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Abstract

This paper analyzes a particular group of Italian irregular verbs that are characterized by the insertion of [g] between the root and the inflectional markers. Despite the apparent unetymological status of such a velar insert (Rohlfs 1968), it is shown that the allomorphy of the root depends on the internal organization of the segmental material with respect to a fixed template made of a strict alternation of onsets (C) and nuclei (V). The analyses are couched within the CVCV framework (Lowenstamm 1996; Scheer 2004) and are consistent with a syntactic approach to word- formation such as Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993; Embick 2010).

This article is part of the special collection: Motivating Form in Morpho-Syntax

Keywords: Romance velar insert,  Italian verbs,  root allomorphy,  template,  phonological government