The Acquisition of Null Subjects in Standard Arabic by Native Speakers of English

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-420
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Standard Arabic ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Discourse Topic

This paper investigates the acquisition of the syntactic and discourse-pragmatic properties of null subjects in Standard Arabic (SA) by native speakers of English. Ninety participants from intermediate and advanced levels participated in a questionnaire, which aimed to investigate their knowledge on the occurrence of null subjects in SA. The results show that native speakers of English with regard to missing subject and free inversion face no difficulty in the acquisition of the syntactic properties of the null subject parameter in SA; however, they have difficulties in the acquisition of that-trace effect. In terms of discourse-pragmatic properties, the results of the study illustrate that they can also easily acquire the discourse topic and pragmatic anaphora properties of null subjects in SA. Keywords: Null Subjects, free inversion, that-trace effect, discourse topic, pragmatic anaphora, parameter.

scholarly journals O parâmetro do sujeito nulo na Aquisição do Português L2 (Null subject parameter in L2 Portuguese Acquisition)

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 133
Author(s):  
Gildete Rocha Xavier
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Este artigo tem como objetivo investigar como se dá a aquisição do sujeito nulo do Português Brasileiro L2 por falantes nativos de Inglês e Italiano em situação de imersão. A pesquisa desenvolve-se no âmbito da gramática gerativa, (CHOMSKY, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1995, 2000). As questões da pesquisa estão relacionadas à questão do acesso à Gramática Universal.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Gramática gerativa. Princípios e parâmetros. Aquisição de segunda língua. Sujeito nulo. ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to investigate the acquisition of the null subject in Brazilian Portuguese as a second language by native speakers of English and Italian. The research was developed within the framework of Generative Grammar (CHOMSKY, 1981, 1986, 1993, 1995, 2000). This research attempted to investigate whether the L2 learners have access to the Universal Grammar.KEYWORDS: Generative grammar. Principles and parameters. Second language acquisition. Null subject.

On the Acquisition of French (Null) Subjects and (In)Definiteness: Simultaneous and Early Sequential bi-, tri- and Multilinguals

Probus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-225
Author(s):  
Laia Arnaus Gil ◽  
Johanna Stahnke ◽  
Natascha Müller
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Timing Acquisition ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Definite Articles ◽  
Linguistic Approaches ◽  
Early Late

Abstract The French non-null-subject parameter is set very early, irrespective of the number of languages acquired. By contrast, the acquisition of (in)definiteness marking takes place at age 11;0. For early parametrized grammatical phenomena, Tsimpli (Tsimpli, Ianthi Maria. 2014. Early, late or very late? Timing acquisition and bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 4(3). 283–313.) argues that age of onset (AoO) matters. For late acquired phenomena, language experience is crucial. We recruited 23 simultaneous and 34 early sequential L2 (eL2) learners of French (mean age 4;6). Using an elicitation task, we examined the production of French subjects and (in)definite articles. All children behaved similarly with respect to the (early) setting of the null-subject parameter. In contrast, (in)definite marking was sensitive to number of languages and age; AoO or input effects did not affect the results. Simultaneous multilinguals diverge from eL2 children, showing subject spell-out preferences, interpreted in terms of acquisition phases. We will discuss this result against a model of language acquisition in which the child proceeds in acquisition stages.

Effects of age and education on variable but native heritage grammars: Theoretical and empirical implications for the Null Subject Parameter

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-467
Author(s):  
Katrin Schmitz ◽  
Anna-Lena Scherger
Keyword(s):  
Significant Variation ◽  
Language Change ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Empirical Implications

AbstractIn this contribution, we investigate the impact of language-internal and language-external factors on the parametrized grammatical domain of (null) subjects in adult Italian heritage speakers (HS, n=16). Based on empirical evidence from correlation analyses comparing these speakers´ spontaneous speech to monolingual Italians (n=10), we determine the kind and extent of variation in monolingual and bilingual adult end-state grammars. We will show that there is indeed a significant variation in the null subject production of the HS related to the factors age and education which is, however, constrained to contexts of 1st grammatical person. This observation cannot be taken to represent incomplete acquisition but rather a discourse and possibly situation-related competent behaviour. We propose that end-state HS grammars are characterized by a full grammatical and pragmatic competence, combined with a larger variation of language-externally determined preferences than monolinguals show. This does not call the native end-state competence of HS into question but opens the door for potential changes in future bilingual generations. We further discuss the implications for language acquisition theory and language change in terms of stability.

