The space of DP in Arbëresh dialects: data and theory

This article examines the agreement system in DPs in some Arbëresh varieties. As we will see, in DPs, the distribution of the inflectional exponents is asymmetric, in the sense that, while the oblique is generally registered on every element in the DP, nominative and accusative are realized only on D or a modifier in its domain. This asymmetry also affects the expression of gender and number and interacts with the extensive syncretism among the exponents. By comparison, the varieties spoken in Albania realize the exponents of gender/number and case, including the accusative, on all elements within the DP. Our morpho-syntactic analysis assumes that morphemes are endowed with interpretable content and morphology is part of the syntactic computation.