Abstract

FollowingBerwick and Chomsky (2011), parameters are degrees of freedom open at the externalization (EXT) of syntactico-semantic structures (SEM) by sensorimotor systems (PHON) (Section 1). Within this framework, inSection 2I focus on a case study concerning Northern Italian subject clitics, also raising the well-known question how to reconcile observable microvariation with the desideratum of a reduced number of (macro)parameters.Sections 3reviews recent relevant models of parameterization, the Rethinking Comparative Syntax model (ReCoS,Biberauer et al. 2014) and the Parameters & Schemata model (Longobardi 2005,2017).Sections 4–5return to the case study, taking the reductionist view that parameters may be just categorial cuts, such as the 1/2P vs 3P split, interacting with externalization and other general principles of grammar.