Multiple constraints and the resolution of Korean null subject anaphor

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sook Whan Cho ◽  
Hyun Jin Hwangbo
Keyword(s):  
First Person ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Processing Load ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Person Features ◽  
Third Person ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Syntactic Cues ◽  
Discourse Topic ◽  
Better Than

This study investigates how Korean adults interpret and identify the referent of a null subject in a narrative text, given different types of topic continuity and person features. We have found that the first-person feature was most accessible in the weak topicality condition in resolving the null subjects, and that the target sentences ending with the first-person modal suffix ‘-lay’ were read and responded to faster, and interpreted more correctly than other types of stimuli involving a third-person modal (‘-tay’) and a person-neutral modal (‘-e’). Furthermore, of the two first-person-specific featured types, the null subjects in the topically weak contexts were processed significantly better than those in the topically strong conditions. It was argued that anaphoric dependency would be formed more discursively than morpho-syntactically in the strong discourse continuity contexts involving no extra processing load due to the shift among multiple eligible candidates. It was also argued that, in the absence of discourse topic assigned strongly to more than one eligible referent in advance, morpho-syntactic cues involved in verb modality are likely to become prominent in the mind of the processor. It is concluded that these main findings support a constraint-based approach, but not the Centering-inspired work.

scholarly journals The Interpretation of Null Subjects in a Radical Pro-drop Language: Topic Chains and Discourse-semantic Requirements in Chinese

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-45
Author(s):  
Mara Frascarelli ◽  
Marco Casentini
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Significant Preference ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Subordinate Clauses ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Adverbial Clauses

Abstract Based on original data collected through an online experiment, evidence is provided in this paper that the interpretation of null subjects in a radical pro-drop language like Chinese relies on the topic criterion proposed for consistent and partial pro-drop languages (Frascarelli 2007 and Frascarelli 2018), thereby supporting the theory that the null subject parameter implies an information-structural strategy for interpretation. Nevertheless, radical Chinese shows specificities that must be integrated in this theory for a comprehensive account. In particular, even though silent topic can start chains (consistent with the topic criterion), data show a significant preference for overt and local topics as antecedents. This locality requirement thus integrates phonological visibility in a general syntactic condition (minimal overt link condition), proposing an interesting parallel with the properties shown by partial pro-drop languages (Frascarelli and Jimenez-Fernandez in press). The present investigation also contributes to outline the structural differences existing between adverbial clauses in Chinese, supporting a distinction between central and peripheral adverbial clauses (Haegeman 2012). Specifically, while temporal and conditional clauses show the properties of nonrestrictive relative clauses, this is not the case for concessive clauses, which merged as subordinate clauses in either the C-domain or the high split-TP area. Differences between temporal and conditional clauses are attributed to the presence of an overt operator in the latter, and the pre-matrix position of adverbial clauses is explained in the light of their discourse role as frame-setters (Krifka 2007).

scholarly journals When discourse met null subjects

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Jimenez-Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Local Domain ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Crucial Condition

In this paper a novel view of the distribution of null subjects in Spanish is explored in which the discourse category which the antecedent of pro is analysed. Implementing Frascarelli’s (2007) work, I propose that the crucial condition to meet is for the null subject to be coreferential with an Aboutness-Shift Topic, which must be either an explicit or null copy in the local domain where pro is inserted. When null, this antecedent can refer back to any type of discourse category. The analysis is supported by an experiment run among native speakers of Spanish.

scholarly journals A aquisição de sujeitos nulos em português L2 (The acquisition of null subjects in L2 portuguese)

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Madeira ◽  
Maria Francisca Xavier ◽  
Maria de Lourdes Crispim
Keyword(s):  
Native Language ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
De Re ◽  
European Portuguese ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Different Levels

