Referential Null Subjects Research Articles

Indefinite readings of referential null subjects and null objects in Spanish

Indefinite readings of referential null subjects and null objects in Spanish

Understanding Partiality in pro‐Drop Languages: An Information‐Structure Approach

AbstractThis article explores the acceptability and interpretation of referential null subjects in several varieties of Spanish (both Peninsular and American varieties) in different syntactic contexts (matrix and embedded) and distinct clause types (under bridge verbs, under factive verbs, and in adverbial clauses). Based on the results of an original online survey, completed by almost 300 respondents all over the world, it is shown that, in contrast with a consistent‐pro‐drop language like Italian, some Spanish varieties exhibit partial‐pro‐drop properties; this contributes to a recent line of research dealing with partiality in consistent‐pro‐drop languages. We argue that such variation can be accounted for within an information‐structure approach, in which the Topic Criterion (Frascarelli 2007), the formation of topic chains, and the existence of silent topics play a crucial role. Degrees of partiality are attributed to an interface condition that combines information‐structure requirements with PF visibility of overt copies in topic chains. Partial‐pro‐drop properties can then be explained by reference to independent syntactic conditions, such as the preference for overt minimal links and the sensitivity to islands.

What you hear is (not always) what you get

Abstract The present study offers data from native Spanish speakers who possess receptive competence in Palenquero, a Spanish-lexified creole spoken in the Afro-Colombian village of San Basilio de Palenque. Until recently Palenquero was endangered, but language revitalization activities are now underway in Palenque. These efforts are resulting in young L2 Palenquero speakers and receptive bilinguals, who do not actively use the language but who are exposed to it within the community and through occasional classes. This study, based on experimental research conducted in Palenque, examines receptive bilinguals' grasp of Palenquero subject-verb structures as a demonstration of how the divergence between active and receptive bilinguals' grammars can go undetected within the speech community. Receptive bilinguals sometimes produce referential null subjects instead of overt pronouns even in the absence of other disambiguating cues. Receptive bilinguals also do not systematically differentiate Palenquero pre-verbal particles, in a fashion suggestive of a maximally simplified subject-verb configuration.

Nullsubjekte im Mittelniederdeutschen

Abstract In spite of growing interest in recent years, the syntax of Middle Low German (MLG) remains an extremely underresearched area. In light of recent research showing early North West Germanic languages to be partial null subject languages (Axel 2005; Walkden 2014; Kinn 2016; Volodina/Weiß 2016), the question arises where MLG is positioned in this respect. The present article presents novel data showing that MLG had referential null subjects (RNS) and can be classified as a partial null subject language. Based on a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis of their syntactic distribution, we argue that two types of RNS must be distinguished in MLG, null topics in SpecCP and null clitics on C.

Referential vs. non-referential null subjects in Middle Norwegian

This paper investigates the relationship between referential and non-referential null subjects in Middle Norwegian. It argues that overt, non-referential subjectdetarose before the loss of referential null subjects, contrary to the predictions of much previous work. A diachronic analysis compatible with the empirical findings is sketched out.

Null subjects in Middle English

This article investigates the occurrence and distribution of referential null subjects in Middle English. Whereas Modern English is the textbook example of a non-null-subject language, the case has recently been made that Old English permits null subjects to a limited extent, which raises the question of what happens in the middle period. In this article we investigate Middle English using data drawn from thePenn–Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Middle English Proseand the newParsed Corpus of Middle English Poetry, aiming to shed light on the linguistic and extralinguistic factors conditioning the alternation between null and overt subjects. Generalized mixed-effects logistic regression and random forests are used to assess the importance of the variables included. We show that the set of factors at play is similar to that found for Old English, and we document a near-complete disappearance of the null subject option by the end of the Middle English period.

On asymmetric pro-drop in Mòcheno. Pinning down the role of contact in the maintenance of a root-embedded asymmetry

Abstract In this article I demonstrate that in two varieties of Mòcheno, a German dialect spoken by about 600 people in the Fersina valley (Trentino, Northern Italy), referential null subjects can be licensed in main, but not in embedded clauses. This particular root-embedded asymmetry, known as “asymmetric pro-drop” (Benincà 1984), had until now been considered to be fully absent from modern Romance (Benincà 2006) and German varieties (cf. Volodina & Weiß 2012). Through an examination of Old High German, Old Italian and modern Romance varieties, I show that asymmetric pro-drop is not an innovation introduced by contact with modern Romance varieties, but must be considered a conservative feature of older German varieties that has probably been maintained because it is shared with older Romance varieties (cf. Benincà 1994).

Null Subjects in Swabian

AbstractFew studies have investigated referential null subjects in present‐day non‐standard varieties of German. This paper explores the distribution of 4,000 null and overt referential subjects in finite clauses in a new corpus of spoken Swabian, a North Alemannic dialect spoken in Southwest Germany. The paper describes Swabian subject use as it emerges from the corpus data with regard to morphological form, syntactic distribution, reference and informational status. Swabian, unlike Standard German, allows and in some cases prefers clause‐internal referential subjects to be null, whilst in other contexts, referential null subjects are ruled out. There is a robust second person null‐subject property, with 61% of 2nd singular subject pronouns being dropped clause‐internally, i.e. from a position following the finite verb in main clauses or following a complementiser in embedded clauses. 1st singular and 3rd singular neuter subjects are dropped clause‐internally as well, but at much lower frequencies and only in very specific phonological and lexical constellations, not previously noted in the literature. The empirical findings are compared with an earlier unquantified study of Swabian (Haag‐Merz 1996) and discussed in light of other work on present‐day Germanic vernaculars and previous accounts of partial null subject languages.

