Perifrasi verbali deontiche e paradigmi difettivi nel dialetto di Delia

In the present paper a case of paradigmatic defectiveness in a Sicilian verbal periphrasis, the AICo (Aviri a + Infinitive Construction), is discussed. In its deontic use, the AICo can appear in the indicative preterite with a fully-fledged paradigm or with some restrictions ruling out the second persons. These restrictions are linked to the alternance of perfective (and rhizotonic) and imperfective (and arhizotonic) roots within the preterite paradigm of some verbs, a phenomenon well known for Italo-Romance varieties at the level of single verb inflection (cf. Maiden 2000, 2001a, b). Following Aronoff (1994), this distribution of allomorphs in the same paradigm is referred to as ‘morphome’. The morphomic pattern at stake here is the ‘W-Pattern’ (cf. Di Caro 2018). Aim of the present paper is to show that for a verbal periphrasis to behave as a single verb in terms of preterite paradigmatic restrictions, two conditions are necessary: I) the monoclausality of the periphrasis; II) the presence of perfective rhizotonic roots in the finite verb of the periphrasis. In support to this claim, the case of another Sicilian periphrasis featuring the W-Pattern, namely Pseudo-Coordination is considered.