Prosody and Syntactic Doubling in Sequences with (Double) Enclisis in Italian Dialect

Abstract

The article «Prosodie et Raddoppiamento Sintattico dans les séquences à (double) enclise dans les dialectes italiens» delves into the intricate relationship between accent placement, syllabic weight, and the phenomenon of Syntactic Doubling in Italo-Romance dialects. In these dialects, a unique prosodic constraint known as the three-morae constraint governs the placement of stress, ensuring that the stress does not precede the third mora from the word's end. The author explores how in the context of verbal commands with clitics, the stress can shift and trigger consonantal doubling in the second clitic. This constraint crucially influences the phonological process known as Raddoppiamento Sintattico (RS), where the initial consonant of the second clitic undergoes gemination. This gemination is phonologically triggered by the displaced accent, which is sensitive to the syllabic weight, marking a significant aspect of Italo-Romance phonetics and phonology. The article analyzes this interaction through both diachronic and synchronic lenses, providing a robust framework for understanding the quantitative strategies of accentuation in these dialects, shaped by historical linguistic patterns derived from Latin.