Exploiting microvariation: How to make the best of your incomplete data

Abstract

In this article we discuss the use of big corpuses or databases as a first step for qualitative analysis of linguistic data. We concentrate on ASIt, the Syntactic Atlas of Italy, and take into consideration the different types of dialectal data that can be collected from similar corpora and databases. We analyze all the methodological problems derived from the necessary compromise between the strict requirements imposed by a scientific inquiry and the management of big amounts of data. As a possible solution, we propose that the type of variation is per se a tool to derive meaningful generalizations. To implement this idea, we examine three different types of variation patterns that can be used in the study of morpho-syntax: the geographical distribution of properties (and their total or partial overlapping, or complementary distribution), the so-called leopard spots variation, and the lexical variation index, which can be used to determine the internal complexity of functional items.

Language history on fast forward: Innovations in heritage languages and diachronic change

“…It is hard to document slow changes, especially in the absence of recorded data; this luxury is available for Amharic and Romance, but not for many other languages. In the absence of historical documents, researchers have relied on other means, such as computational modelling of change (see Baker, 2008;Kirby, 2017, for overviews), microvariation across dialects (e.g., Brandner, 2012;Garzonio & Poletto, 2018), or child language data (Lightfoot, 1991(Lightfoot, , 1999Yang, 2003Yang, , 2016. In this paper, we propose a novel testbed for language change phenomena: minority or heritage languages.…”

A Quantitative Approach to Microvariation: Negative Marking in Central Romance

“…. incomplete data" (Garzonio and Poletto 2018) and accept the limits of tools designed more than a century ago. A quantitative perspective, in my opinion, is the safest way to revive the data contained in atlases such as the AIS and ALF by limiting possible biases that are intrinsic to traditional dialectological enterprises.…”

“…III, pp. 130-338;Garzonio 2008;Garzonio and Poletto 2018;Dagnac 2015;Palasis 2015;Pescarini and Donzelli 2017;Poletto and Oliviéri 2018;Guilliot and Becerra-Zita 2019). Even though many studies have been carried out on the topic in recent times, "there are still too many unidentified factors that might play a role in the doubling mechanism" (Poletto 2016, p. 837).…”

Expletive Subject Clitics in Northern Italo-Romance

“…In addition to statistics, Garzonio and Poletto (2018) suggest that associations between syntactic variables can be tentatively established on the basis of syntactic isoglosses. In particular, they argue that when the area of diffusion of phenomenon A is contained in the area of diffusion of phenomenon B, then one can conclude that "the phenomenon that is more largely represented is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the occurrence of the second".…”