Abstract
In this work we consider Italian special questions expressing surprise and question-exclamatives expressing surprise-disapproval. Both sentence types are introduced by the adversative particle ma. In order to better understand the role of prosody and gesture in these structures with respect to syntax, we run some experiments of sentence production and sentence elicitation. The results point to an integrated model of the three components: syntax prosody and gestures. We will show in fact that the appropriate prosody and gesture are triggered by a dedicated projection in the syntactic structure, which is read off at the interface with the sensorimotor component.
About the authors
Alessandra Giorgi is Professor of General Linguistics and Theoretical Linguistics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. She is the author of the volumes Tense and Aspect, (with Fabio Pianesi) and About the Speaker, Oxford University Press. Her main research interests are the interfaces between syntax and interpretation and syntax and prosody/gesture. She is also currently involved in a project about the syntax of Modern Eastern Armenian.
Chiara Dal Farra is a doctoral student in Linguistics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, under the supervision of A. Giorgi. She is writing her dissertation in syntax, on the properties defining island structures. She is also interested in the properties of focus constructions and is working on an integrated model of syntax, gestures and prosody.
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