Morphosyntactic Microvariation in the Aeolian Dialects

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My proposed doctoral research sets out to investigate and compare select morpho-syntactic structures in the dialects ofthe Aeolian archipelago, situated just off the coast of the north-eastern corner of Sicily, which includes the seven islandsof Lipari, Salina, Vulcano, Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi, and Alicudi. The specific structures I intend to analyze includedirect object marking (DOM), in these dialects realized through the preposition 'a'; forms and distribution of spatial deicticsystems (ternary chistu/chissu/chiddu vs binary chistu/chiddu systems and long (chistu) vs short (stu/ssu) forms); and thevariation in syntactic conditions constraining the distribution of rafforzamento/raddoppiamento fonosintattico (RF).Through extensive fieldwork and examination of popular texts, i.e. traditional songs and proverbs, I plan to document andanalyze the precise realization and microvariation of these particular syntactic phenomena across the islands. Such ananalysis would constitute an original contribution to Italian dialectology, as these dialects have never been studied from asyntactic perspective, and can yield important insights on key theoretical considerations, such as case marking and theprecise characterization of definiteness and its relationship to referentiality. My master's thesis, in progress, whichinvestigates complementizer systems in three of the seven islands (Lipari, Salina, Stromboli), will serve as an importantpilot study for my proposed project.