Null Subject in Lubukusu and the Extended Projection Principle

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Lonyangapuo Mary
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Content ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Argument Position ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Negative Implication

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">This paper analyses the null subject phenomenon in Lubukusu with special reference to the extended projection principle (EPP). The paper looks at conditions under which null subjects are allowed in this language. Lubukusu data is self-generated and the analysis is based on the principles and parameters approach (P&amp;P) and the Minimalist program (MP). From the analysis of the data generated, it is shown that null subjects in Lubukusu are syntactically active categories. Though covert, they are Arguments that carry semantic content, hence satisfying the EPP requirements. Null subjects occur in this language because of its rich morphology; that is, whenever the subject agreement features are marked on the verb or any of the determiners, then the overt subject can be dropped without any negative implication on the grammaticality of the structure. Being an Argument position, it is theta-marked and as such the unpronounced null subject is pro (a pronoun). This being the case, it is argued that Lubukusu is a consistent null subject language and that in null subject constructions, the EPP is observed.</span></p>

The emergence of creole subject–verb agreement and the licensing of null subjects

2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Meyerhoff
Keyword(s):  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Person Features ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Finite Clause ◽  
Consistent Support

A corpus of conversational Bislama (a Melanesian creole spoken in Vanuatu, related to Tok Pisin and Solomon Islands Pijin) suggests that during the 20th century the creole has developed a set of regular inflectional morphemes on the verb that agree in person and number with the subject of the finite clause. It is shown that, where the agreement paradigm is referentially richest, the language is also beginning to grammaticize a tendency towards phonetically null subjects (pro-drop). Three possible analyses of the Bislama verb phrase are evaluated; consistent support for only one is found in the spoken Bislama corpus. The resulting paradigm of subject–verb agreement (i, oli, and Ø) is analyzed in terms of the historical development of Bislama. It is argued that the synchronic agreement marking reflects properties derived from (i) the lexifier (English), (ii) the substrate languages, and (iii) universal grammar. No one component fully accounts for the patterns of agreement marking observed. Instead, a synthesis of all three is required, as previously observed by, for example, G. Sankoff (1984) and Mufwene (1996). Substrate languages provide a model for subject agreement prefixing on the verb; the person features associated with the lexifier ‘he’ continue to be reflected in the distribution of Bislama i; and phonetically null subjects are emerging as the norm where the agreement paradigm best serves to identify the subject referent. This is consonant with generative accounts of null subject systems. Parallels with other languages (e.g., Italian, Franco-Provençal, Hebrew, Finnish) are examined.

A minimalist approach to null subjects and objects in second language acquisition

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeson Park
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Feature Learning ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Objects ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Korean Type

Studies of the second language acquisition of pronominal arguments have observed that: (1) L1 speakers of null subject languages of the Spanish type drop more subjects in their second language (L2) English than first language (L1) speakers of null subject languages of the Korean type and (2) speakers of Korean-type languages drop more objects than subjects in their L2 English. An analysis of these two asymmetries is conducted within the Minimalist Program framework (MP), which hypothesizes that language acquisition involves the learning of formal features of a target language.I propose, based on Alexiadou and Anagnostopoulou (1998), that the licensing of null subjects is conditioned by the interpretability of agreement features. When a language has [+interpretable] agreement features, raising of the verb to T (X-movement) satisfies the EPP requirement: hence, a null subject is allowed. On the other hand, in a language with [-interpretable] agreement features, the subject is obligatory since merger of the subject in the specifier of TP (XP-merge) is required to check the EPP feature. Learning of the obligatory status of English subjects is easier for Korean learners than for Spanish speakers since syntactically both English and Korean have the same feature value [-interpretable] (although null subjects are allowed in Korean for pragmatic reasons). Spanish has the opposite syntactic feature value [+interpretable] and resetting of this is more difficult. Licensing of null objects is hypothesized to be related to the strength of theta-features. Languages with strong theta-features, such as English and Spanish, do not allow null objects, whereas languages with weak theta-features like Korean allow null objects. It takes time for Korean speakers to learn the different value of English theta-features, resulting in the extended null object period in L2 English of Korean L1 speakers.

