One Meaning and the Other: A Corpus-Based Study of the Polysemy of altro in Italian

Fabio Del Prete; Fabio Montermini

Chapter 10 One Meaning and the Other: A Corpus-Based Study of the Polysemy of altro in Italian

In: Other: Ambiguity, Constraints, and Change

Authors:

Fabio Del Prete

Fabio Del Prete CLLE—CNRS & Université de Toulouse 2

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Fabio Montermini

Fabio Montermini CLLE—CNRS & Université de Toulouse 2

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 295–333

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004744196_011

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Abstract

This chapter proposes a corpus-based investigation and a semantic analysis of the Italian word altro ‘other’, focusing on two values of this item that have been identified in the previous literature: difference (D-interpretation) and increment along a scale (M-interpretation). In syntax-based studies, focused on cardinal noun phrases, the two values have been related to distinct syntactic positions occupied by altro within the NP’s extended projection (Cinque, 2015; Kayne, 2021): a lower position, associated with the D-interpretation (altro N = ‘other kind of N’), and a higher position, associated with the M-interpretation (altri n N = ‘n more tokens of N’). Conversely, discourse-based studies assume that the two values are due to a lexical ambiguity of altro, with the D-interpretation being triggered by a discourse relation of contrast and the M-interpretation by an additive relation (Gianollo & Mauri, 2020). We examine the distribution of the two values in the CORIS corpus of contemporary Italian (Rossini Favretti et al., 2002) and consider the question of whether they are equally basic interpretations or one of them is derivable from the other. The analysis we propose relies on the idea that the semantic core of altro is the relation of non-identity. The D-interpretation and M-interpretation result from the interaction between this semantic core and features of the larger discourse context, with additive and contrastive features playing a major role. Non-identity is introduced in the semantic representation of the sentence irrespective of the syntactic position of altro, while discourse context—including lexical properties of the noun—determines at what ontological level (whether type or token) non-identity is evaluated. The analysis is cast in the framework of Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT; Asher & Lascarides, 2003), which allows a modular representation of the separate contributions of altro and discourse structure.

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Other: Ambiguity, Constraints, and Change

Series: Syntax and Semantics, Volume: 45

Cover <i>Other</i>: Ambiguity, Constraints, and Change

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004744196

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 13 Nov 2025

Subjects
- Languages and Linguistics

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Part 1 Formal Approaches

Part 2 Diachronic Approaches

Part 3 Corpus-Based and Typological Approaches

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Chapter 10 One Meaning and the Other: A Corpus-Based Study of the Polysemy of altro in Italian

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Other: Ambiguity, Constraints, and Change

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