Acknowledgements
I would firstly like to thank Prof. Marcella Bertuccelli Papi for her helpful guidance and precious advice during all the stages of the work. Without her expertise, dedication and patience I would probably still be going back and forth between ideas. My experience as a Ph.D. student would have been much poorer had it not been for her constant assistance and extensive knowledge.
I am also thankful to Dr. Alessandro Lenci for his very useful comments on an earlier draft of the present thesis.
There are a number of people who have provided me with many important suggestions through the years. I must particularly acknowledge Prof. Lavinia Merlini Barbaresi and Prof. Pier Marco Bertinetto for their willingness to discuss several aspects of my research project.
I wish to thank those who commented on the poster I presented at the International Pragmatics Conference in Göteborg (Sweden) in July 2007. Every form of feedback helped a lot. Prof. Elizabeth Closs Traugott and Prof. Maria Tarantino gave me interesting ideas for possible directions to take in research.
Special thanks go to Prof. Silvia Bruti, Dr. Gloria Cappelli, Dr. Silvia Masi, Dr. Elisa Mattiello, Dr. Silvia Demi, Dr. Veronica Bonsignori, Dr. Sara Conti for their friendship and support. Things would have been more difficult without our long face-to-face and on-line chats.
Lastly, my parents, the rest of my family and Said often had to put up with my mood swings and bad temper. I am greatly indebted to them all for their love and encouragement.
