This project aims at contributing to the safeguard of minority languages (‘MLs’) by investigating the level of language endangerment from a new perspective: while the vitality of MLs is often assessed through sociolinguistic analyses, which target the frequency and contexts of use of minority languages, we will adopt a criterion that calculates the “internal” vitality, namely the degree of resilience of various morphosyntactic constructions typical of a specific ML. This is particularly important today, because the current demographic and social dynamics are characterised by increased mobility, ‘mixed’ marriages and the spread of standard languages that affect the traditional transmission process, both quantitatively and qualitatively: children receive less and less input in the ML, and this input is restricted to a decreasing number of domains. As a first step, in this project we focus on three MLs, and three morphosyntactic features. The MLs are Ladin, Friulian and the German varieties spoken in Friuli (North-east Italy). The morphosyntactic features are a) the syntax of the subject; b) subordination; c) nominal agreement. The crucial idea behind our proposal is that it is fundamental to understand not only if a regional language is alive, but also how alive it is. The qualitative aspect is fundamental in a minority setting, in which there are less and less speakers with a full competence.

The project is funded by European Union – Next-GenerationEU – National Recovery and Resilience PLAN (PNRR) – Mission 4, Component 2, Investiment 1.1 Fondo per il Programma Nazionale di Ricerca e Progetti di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) – CUP B53D23030300001