Perfect auxiliary alternation: an investigation into the Campanian dialects

在罗曼语中，形成过去时的一种方法是使用助动词后跟过去分词。助词是一个提供时间和方面价值信息的词，例如，一个动作是否已经完成。在罗曼语中，有两个源自拉丁语的助词，相当于英语中的“HAVE”和“BE”。一种辅助物或另一种辅助物的选择已被证明不是随机的。及物动词，即带直接宾语的动词，通常用HAVE，而不及物动词的行为则有所不同。有些不及物动词要求使用HAVE，有些则选择BE。学者们试图理解不及物句中助动词的变化，并提出了不同的理论。有些人研究了动词的参数，也就是动词为了使句子有意义所需要的元素，他们比较了这些元素的语义属性。这些论点可以从非常主动到非常耐心不等。使用这一框架的学者提出，及物动词和选择助动词have的不及物动词的共同点是其主语的高度能动性。另一方面，不及物动词中选择BE作为助动词的主语与不及物动词的宾语类似，更像耐心。这是一种对齐方式，换句话说，就是动词参数的模式和标记方式。分析这一现象的另一种方法是将及物词和“HAVE”（选择不及物词）和“BE”（选择不及物词）分别归类，而不提及及物词的宾语。人们已经注意到，随着时间的推移，不同种类的某些动词会从选择一种助动词切换到选择另一种助动词。这种变化不是随机发生的。相同类型的动词在不同种类中从使用BE变为使用have。这就是为什么Sorace提出了一个可以用两种方式理解的框架。第一种方法是把所有动词放在一个连续体上。一端是选择BE的核心动词，另一端是选择HAVE的核心动词。边缘的动词是最后一个从一种助动词切换到另一种助动词的。另一方面，中间的动词首先受到特定方言不断变化的影响。另一种观察框架的方法是看到两组同心圆彼此相邻。内圈表示核心动词，外圈表示外围动词。该框架旨在适用于所有品种。换句话说，动词类型的层次结构被认为在所有罗曼语变体中是相同的，甚至可能扩展到世界上所有使用助词的语言变体中。在Sorace的框架中，选择“BE”的核心类别是定向动作动词和表达状态变化的动词。然而，Cennamo发现，在意大利南部的坎帕尼亚方言中，运动动词由于其不稳定的行为，有时选择“BE”，有时选择“HAVE”，根据Sorace的框架，应该被归类为外围动词。根据这些发现，Sorace框架的普遍性可能会受到质疑。因此，这项研究的目的是通过面对面访谈的方式收集坎帕尼亚方言的数据，然后分析这些数据，看看它们是否证实了Cennamo的发现。我的发现不仅可以帮助我们更深入地了解助词选择，还可以增强我们对语法是什么以及它如何随着时间的推移而演变的理解。我的研究将有一个社会的，严格地说，非学术的方面，我们将努力促进方言的地位，从而帮助恢复对他们的污名化的趋势。

In the Romance languages, one way to form the past tense is to use an auxiliary followed by a past-participle. An auxiliary is a word which gives information about temporal as well as aspectual value, i.e. whether or not an action has been completed, for instance. In the Romance languages, there are two auxiliaries derived from Latin, which are the equivalent of 'HAVE' and 'BE' in English. The selection of one auxiliary or the other has been shown not to be random. Transitive verbs, i.e. verbs which take a direct object, are usually found with 'HAVE', while the behaviour of intransitive verbs has been shown to vary. While some intransitives require the use of 'HAVE', others select 'BE'. Scholars have tried to make sense of auxiliary alternation in intransitives and they have come up with different theories. Some have looked at the arguments that a verb takes, that is the elements which are required by the verb in order for a sentence to make sense, and they have compared the semantic properties of those elements. Those arguments can be placed on a scale ranging from very agentive to very patient-like. Scholars using this framework have proposed that what transitives and the intransitives which select auxiliary 'HAVE' have in common is the high agentivity of their subject. On the other hand, the subjects of intransitives which select 'BE' as an auxiliary are more patient-like, in a similar way to objects of transitives. This a type of alignment, or in other words, how verb arguments pattern and how they are marked. Another way to analyse the phenomenon is to group transitives and 'HAVE'-selecting intransitives on the one hand, and 'BE'-selecting intransitives on the other, without mentioning objects of transitives. It has been noticed that over time certain verbs across varieties have switched from selecting one auxiliary to selecting the other one. This change has not occurred randomly. The same types of verbs have switched from using 'BE' to using 'HAVE' across varieties. This is why Sorace came up with a framework which can be understood in two ways. The first one is to place all verbs on a continuum. One end represents core verbs which select 'BE' and the other end is that of core verbs using 'HAVE'. The verbs at the edges are the last to switch from using one auxiliary to the other. Verbs in the middle, on the other hand, are the first affected by ongoing changes in a specific dialect. Another way to look at the framework is to see two sets of concentric circles one next to the other. The inner circles represent core verbs while the outer circles are verbs on the periphery. The framework was intended to be applicable to all varieties. In other words, the hierarchy of verb types was thought to be the same across all Romance varieties and perhaps even extended to all varieties using auxiliaries in the world's languages in general. In Sorace's framework, the core categories selecting 'BE' are directed motion verbs and verbs which express a change of state. However, Cennamo found that in Campanian dialects, which are spoken in the South of Italy, motion verbs, due to their unstable behaviour, at times selecting 'BE' and at other times selecting 'HAVE', should be classified as peripheral verbs according to Sorace's framework. In the light of these findings, the universality of Sorace's framework might be questioned. The aim of this research will thus be to collect data on Campanian dialects, through the medium of face-to-face interviews, and then analyse the data in order to see whether they confirm Cennamo's findings.My findings will not only help us gain a deeper insight into auxiliary selection but also enhance our understanding of what a grammar is and how it evolves over time. There wil be a social, strictly speaking non-academic, side to my research where we will try to foster the status of the dialects, thus helping to revert the tendency towards their stigmatization.