Thanks to the support of the Philological Society’s Travel and Fieldwork Bursary, I had the opportunity to attend the International Argument Alternation Workshop (IAAW 2025), held in Kobe, Japan, on 16-17 July 2025 and hosted by the Graduate School of Humanities at Kobe University. The workshop brought together researchers from across the globe, working in different theoretical frameworks, to discuss a wide range of phenomena where a verb’s arguments can appear in alternative syntactic configurations (i.e. argument alternations) across different languages. This diversity, spanning from generative syntax to corpus-based approaches, created a stimulating environment, especially for young researchers like myself.

My presentation, Argument Realisation in Italian Tough-Movement, explored how certain Italian sentences like (1) relate to their impersonal counterparts like (2) – one of the core phenomena (known as Tough-Movement) I am investigating for my PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge. 

(1) Questi libri sono difficili da leggere.

‘These books are tough to read.’

(2) È difficile leggere questi libri.

‘It is tough to read these books’

While the two look similar on the surface, my work shows that they behave differently in important ways: (1) is much more restrictive than (2) in which types of verbs are allowed, in what additional inflectional and discourse-related material can be added to the infinitival clause, and in the interpretation of the agent of the verb. Furthermore, the overlap between adjectives licensing (1) and (2) is far from perfect: for instance, although adjectives like facile (‘easy’) and impossibile (‘impossible’) are possible in both, pronto (‘ready’) is only grammatical in (1) whereas sbagliato (‘wrong’) is only acceptable in (2). This suggests that the semantic features of the adjectives might indeed play an important role. So, despite surface similarities, the two alternants above are best analysed as separate constructions. Finally, in light of these considerations, I discussed how the tough-movement alternation fits into the wider typology of passive-like configurations and how it relates to other infinitival constructions in the Indo-European family. 

Presenting at IAAW was a genuinely valuable experience for my doctoral journey. Receiving feedback from researchers working on a wide variety of languages (including Japanese, Basque, Hawaiian, and Turkish) and within different theoretical traditions made me think about my data and its broader significance in new ways. Many colleagues suggested parallels from languages they work on or alternative technical solutions, which will help me refine my analysis and perhaps expand its scope.

Beyond the academic side, the location was simply outstanding. Kobe offered a perfect mix of vibrant city life, ocean views, and green mountains in the background – which you have to partially climb to get to the campus! 

The workshop was impeccably organised, with warm hospitality and an informal, friendly atmosphere. We also enjoyed fantastic Japanese food at the conference dinner (the unagi was particularly memorable) which provided plenty of opportunities for further discussions and building new connections over a glass of sake. 

I left Kobe with a notebook full of fresh ideas, a wider network of colleagues, and a renewed sense of direction for my research. I am deeply grateful to the Philological Society for making it possible for me to be part of such a rich and welcoming academic exchange.