A comparative study of German auch and Italian anche. Functional convergences and structural differences

In this paper we carry out a systematic comparison between the German and Italian particles auch and anche (meaning “also”) and provide a formal account of the data couched within the cartographic approach to syntax (Cinque 1999; Rizzi 1997; Cinque & Rizzi 2010). Based on the available literature and on novel data, we show that in both languages this particle exhibits three main functions: i) additive particle; ii) connective adverb (residual in Italian) and iii) modal particle – which correlate with a different syntactic status of the particle (head or maximal projection) and with a different position within the clause. When used as an additive particle, auch/anche lexicalize a head in the lower portion of the clause and function as focalizers (in the sense of Kayne 1998, 2005). When they are connective adverbs, they are maximal projections hosted in a functional projection dedicated to adverbs. Finally, when used as a modal particle auch/anche are heads found in the higher portion of the IP layer. German auch and Italian anche are however not identical, since when used as an additive particle, German auch, but not Italian anche, is compatible with discontinuous constructions in which a given XP in the scope of auch can be moved to Spec,CP leaving auch within the clause. Moreover, German auch is compatible with a variety of illocutionary types in its use as a modal particle, whereas anche can only be used in declarative clauses. We show that the former fact follows from asymmetries in movement options between the two languages (topics move in German but not in Italian) and the latter results from the nature of anche as a Polarity item.