LINGUISTICS 1 AT HOGWARTS. AN ENGLISH-ITALIAN COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR ON THE BASIS OF HARRY POTTER'S SAGA.

Abstract

The aim of this work is to provide a comparative grammar of English and Italian using some chapters of Harry Potter’s saga in its original version (J. K. Rowling, 1998, Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone (Vol.1); 1999, Harry Potter and the chamber of the secrets (Vol.2) and its Italian translations (M. Astrologo, 1998, Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale, (Vol. 1); 1999, Harry Potter e la camera dei segreti (Vol.2). The grammar will cover the following issues: Unmarked and marked word order in English and Italian clauses, the position of the subject, the verb phrase, the noun phrase and its constituents and parataxis VS hypotaxis. The major differences between Italian and English will be discussed, among which the word order, the position of the subject and adjectives within the noun phrase and the quantity of main and subordinate clauses present in both versions. In the course of the discussion, I will give evidence that challenges well-know biases about the English-Italian contrast, such as the supposed hypotactic nature of Italian as opposed to a paratactic nature of English. I will also present some attrition in the position of subject and more generally of the word order in the Italian translation.