Este estudo visa investigar a aquisição, em português europeu como segunda língua (L2), de propriedades morfo-sintácticas associadas ao valor positivo do parâmetro do sujeito nulo, por um lado, e, por outro lado, de propriedades pragmático-discursivas que determinam a distribuição de sujeitos nulos e expressos, procurando, simultaneamente, estabelecer o papel da língua materna (L1) dos aprendentes na aquisição destas propriedades. O estudo assenta em dados de produção e de juízos de preferência, de aprendentes de português L2 com diferentes níveis de proficiência. Os resultados indicam aquisição das propriedades morfo-sintácticas, o que constitui evidência de (re)fixação paramétrica, observando-se algumas assimetrias entre falantes de diferentes L1s relativamente ao ritmo de desenvolvimento destas propriedades. Quanto às condições pragmático-discursivas, conclui-se que a sua aquisição é problemática, particularmente para falantes de línguas de sujeito obrigatório.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Aquisição. Concordância. Segunda língua. Sujeito nulo. Transferência. ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate the L2 acquisition, by learners of L2 European Portuguese at different levels of proficiency, of the morphosyntactic properties associated with a positive value of the null subject parameter, as well as of the discourse-pragmatic properties which determine the distribution of null and overt subjects, whilst simultaneously seeking to establish the role of the learners’ native language in the acquisition of these properties. The study is based on production data and on data obtained from a preference judgement task. The results indicate that the morphosyntactic properties are acquired early, which constitutes evidence of parametric (re)setting, although some differences are observed between speakers of different L1s regarding the pace of development of these properties. As for the discourse-pragmatic properties, their acquisition is shown to be difficult, particularly for speakers of non-null subject languages.KEYWORDS: Acquisition. Agreement. Second language. Null subject. Transfer.  

scholarly journals Pre-verbal position in BP: a reinterpretation of the "avoid pronoun principle"

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 610-626
Author(s):  
Mary Aizawa Kato ◽  
Eugênia Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Logical Form ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
The Other ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Initial Element ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Present Distribution

The aim of this paper is to analyze the changes occurring in Brazilian Portuguese, regarding the possibility of null subjects, and suggest the kinds of constraints that explain its present distribution. In this paper, we will propose that the null subject parameter is defi ned at the interfaces. At the level of Logical Form, a constraint like Chomsky’s (1981) Avoid Pronoun will be atwork for languages that are prototypical null subject languages, like Spanish and Chinese. For languages like BP, a system with a particular distribution of null subjects, the constraint will be more specifi c: Avoid non-referential pronouns. We will also propose that at the other interface, the Phonetic Form, languages have fi lters regarding their rhythm. To account for the preference for certain forms, a constraint of the form: Avoid V1 will be proposed. This constraint hasnothing to do with an XP constituent in Spec of C, like in V2 languages, but with a phonetic requirement. This means that the initial element can be a head or an XP. 

L1/L2 parametric directionality matters

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 165-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Judy
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Syntactic Property ◽  
Overt Pronoun ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Shed Light

Assuming transfer of the L1 grammar, in the present study the question of whether all parameters can be reset even with access to UG is examined in light of the subset/superset relationship. Specifically, the resetting of the Null Subject Parameter (NSP) in L2 learners of English (L1 Spanish) is investigated by means of examining the application of the Overt Pronoun Constraint (Montalbetti 1984), a property that clusters with the null subject setting only, as well as acceptance/rejection of null subjects in English. Since English does not syntactically license empty subjects, but Spanish does, the two languages are in a subset/superset relationship such that Spanish is the superset grammar. Therefore, the results stand to shed light on the validity of the Subset Principle (Berwick 1982; Manzini and Wexler 1987; Wexler and Manzini 1987) and its learnability constraints applied to second language acquisition (SLA) where transfer might impede convergence on the narrow syntactic property despite full access to Universal Grammar.

On the Acquisition of French (Null) Subjects and (In)Definiteness: Simultaneous and Early Sequential bi-, tri- and Multilinguals

Probus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laia Arnaus Gil ◽  
Johanna Stahnke ◽  
Natascha Müller
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Timing Acquisition ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Subject Parameter ◽  
Definite Articles ◽  
Linguistic Approaches ◽  
Early Late

Abstract The French non-null-subject parameter is set very early, irrespective of the number of languages acquired. By contrast, the acquisition of (in)definiteness marking takes place at age 11;0. For early parametrized grammatical phenomena, Tsimpli (Tsimpli, Ianthi Maria. 2014. Early, late or very late? Timing acquisition and bilingualism. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism 4(3). 283–313.) argues that age of onset (AoO) matters. For late acquired phenomena, language experience is crucial. We recruited 23 simultaneous and 34 early sequential L2 (eL2) learners of French (mean age 4;6). Using an elicitation task, we examined the production of French subjects and (in)definite articles. All children behaved similarly with respect to the (early) setting of the null-subject parameter. In contrast, (in)definite marking was sensitive to number of languages and age; AoO or input effects did not affect the results. Simultaneous multilinguals diverge from eL2 children, showing subject spell-out preferences, interpreted in terms of acquisition phases. We will discuss this result against a model of language acquisition in which the child proceeds in acquisition stages.

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