Topics, Conversational dynamics and the Root/Non-root distinction: Adverbial clauses at the Discourse-syntax Interface

The composition and extent of the phrasal hierarchies in the left periphery of different clause types has been a major concern in recent research, mainly concentrating on the root/non-root distinction. This chapter intends to address this issue for adverbial clauses, assuming information structure and prosodic elicitation as diagnostics; specifically, the present analysis focuses on what Topic types are admitted in the C-domains of diverse adverbial clauses, through a systematic interface investigation based on original Italian data. A novel perspective is thus proposed to shed new light on the syntactic mapping and the formal properties of (central vs. peripheral) adverbial clauses, embedding the relevant proposal in a cartographic framework of analysis.