ABSTRACT
Late medieval Italian dialects (like Romance in general) passed from a verb second syntax (a theme-verb order) in unmarked main clauses, to an SVO order. In some varieties, e.g., French, a subject (particularly a definite one) must appear in preverbal position in main assertive clauses, while in Italo-Romance the type ‘(they)-arrive your friends’ is grammatical (the type of subject postposition discussed here is rhematic / presentative, and not to be confused with thematic right-dislocation). In some northern dialects a subject clitic is obligatory in this structure: Piedmontese has a non-agreeing vocalic clitic, which is the form also used with impersonal verbs, and Friulian a clitic fully agreeing with the postverbal subject. In many other northern dialects a subject clitic is prohibited if the lexical subject is postposed; in most northern dialects (together with Florentine) the verb is 3sg. even when the subject is plural; in the compound tenses the PPart. is always Msg. Agreement is obligatory if the subject is a first or second person pronoun. Friulian always requires complete agreement with the subject, both in the verb and PPart. and in the clitic.
