The role of diminutive suffixes in the Italian Time Nouns constructions: From approximation to focus?

Abstract

The time nouns (TNs), minuto (‘minute’), momento (‘moment’), attimo (‘instant’) can be part of constructions in which they keep all their categorial and syntactic properties, but also in constructions which seem to undergo a process of grammaticalisation: loss of categorial property of nominal inflection; the sequence DET+TN (un attimo, un momento, un minuto) can no longer be interrupted by modifiers nor have postnominal modifiers; semantic shift from the original temporal meaning to the more general meaning of a ‘(small) indefinite amount’, to continue towards more properly grammatical values of quantifiers to pragmatic values of hedges, alerter and textual marker of focus. Interestingly, while the original temporal constructions do not occur in diminutive forms, the departure from temporal meaning makes the use of diminutive forms possible. The article explores in which cases they are allowed and the semantic and textual factors which contribute to their presence.