Sulla creatività linguistica della perifrasi ‘mostrare a’ + infinito nel dialetto galloitalico di Nicosia

Abstract

This contribution aims to highlight the linguistic creativity of a construction found in the dialect of Nicosia (Enna), a place where regional Italian, Gallo-Italic, and local Sicilian coexist. The construction considered in this study is a verbal periphrasis featuring the functional verb möstè and an infinitival lexical verb. Through the analysis of a corpus of dialectal written texts, the functions of möstè are highlighted: approximative, conative, and inchoative. The latter, in particular, is noteworthy as the infinitival periphrasis with möstè competes with the Pan-Romance one featuring cömenzè ‘begin’.