SynFuMIR
Syntactic functionality of motion verbs in Italo-Romance

Project

The project SynFuMIR investigates the syntactic functionality of motion verbs in regional Italian. Functionality is a crucial property of language because it enables the construction of complex structures from lexical units. The functional behavior of motion verbs will be analyzed with new data from multilingual speakers of Southern Italy. New reflections on this topic will arise from focusing on language contact between extremely closely related languages (Italian, regional Italian, dialect), which present slightly different but comparable constructions.

The central goal of the project is to identify the grammatical features that allow motion verbs to behave functionally, shedding light on syntactic functionality, and to clarify the role of “location” as a crucial ingredient for functionality (and for non-canonical argument structure). In particular, the main hypothesis is that the presence of a “location/place” projection in the syntactic spine of the clauses containing such verbs is exactly what enables their functional behavior.

This study enhances our understanding of functionality as a key element of the faculty of language. Beyond its theoretical relevance, the project contributes to language documentation, the study of language contact (micro-contact), and research on multilingualism and bilectalism. It also has a strong social and cultural impact: by actively involving speakers, SynFuMIR promotes awareness of linguistic diversity and supports the recognition of regional Italians and dialects as fully-fledged languages.

SynFuMIR

Outputs

This section collects outputs related to the SynFuMIR project, including conference presentations, invited talks, dissemination events, and publications.
Updates will be added as the project progresses.

Presentations

  • “The syntax of Italian pronominal motion verbs”, 51 Incontro di Grammatica Generativa (IGG51), Udine, 12-14/02/2026
  • “SI makes unaccusative verbs unergative: the case of Italian pronominal motion verbs”, International Workshop on Romance SE/SI Constructions, Barcelona, 23/01/2026

Participate

If you are a speaker from Sicilia, Calabria or Puglia, and if you regularly use both Italian and a regional variety or dialect, you can actively contribute to SynFuMIR by filling out the questionnaire used to collect data on motion verbs in regional Italian and dialects. By taking part, you support linguistic research and help document understudied varieties.
All data are collected anonymously and used exclusively for scientific purposes. Data collection is online.

If you are interested in participating or sharing the questionnaire within your community, please get in touch.

Team

Irene Amato

Principal Investigator