Lexicon-syntax interface and subject pro. A longitudinal study on Child Italian

The l-syntax structure of a verb determines the clausal confi guration in which a verb can appear in. That is, the verb class determines a cluster of syntactic behaviors such as the auxiliary selection in compound tensed forms: unaccusatives selects essere (to be) while unergativesand transitives avere to have. The relations holding within the elements of the lexical VP influence the derivation through t he higher clausal functional projections and determine the overt syntax of a sentence [2]. The main purpose of this st udy is to investigate whether the l-syntax truly influences the higher syntactic derivation in children’s sp ontaneous speech and at which stage this phenomenon takes place in the acquisition of Italian.