Isolation, complexification, and development of unusual features: A case study from some Gallo-Italian dialects of Northern Italy

One of the main tenets of sociolinguistic typology is that complexification typically occurs in isolated varieties. While typologically well-known, even within the Romance domain, complexification patterns have not yet been described in Northern Italian dialects. This paper discusses peculiar cases of complexification that take place in some Gallo-Italian dialects spoken in Eastern Piedmont. These varieties display a substantial array of phonological, morphological, and syntactic innovations, along with some considerably conservative features. These innovations are mostly idiosyncratic and unique compared not only to neighboring dialects but also to the Gallo-Italian group and possibly to the Romance languages as a whole. Some of these unusual features have already been described per se, but they can be more profitably understood together as increasing the morphophonological opacity and syntactic eccentricity of the dialects under scrutiny, as well as their overall linguistic complexity. As will be argued, these features arise in closed societies as a result of low adult language contact, small community size, and stable social networks