Tu sijè magnète. Hesse ha ite: some morphosyntactic characteristics of the verb in Ortonese compared with Italian

Abstract

Introduction: The verb is one of the most complex grammatical categories, especially when the language in question is not official. This is the case with Ortonese, an Adriatic variant of Abruzzese spoken in Ortona (CH). The aim of this article is to provide a preliminary detailed analysis of the verb in Ortonese, starting with a morphosyntactic description compared to Italian. Methodology: The analysis begins by dividing Ortonese verbs into four main conjugations. Several relevant linguistic phenomena are examined, such as the transitivization of intransitive verbs, the presence of the prepositional accusative in verbs like "sendì" (to hear), which is absent in Italian, and the transformation of transitive and intransitive verbs into reflexive forms. Additionally, differences between "esse" (to be) and "sctè" (to stay), and between "avè" (to have) and "tenè" (to hold) are analyzed. Results: The core of the research is the analysis of all the tenses of the indicative mood in modern Ortonese. Simple tenses, such as the present and future, as well as compound tenses, like the future perfect, the present perfect, and the past perfect, are examined. The study also includes some irregular verbs and pays particular attention to the complexity of auxiliary selection, which in Ortonese, unlike Italian, depends not on the type of verb but on the subject's person. Discussion: The Ortonese verbal system exhibits a number of unique characteristics compared to standard Italian, particularly in terms of auxiliary selection and the formation of reflexive verbs. Some phenomena, such as the prepositional accusative and the distinction between "esse" and "sctè", reflect a structural complexity that warrants further investigation and highlights the linguistic richness of Abruzzese dialects. Conclusions: This study represents a first step towards a deeper understanding of the Ortonese verbal system. The morphosyntactic analysis compared to Italian reveals linguistic peculiarities that distinguish Ortonese as a dialectal variety of great interest to linguistics.