Self-Repair and Self-Correction in Spontaneous Italian: Implications for the Syntax of Conversation

Abstract

The paper analyzes the relationship between the syntax of spontaneous speech and the linguistic system, focusing on the phenomena of self-repair and self-correction in Italian. Starting from the idea that spoken and written language are not distinct codes but different realizations of the same system, the study moves beyond a simple diamesic opposition and considers speech as an autonomous form shaped by situational and cognitive factors. Self-repair emerges as a central mechanism in discourse construction: it not only corrects errors or slips but also reflects real-time planning processes and communicative strategies. The analysis shows that these phenomena affect syntactic structure by modifying word order and generating reformulations, expansions, and strategy shifts. Through the examination of examples from spontaneous conversations, it is shown how spoken syntax develops along syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes, with frequent interruptions and resumptions. The findings suggest that repair functions as a structural principle of conversation, almost a «super-syntax», which does not contradict but rather integrates the rules of the linguistic system, differing from written language mainly in its lower degree of planning.