Negative Concord in adult L2 acquisition (B02)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 509468465

The project investigates in how far the L2-acquisition of negative concord (NC) languages presupposes the acquisition of negative concord items (NCIs, such as nessuno/niente ‘nobody/nothing’). In particular, we investigate the acquisition of NC in L2 Italian by learners whose L1 is Spanish (a NC system), English (a non-NC system featuring negative polarity items) and German (a non-NC system featuring negative quantifiers). In this way, we aim to shed some new light on the nature of NCIs (whether they are structurally more similar to negative quantifiers or negative polarity items) and their role in the emergence of NC systems.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1629: Negation in language and beyond (NegLaB)
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Project Heads: Dr. Irene Caloi, since 1/2024; Professorin Dr. Cecilia Poletto, since 1/2024; Professor Dr. Jacopo Torregrossa, since 1/2024