scholarly journals ‘Subject’ and EPP in Greek: The discontinuous subject hypothesis

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Philippaki-Warburton ◽  
Vassilios Spyropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Satisfactory Explanation ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Theoretical Advantage ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Definition Of

In the present study we examine the notion ‘subject’ in finite clauses in Greek, a null-subject language, and we investigate the connection between the rich morphological marking of subject-agreement on the verb and the definition of this notion. We propose that ‘subject’ in Greek should be analysed as a discontinuous element which consists of a null nominal element in the SpecTP position satisfying the Extended Projection Principle (EPP), associated with a pro at the relevant theta-position inside the VP. We argue that this analysis has not only the theoretical advantage of maintaining the universally strong value of EPP, but also, perhaps more importantly, the descriptive advantage of providing a satisfactory explanation for a number of apparent idiosyncrasies of Greek constructions.

Reflexive constructions in German, Spanish, and French as a product of cyclic interaction

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-164
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Maddox ◽  
Jonathan E. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Old French ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Reflexive Pronoun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Categorial Status

German sich and Spanish se can have reflexive or anticausative interpretations but only Spanish se can have a passive interpretation. We argue that Spanish Passse is the result of interaction between the subject agreement cycle and the reflexive object cycle. We make two claims: i) pro merges in Spec-Voice in Passse, due to the subject agreement cycle; and ii) se heads Voice due to the reflexive cycle. The types of reflexive constructions a language has depends on the presence/absence of pro and the categorial status of the reflexive pronoun (head or DP). French appears problematic since it has Passse but lacks subject pro. However, Passse existed in Old French (Cennamo 1993), which was a null subject language (Vance 1997). Thus, French is consistent with this claim; i.e., it developed Passse when it had subject pro and se as a head. Passse survived into Modern French as a historical remnant.

scholarly journals Re-examining the relationship between the subject agreement morpheme and (in)definiteness in Northern Sotho

Literator ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mampaka L. Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Northern Sotho ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement

The grammatical position of the subject noun phrase in Northern Sotho is to the left of the predicate. The subject agreement morpheme is a compulsory link between the subject noun phrase and the predicate. Scholars have examined the role of this morpheme from various perspectives. It is also extensively documented that the morpheme has dual functions. Its primary function is to mark agreement between the subject and the predicate. Its secondary function is pronominal, whereby it is co-referenced to some antecedent. This article reexamined the primary role of the subject agreement morpheme in Northern Sotho in relation to the interpretation of a subject noun phrase as definite or indefinite. This was accomplished by (1) revisiting existing works that are directly or indirectly linked to (in)definiteness and subject agreement, (2) analysing texts that may facilitate discussion on the issue, and (3) relating the findings from previous works to current analyses. The first hypothesis in this article was that when some class 9 subject noun phrases, denoting persons, agree with the verb stem by a class 1 agreement morpheme, the noun phrases are interpreted as definite. The second hypothesis was that although the subject position is considered predominantly topical and definite it may not categorically exclude indefinite noun phrases. Therefore some indefinite noun phrases may also agree with predicates by means of this morpheme.

Is There a Little Pro? Evidence from Finnish

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Holmberg
Keyword(s):  
Traditional View ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Pronouns ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Generic Pronouns ◽  
Null Noun

The traditional view of the null subject as pro identified by Agr (the φ-features of I) cannot be maintained in a theory where Agr is uninterpretable. Two hypotheses are compared with regard to the predictions they make for Finnish null subject constructions: (A) Agr is interpretable in null subject languages, and pro is therefore redundant; (B) null subjects are specified but unpronounced pronouns that assign values to the uninterpretable features of Agr. Since Finnish observes the Extended Projection Principle and has an expletive pronoun, Hypothesis A predicts that null subjects should cooccur with expletives. The prediction is false, favoring B over A. A typology of null subjects is proposed: Null bound pronouns and null generic pronouns in partial null subject languages, including Finnish, are D-less φ, and so are null subjects in consistent null subject languages with Agr, such as Spanish and Greek. Null 1st and 2nd person subjects in Finnish are DPs that are deleted. Null pronouns in languages without Agr, such as Chinese and Japanese, are the only true instances of pro, a minimally specified null noun.

