Centering in Italian

Abstract

This paper explores the correlation between centering and different forms of pronominal reference in Italian, in particular zeros and overt pronouns in subject position. Such correlations, that I had proposed in earlier work (COLING 90), are verified through the analysis of a corpus of naturally occurring texts. In the process, I extend my previous analysis in several ways, for example by taking possessives and subordinates into account. I also provide a more detailed analysis of the "continue" transition: more specifically, I show that pronouns are used in a markedly different way in a "continue" preceded by another "continue" or by a "shift", and in a "continue" preceded by a "retain".