Sardinian adjectives with N-i-A structure

PUTZU, IGNAZIO EFISIO;PINTO, IMMACOLATA;PAULIS, GIULIO

2012-01-01

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Abstract

With this work we provide, for the first time, a systematic description of one of the most frequent adjectival compounds in the Central-Northern Sardinian varieties, namely the adjectives with N-i-A structure. The analysis is carried out at semantic, phonological, and morpho-syntactic levels, from a synchronic point of view. The analysis shows how the first and second constituents of the compound are strictly linked together through the -i-element, and that they give rise to a hierarchical relationship, in which the noun is the subordinate member from both a morpho-syntactic and semantic point of view. In particular, the semantic and morpho-syntactic analysis figures out the main peculiarities of this structure, mostly shared with Spanish (see the non-internal agreement between the first (N) and second constituent (A) which opposes Sardinian and Spanish to Italian).