Syntactic doubling
Encyclopedia
Syntactic gemination, or syntactic doubling, is an external sandhi phenomenon in Italian
and some other Western Romance languages
. It consists in the lengthening (gemination
) of the initial consonant after words of certain categories.
The phenomenon is variously referred to in the English language as word-initial gemination, phonosyntactic consonantal gemination, as well as under the native Italian terms: raddoppiamento sintattico (RS), raddoppiamento fonosintattico (RF), raddoppiamento iniziale, rafforzamento iniziale (della consonante)
In standard Italian, syntactic doubling occurs after the following words (with exceptions described below):
Article
s, clitic
pronoun
s (mi, ti, lo, etc.) and various particles do not cause doubling.
The cases of doubling are commonly classified into "stress-induced doubling" and "lexical".
"Syntactic" means that gemination spans word boundaries, as opposed to the ordinary geminated consonants as e.g., in "grappa
". The emergence of syntactic doubling has traditionally been explained by a diachronic phenomenon of the loss of terminal consonants in Italian during its evolution from the Latin language (e.g. ad->a, quid->qui, etc.), however more recent research also pays attention to synchronic aspects.
Syntactic doubling is standard native pronunciation in Tuscan, Central (both "stress-induced" and "lexical") and Southern Italy (only "lexical"), including Sicily
and Corsica
. In Northern Italian versions of standard Italian, including Sardinia
, speakers have difficulty using it correctly because of their dialectal substratum
.
Syntactic doubling usually is not reflected in spelling, unless a new word is produced by the fusion of the two: "chi sa"-> chissà ("who knows" in the sense goodness knows). In phonetic transcription, e.g., in the Zingarelli
dictionary, the words that lead to syntactic doubling have an asterisk appended; e.g., the preposition "a" is transcribed as /a*/.
There are other considerations, especially in various dialects, so that the initial gemination is in fact subject to complicated lexical, syntactic, and phonological/prosodic
conditions.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and some other Western Romance languages
Western Romance languages
The Western Romance languages are one of the primary subdivisions of the Romance languages. They include at least the following:* The Pyrenean–Mozarabic group consists of two languages in two separate branches:**Aragonese**Mozarabic...
. It consists in the lengthening (gemination
Gemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
) of the initial consonant after words of certain categories.
The phenomenon is variously referred to in the English language as word-initial gemination, phonosyntactic consonantal gemination, as well as under the native Italian terms: raddoppiamento sintattico (RS), raddoppiamento fonosintattico (RF), raddoppiamento iniziale, rafforzamento iniziale (della consonante)
In standard Italian, syntactic doubling occurs after the following words (with exceptions described below):
- all stressed ("strong") monosyllables (monosillabi forti) and many unstressed ("weak") monosyllables: è, e, o, a, da, fra, che, se, ma, più, può, gru, gnu, re, blu, tre, ciò, sì, già, giù, là, lì, qua, qui, né, sci, tè
- Example: Andiamo a casa [anˈdjaːmo akˈkaːsa], Let's go home
- all polysyllables stressed on the final vowel (this and the previous types are called oxytoneOxytoneAn oxytone is a word with the stress on the last syllable, such as the English words correct and reward. A paroxytone is stressed on the penultimate syllable. A proparoxytone is stressed on the antepenultimate syllable.-See also:*Barytone...
words)- Example: Parigi è una città bellissima [paˈriːd͡ʒi ɛ una t͡ʃitˈtabbelˈlissima], Paris is a very beautiful city
- some paroxytoneParoxytoneParoxytone is a linguistic term for a word with stress on the penultimate syllable, that is, the syllable before the last syllable, e.g, the English word potato...
words (stress on the second last syllable): come, dove, qualche, sopra (sovra)- Example: Come va? [ˈkomevˈva], How are you?
Article
Article (grammar)
An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and some...
s, clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s (mi, ti, lo, etc.) and various particles do not cause doubling.
The cases of doubling are commonly classified into "stress-induced doubling" and "lexical".
"Syntactic" means that gemination spans word boundaries, as opposed to the ordinary geminated consonants as e.g., in "grappa
Grappa
Grappa is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume...
". The emergence of syntactic doubling has traditionally been explained by a diachronic phenomenon of the loss of terminal consonants in Italian during its evolution from the Latin language (e.g. ad->a, quid->qui, etc.), however more recent research also pays attention to synchronic aspects.
Syntactic doubling is standard native pronunciation in Tuscan, Central (both "stress-induced" and "lexical") and Southern Italy (only "lexical"), including Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
. In Northern Italian versions of standard Italian, including Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, speakers have difficulty using it correctly because of their dialectal substratum
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
.
Syntactic doubling usually is not reflected in spelling, unless a new word is produced by the fusion of the two: "chi sa"-> chissà ("who knows" in the sense goodness knows). In phonetic transcription, e.g., in the Zingarelli
Zingarelli
Zingarelli is the classic modern Italian monolingual dictionary.Described as a Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana di Nicola Zingarelli, it is published annually by the Zanichelli publishing house.The first edition is dated 1917....
dictionary, the words that lead to syntactic doubling have an asterisk appended; e.g., the preposition "a" is transcribed as /a*/.
Exceptions to the basic rules
Consonant gemination does not happen when:- a pausePausePause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop.Examples:* Fermata, a musical pause of indefinite duration* Pause key, the Pause/Break key on computer keyboards...
occurs on the boundary of word in question- In particular, the initial gemination may be conditioned by syntax, determining the likelihood of pause. For example, in the phrase "La volpe ne aveva mangiato metà prima di addormentarsi" ("The fox had eaten half of it before falling asleep"), there is no gemination after metà if there is even a slight pause, as prima is part of the adjunctAdjunct (grammar)In linguistics, an adjunct is an optional, or structurally dispensable, part of a sentence that, when removed, will not affect the remainder of the sentence except to discard from it some auxiliary information...
, a sentence element easily isolated phonologically from the main clause within the prosodic hierarchy of the phrase.
- In particular, the initial gemination may be conditioned by syntax, determining the likelihood of pause. For example, in the phrase "La volpe ne aveva mangiato metà prima di addormentarsi" ("The fox had eaten half of it before falling asleep"), there is no gemination after metà if there is even a slight pause, as prima is part of the adjunct
- the stressed final vowel is lengthened
- a sharp break or change in the pitchIntonation (linguistics)In linguistics, intonation is variation of pitch while speaking which is not used to distinguish words. It contrasts with tone, in which pitch variation does distinguish words. Intonation, rhythm, and stress are the three main elements of linguistic prosody...
on the word boundary happens
There are other considerations, especially in various dialects, so that the initial gemination is in fact subject to complicated lexical, syntactic, and phonological/prosodic
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
conditions.