A03

Project Overview

The syntactic status of negative concord (NC) is still debated. Some accounts tie NC to a high structural position of negation; others link it to the internal syntax of Negative Concord Items (NCIs). This project addresses that issue by studying how NC in Italian is acquired as a second language.

Research Questions & Theoretical Framework

A key open issue is whether NCIs in NC systems behave like negative quantifiers (e.g., German niemand) or like Negative Polarity Items (NPIs, e.g., English anybody). We examine how cross-linguistic influence from different L1s affects NC acquisition in L2 Italian, focusing on L1 Spanish (an NC system), L1 English (a non-NC system with NPIs and negative quantifiers), and L1 German (a non-NC system with negative quantifiers). We expect structural differences between Italian and these L1s to shape both the learning paths and the outcomes of L2 acquisition.

Methodologies & Data

The relative difficulty of NC for each learner group will inform the nature of Italian NCIs. If NCIs are NPI-like and not inherently negative, L1 English speakers—whose language has both NPIs and negative quantifiers—should acquire them more easily than L1 German speakers and follow a path similar to L1 Spanish speakers. If NCIs are more like negative quantifiers, L1 German and L1 English learners should pattern together and differ clearly from L1 Spanish learners.