37.2587, Books: Silent Instruments: Suozzi (2026)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2587. Thu Aug 06 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2587, Books: Silent Instruments: Suozzi (2026)

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Date: 04-Aug-2026
From: Karin Plijnaar [karin.plijnaar at benjamins.nl]
Subject: Silent Instruments: Suozzi (2026)


Title: Silent Instruments
Subtitle: Syntax, semantics, and acquisition of the instrumental role
in Italian
Series Title: Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today   293
Publication Year: 2026

Publisher: John Benjamins
           http://www.benjamins.com/
Book URL: https://benjamins.com/catalog/la.293

Author(s): Alice Suozzi

eBook ISBN:  9789027243850 Pages:  231 Price: Europe EURO 135.00
eBook ISBN:  9789027243850 Pages:  231 Price: U.K. £ 113.00
eBook ISBN:  9789027243850 Pages:  231 Price: U.S. $ 176.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234209 Pages:  231 Price: Europe EURO 135.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234209 Pages:  231 Price: Europe EURO 143.10
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234209 Pages:  231 Price: U.K. £ 113.00
Hardback ISBN:  9789027234209 Pages:  231 Price: U.S. $ 176.00

Abstract:

This book offers the first systematic investigation of the
instrumental role across syntax, semantics, and language acquisition.
Focusing primarily on Italian within a comparative perspective, the
book addresses a long-standing puzzle: why Instruments can be
syntactically omitted even when they remain semantically present.
Combining theoretical analysis with experimental evidence, corpus
data, and innovative methodologies, the study redefines the status of
Instruments with respect to the argument-adjunct distinction and
introduces a new, principled account of their syntactic omission based
on semantic recoverability. It proposes a refined typology of
Instruments, grounded in verb meaning and contextual factors, and
tests its predictions through behavioral experiments and large-scale
corpus analyses.
The book also breaks new ground in acquisition research, presenting
the first experimental investigation of how Italian-speaking children
acquire Instruments. The results reveal a striking dissociation
between early syntactic mastery and the slower development of
Instrument semantic recoverability, shedding new light on the
acquisition of syntactically optional elements.
By integrating syntax, semantics, and acquisition, Silent Instruments
provides a robust and empirically grounded framework that is readily
applicable to cross-linguistic research and to other phenomena at the
syntax-semantics interface. It will be of interest to linguists
working on argument structure, optionality, language acquisition, and
experimental and corpus-based approaches to grammar.

Written In: English (eng, stan1293)



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