COMPARATIVE CORRELATIVES AT THE LEFT PERIPHERY
Roberto Zamparelli & Valentina Bianchi
In this talk we discuss Italian equality comparison structures, which are marked by the correlative
adverbs (altret)tanto... quanto .... These structures come in two possible orders:
(1) Gianni parla il francese altrettanto bene quanto lo spagnolo.
John speakes French as fluently as Spanish
(2) Gianni parla altrettanto bene il francese quanto lo spagnolo.
John speaks as fluently French as Spanish
„∃d [John speaks French with fluency d and John speaks Spanish with fluency d]’
In the order (1), the first correlative adverb, altrettanto, introduces a complex modifier embedding an
elliptical comparative clause (Bianchi & Zamparelli 2002). More interesting is the symmetric order (2),
where each correlative adverb precedes one of the two terms of comparison (henceforth, the
correlates). Strikingly, this order gives rise to a coordinative meaning in which the degree semantics is
apparently missing:
(3) Gianni parla perfettamente tanto il francese quanto lo spagnolo.
lit: John speaks perfectly as_much French as Spanish
(3) belongs in a wider set of pseudo-coordinative correlative structures, in which a „shared‟ predicate
applies to two distinct terms (cf. Engl. not only X but also Y; first X, then Y, Bianchi&Zamparelli 2004).
1. The derivation of (2)-(3) involves movement of the correlates: in fact, these cannot be syntactic
categories that resist movement, such as small clauses (5a), prepositional complements (5b), or
tensed verbs (5c):
(5) a. ?*Considero tanto Maria creativa quanto Lucia organizzata.
I consider as_much Mary creative as Lucy organized
b. * Ho parlato con tanto Maria quanto Lucia.
I spoke with as_much Mary as Lucy
c. * Maria tanto è tornata tardi quanto ha dimenticato di chiamarmi.
Mary as_much is returned late as has forgotten to call me
2. The derivation also involves Across-The-Board movement of the shared predicate to the left of the
first correlative adverb. This is shown by the fact that the structure allows for subject inversion with
individual-level predicates (6b), which in general disallow inversion. (NB: interestingly, the “list” reading
of (6a), with a marked intonation, patterns with (6b).)
(6) a. ?* Sono carissimi i quaderni e i diari.
(with neutral intonation)
are very expensive the exercise books and the diaries
b.  Sono carissimi tanto i quaderni quanto i diari.
are very expensive as_much the exercise books as the diaries
Moreover, the correlative coordination cannot constitute a fragment answer (7b): this is because
obligatory ATB movement of the predicate to the left of the correlates creates a structure in which
ellipsis of the predicate (à la Merchant 2001) cannot apply. If (7b) were a coordination of two DPs, the
contrast would be mysterious.
(7) [We need a person who speaks French or Spanish. Which of these languages do you speak?]
a. Il francese e lo spagnolo. [French and Spanish]
b. ?* Tanto il francese quanto lo spagnolo. [as_much French as Spanish]
3. The overall derivation involves the coordination of two clauses (or vPs, see below), in which
(i) the two correlates move to a focus position immediately below each correlative adverb (8a);
(ii) the remnant constituent (shared predicate) moves Across The Board to a higher position (8b).
(8) a. [&P [tanto [FocP XP1 [ ...t1 ...]]] [& [quanto [FocP XP2 [ ...t1 ...]]]]
b. [ ...t1 ...] [[&P [tanto [XP1 t [& [quanto [XP2 t ]]]
ATB movement of the predicate explains the obligatorily distributive interpretation:
(9) * Si sono incontrati tanto Carlo quanto Lucia.
have met as_much Carl as Lucy
4. We propose that the structures (2) and (3) express symmetric contrast: each correlate is taken to
contrast with a distinct focus alternative (cf. Rooth 1992, §§ 7-8). In (3), the original equality
comparison meaning has faded away, leaving an anti-exhaustive focus over a strictly two-membered
set of alternatives:
(10) ?* Di tutti i tuoi parenti, ho invitato tanto Alessandra quanto Silvia.
of all your parents, I invited as_much A. as S.
Two objections may be levelled against the focal status of the two correlates:
(i) The correlative structure may be contained in a larger new information focus, (11). This is a
problem, but it is not specific to our proposal: focus-sensitive adverbs like only behave similarly (12).
(11) [Context: A: I found a bag with a bunch of photos and a wallet in it.
B: And what did you do then? (= predicate focus)]
A: Ho consegnato tanto le foto quanto il portafoglio alla polizia.
I gave as much the photos as the wallet to the police.
(12) [Same context]
A: Ho consegnato solo il portafoglio alla polizia; il resto l‟ho buttato via.
I gave only the wallet to the police; the rest I threw away.
(ii) The correlates can be left dislocated, via Right Node Raising of the shared comment (13). This is
possible because contrast is compatible with both foci and topics (Büring 2003, Neeleman et al. 2007):
(13) ? Tanto al titolo quanto all‟abstract, non ci abbiamo ancora pensato.
as much to the title as to the abstract, (we) to-them-have not yet thought.
On the other hand, right dislocation is disallowed, because it is incompatible with a contrastive
interpretation (Frascarelli & Hinterhölzl 2007, a.o.):
(14) * Non ci abbiamo ancora pensato, tanto al titolo quanto all‟abstract.
(we) to-them-have not yet thought, as much to the title as to the abstract
5. A „low‟ correlative coordination is in the scope of a subject negative quantifier (15a); when left
dislocated, instead, it is outside the scope of the subject (15b). This shows that the correlative adverbs
tanto… quanto… can be hosted both in the „high‟ and in the „low‟ periphery.
(15) a. Nessuno di noi parla tanto il francese quanto lo spagnolo.
none of us speaks as_much French as Spanish (noone > both)
b. Tanto il francese quanto lo spagnolo, nessuno di noi lo parla.
as_much French as Spanish, none of us it-speaks (both > noone)
6. As for the landing site of ATB remnant movement, we speculate that this is a position immediately
above the coordinative structure, which is used to factor out the material shared by both conjuncts;
thus, remnant movement ensures that at the interface, exactly the same predicate applies to the two
correlates. In virtue of this „factoring‟ effect, ATB remnant movement – far from being an ad hoc
derivational step to get the linear order right – is interpretively relevant.
Selected references
th
Bianchi, V. & Zamparelli, R. 2001. Comparative correlatives. 24 GLOW Colloquium, Braga.
Bianchi, V. & Zamparelli, R. 2004. Edge coordinations: Focus and conjunction reduction. In D. Adger
et al. (eds), Peripheries. Syntactic Edges and Their Effects. Kluwer.
Büring, D. (2003). On D-trees, beans, and B-accents. Linguistics and Philosophy, 26:511-45.
Frascarelli, M. & R. Hinterhölzl (2007). Types of topics in German and Italian. In S. Winkler & K.
Schwabe (eds.) On Information Structure, Meaning and Form, 87-116, John Benjamins.
Merchant, J. 2001. The Syntax of Silence. Oxford University Press.
Neeleman, A. et al. 2007. A syntactic typology of topic, focus and contrast. lingBuzz/000562.
Rooth, M. 1992. A Theory of focus interpretation. Natural Language Semantics 1, 75-116.