(a-)Topics and animacy

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, we intend to contribute the debate on identification features which syntactic locality expressed in terms featural Relativized Minimality/ fRM principle appears be sensitive (Rizzi 2004; Friedmann, Belletti & Rizzi 2009); second, at providing a better characterization distributional and interpretive properties process a-marking Topic position Italian left periphery identified by cartography, relation (in)animacy (Belletti Manetti 2019).To these ends, examined role animacy production experiment eliciting dislocated topics with 5-year-old Italian-speaking children. To extent that related kind affectedness object 2018a), whether an inanimate could constitute felicitous a-Topic. Furthermore, question directly addressed complexity effects configurations can modulated mismatch condition, intervening (animate) lexical subject ClLDs. Our results show that, tested children seldom a-marked pre-posed object. Instead, they appeared creatively explore other solutions overcome hard intervention structure, mainly using null subjects. As are not ready compute configuration preverbal subject, but naturally adjust it through topic, ended up opting for different types productions was eliminated. If feature seems implicated some extent, building A’-dependency ClLD: conclude, line previous work, among triggering movement (in Italian).