Synchronic microvariation, gradualness of change and the relation between the two: reflexes of Latin HABERE in northern Italo-Romance

Journal article

Saussure’s structuralist dichotomous view of synchrony and diachrony has, overall, long been abandoned, and research within the theory of Grammaticalization has brought to the fore the close interconnections between the two. In more recent years, a great deal of attention has been devoted to capturing and expressing the nature of the interface between synchrony and diachrony, linking a notion traditionally associated with the synchronic architecture of grammar, gradience, and one linked to diachronic change, gradualness. Against this general background, this article explores the relation between synchrony and diachrony focusing on the discontinuity that can arise through language change. The object of the research are the reflexes of Latin HABERE in northern Italo-Romance and its diachronic development in its lexical, and perfective and modal auxiliary uses.

Authors: Paoli, S

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Journal: The Italianist
• Acceptance date: 2025-05-09
• EISSN: 1748-619X
• ISSN: 0261-4340
• Language: English
• Keywords: synchrony and diachrony; grammaticalization; Italo-Romance; reflexes of Latin HABERE; discontinuity; loss of function