The distribution of complementizers in the Arbëresh varieties spoken in the province of Crotone (Calabria)

The present work is devoted to the complementizer system of three Arbëresh dialects spoken in the province of Crotone, in Calabria. Unlike standard Albanian (to which Arbëresh is genetically related) that has two different complementizers, and unlike Italian (which has been the contact language for more than five centuries) that has only one complementizer, the complementizer system of the Arbëresh dialects considered here has four different lexical items, corresponding to the English ‘that/what’. They have a well-defined distribution. The element se selects declarative/indicative clauses. Sa and ku introduce complements to modal, aspectual, causative and control verbs and select subjunctive clauses. Ç is used to introduce both relative and exclamative sentences. Based on distributional tests in relation to Topic and Focus phrases, and on the interaction of these complementizers with the subjunctive particle të, I argue that these four elements occupy different positions within the CP domain. In particular, modifying Rizzi’s system (1997), who splits the CP field in two different heads, Force and Finiteness, I argue that the CP system of the Arbëresh varieties has four different heads.