In search for polarity contrast marking in Italian. A contribution from echo replies

This paper examines polarity contrast marking in Italian, analyzing replies to questions and assertions in Map Task dialogues and read speech. We examine the frequency of echo replies, their syntactic and prosodic properties, and the frequency of verum focus. The results show that echo replies are recurrent, and even preferred, when a correction is involved. Narrow and verum focus are attested, although the latter is not common, and can also be due to morpho-syntactic manipulations such as clitic right dislocation. The results confirm the instability of polarity contrast marking in Italian and suggest that the use of marking devices is sensitive to pragmatic factors, especially in connection with the different functions of polarity contrast in discourse.