Null subjects in Old English

AbstractThe possibility of referential null subjects in Old English has been the subject of conflicting assertions. Hulk and van Kemenade (1995:245) stated that “the phenomenon of referentialpro-drop does not exist in Old English,” but van Gelderen (2000:137) claimed that “Old English has pro-drop.” This paper presents a systematic quantitative investigation of referential null subjects in Old English, drawing on the York-Toronto-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Old English Prose (YCOE; Taylor, Warner, Pintzuk, & Beths, 2003) and the York-Helsinki Parsed Corpus of Old English Poetry (YCOEP; Pintzuk & Plug, 2001). The results indicate substantial variation between texts. In those texts that systematically exhibit null subjects, these are much rarer in subordinate clauses, with first- and second-person null subjects also being rare. I argue that the theory of identification of null subjects by rich verbal agreement is not sufficient to explain the Old English phenomenon, and instead I develop an account based on Holmberg's (2010) analysis of partial null subject languages.

A note on Wh-islands and Finite Control in Brazilian Portuguese

This paper discusses Ferreira’s (2000, 2004, 2009) claim that selective intervention effects in wh-island constructions in Brazilian Portuguese provide evidence for analyzing its referential null subjects as traces of A-movement. Based on the fact that intervening traces of wh-phrases in [Spec,CP] never prevent A-movement of an embedded subject out of an embedded declarative clause, I argue that a filled [Spec,CP] does not block A-movement either. Reinterpreting Ferreira’s data, I propose instead that A-movement is blocked if there is an intervening [Spec,TopP].KEYWORDS: finite control, hyper-raising, wh-islands, movement theory of control, Brazilian Portuguese.

Null Referential Subjects in Övdalian

This article is concerned with the description and analysis of Övdalian referential null subjects. A general background to Övdalian is provided together with the syntactic restrictions on the possible null subjects (wįð‘we’ andið‘you’). Interestingly, these null subjects in Övdalian do not appear in the same syntactic positions. This syntactic difference leads us to the conclusion that the distribution of the two possible null subjects must be explained individually. I argue here that the syntactic restrictions indicate that nullwįðrequires a link to the surrounding context in order to be identified, whereas the identification of nulliðseems to be dependent on the agreement affix. I build on the proposal of Koeneman (2006), and argue that affixes may have pronominal properties, proposing that this gives an explanation as to why nulliðis not restricted in the same fashion as nullwįð. Finally, Övdalian is discussed in a wider Germanic context, and it is shown that Övdalian is one of a small number of non-standard Germanic languages which allow referential null subjects.

Inherent case as a licensing condition for A-movement: The case of hyper-raising constructions in Brazilian Portuguese

Assuming with Ferreira (2000, 2004, forthcoming) and Rodrigues (2002, 2004) that referential null subjects in (Colloquial) Brazilian Portuguese (BP) are traces of A-movement, this paper specifically focuses on hyper-raising constructions in BP. I argue that in impersonal constructions the embedded CP and the embedded subject (or an embedded topic) may compete for purposes of agreement with the matrix T. The embedded CP is generally the winner as it is more local. However, if it is assigned inherent Case by the matrix predicate, it becomes inactive and no longer competes with an embedded DP. In these circumstances, an embedded subject or topic can then move to the matrix [Spec,TP], yielding subject or topic hyper-raising constructions, respectively.

Subjects, topics and the interpretation of referential pro

In this paper a novel approach to (a subpart of) the null subject parameter is proposed, in which the interpretation of a thematic pro in subject position is crucially dependent on the syntax and discourse properties of Topic constituents. Based on the analysis of spoken corpora and interface considerations, evidence is provided that preverbal ‘subjects’ sit in an A’-position in a null subject language like Italian and that the interpretation of referential null subjects depends on a matching relation (Agree) with a specific type of Topic. In a cartographic approach to discourse functions, this is identified with the Aboutness-shift Topic (Frascarelli and Hinterholzl 2007) that is merged in the C-domain and is endowed with the edge feature [+aboutness] – an ‘extended EPP feature’. A Topic Criterion is thus proposed that correlates core grammar with discourse requirements and accounts for the syntactic identification of a referential pro. The Avoid Pronoun Principle is reinterpreted as a structural condition that implies the existence of silent Topics.

Raising Issues in Brazilian and European Portuguese

This paper presents a comparative investigation contrasting Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese with respect to raising constructions. We provide an account of the attested fluctuation among raising, control, and impersonal constructions based on the Case- and θ-properties of the structures involved in each dialect. We also discuss the pervasive spreading of raising constructions (including cases of overt and “covert” hyper-raising) in Brazilian Portuguese and its relation to the loss of referential null subjects in this dialect.

Null Arguments in German Child Language

Acquisition research has shown that, in German, the use of null subjects does not drop from about 50% to 5% in a very short space of time, but there is a drop from about 45% to between 10% and 20%. In the present article, I investigate this 10% to 20% Null Subject stage in 3-year-olds and show that this stage, though surprisingly long, is not final. Moreover, the children under investigation use structures in this phase that are found neither in the state of Early Null Subjects nor in adult German, namely postverbal referential null subjects. The latter result, the fact that this stage is not final, and differences to object-drop at the same time strongly suggest that the phenomenon cannot only be topic-drop. An analysis is proposed admitting competing strategies for a certain time, a topic-drop strategy (i.e., a strategy of identification via discourse), and a strategy of licensing and identifying null subjects through feature transfer under Government.