From macro to nano: A parametric hierarchy approach to the diatopic and diachronic variation of Italian \textit ben

In this squib we discuss the morpho-syntactic requirements affecting the distribution of the Italian discourse particle ben (lit. ‘well’) as employed in a selection of regional varieties of the language. We present a preliminary comparison with its attestations in earlier stages of the language and we show how the attested diatopic and diachronic variation may be modelled in terms of a parameter hierarchy of the type developed by the ReCoS team.