“Ratto, ratto, che ’l tempo non si perda”. Appunti sul congiuntivo iussivo e su altri congiuntivi indipendenti dell’italiano antico

In Italian language subjunctive may occur in main clauses expressing an order – particularly addressed to a person that is not involved in the communicative situation –, a wish or a desire. In mostly of these sentences (iussives, auguratives and volitives), subjunctive is introduced by che, which syntactic nature is rather controversial. After discussing the frequency and the functions of “che + subjunctive” construction in old Italian, author suggests that che, usually described as a subordinator, can be considered as a term charged to reduce the virtuality involved by subjunctive mood and to reinforce the volitive function carried out by these sentences.