward movement occurs. Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10278/2272 2010-12-31T23:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10278/1465 Title: The acquisition of relative clauses and phi-features : evidence from hearing and hearing-impaired populations Author⁄s: Volpato, Francesca Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the production and comprehension of subject (OS) and object (OO) restrictive relative clauses in various hearing and hearing-impaired populations (cochlear-implanted children, adolescent LIS signers, hearing children, hearing adolescents, and hearing adults). An agent selection task and an elicited production task were adopted to test the individuals’ competence. The analysis of the comprehension showed that a significant difference between hearing-impaired and hearing subjects was attested in the 223 different combinations of number features. In any case, for all participants a typical gradient of difficulty was found. OSs are easier than OOs, and OOs are easier than object relatives with a postverbal subject (OOp). In the production task, the asymmetry between OSs and OOs was replicated. OSs were produced more easily than OOs. Different response strategies were adopted when an OOs was targeted; the pattern of response varied according to the linguistic maturation achieved. The performance of the participants was explained by attraction phenomena and recent linguistic proposals on locality and agreement. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 23:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10278/1465 2009-12-31T23:00:00Z