The syntax and interpretation of embedded null subjects in Chinese, and their acquisition by English-speaking learners

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 191-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Xia Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Judgment Task ◽  
Minimalist Program ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Government ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Matrix Subject

This article reports an investigation of embedded null subjects in both L1 and L2 Chinese. Chinese null embedded subjects can refer either to a matrix subject or to a discourse entity. In the Government-Binding (GB) framework, these two possibilities resulted from the null subject being either pro or a variable. Neither pro nor a variable is compatible with the assumptions of the more recent Minimalist Program, however. This article proposes an alternative account for null embedded subjects in Chinese that is consistent with the Minimalist Program: deletion of the anaphor ziji and deletion of a topic under identity with appropriate antecedents. It then reports a study of knowledge of such deletion in the Chinese of L2 speakers. Although the existing literature has found that embedded null subjects are allowed by L2 learners of Chinese at early stages of development, no research has investigated whether they are interpreted in a target-like way by L2 speakers. A picture judgment task and a written interpretation task showed that English-speaking learners of high-intermediate proficiency in Chinese allow an embedded null subject to refer to the matrix subject, but not to a discourse entity. It is only at advanced proficiency that L2 speakers allow co-reference with both a matrix subject and a discourse entity. The implications of these results are discussed.

pro as a Minimal nP: Toward a Unified Approach to Pro-Drop

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 487-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar P. Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Basic Mechanism ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Unified Approach ◽  
Argument Position ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Arguments ◽  
Existential Closure ◽  
Bare Nominal ◽  
Null Element ◽  
Type Shifting

In this article, I examine the properties of the partial null subject languages (NSLs) when compared with the consistent and the discourse pro-drop languages and argue that the same basic mechanism underlies pro-drop in partial as well as discourse pro-drop: namely, null NP anaphora, as originally proposed in Tomioka 2003 for discourse pro-drop. The two sets of languages show a correlation between the occurrence of null arguments and the availability of a bare nominal in argument position. I suggest that the null element is a default, minimally specified nominal—the same item that arguably appears as a complement of D in pronouns. It is a proform that minimally consists of the categorizing head n, lacking a root, the meaning of which is ‘entity’ (a property that is trivially true of any individual in the domain). nP introduces a variable that may be bound under Existential Closure, yielding the impersonal interpretation; otherwise, its denotation is type-shifted to an individual (ɩ) under the appropriate conditions. The crosslinguistic differences found in the interpretation of the null subject depend on the resources available in particular languages for application of ɩ type-shifting: the (bare NP) languages that lack such resources only have quasi-argumental and impersonal null subjects (semi pro-drop languages). Finally, I show that the idea that pro reduces to [nP e] can also be successfully extended to the consistent NSLs, provided it is assumed that, in this type of NSL, the head bearing agreement morphology bears a D-feature and interpretable ϕ-features.

Agreement syncretization and the loss of null subjects: quantificational models for Medieval French

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Simonenko ◽  
Benoit Crabbé ◽  
Sophie Prévost
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Model ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Subject Agreement ◽  
Variational Learning

AbstractThis paper examines the nature of the dependency between the availability of null subjects and the “richness” of verbal subject agreement, known as Taraldsen's Generalisation (Adams, 1987; Rizzi, 1986; Roberts, 2014; Taraldsen, 1980). We present a corpus-based quantitative model of the syncretization of verbal subject agreement spanning the Medieval French period and evaluate two hypotheses relating agreement and null subjects: one relating the two as reflexes of the same grammatical property and a variational learning-based hypothesis whereby phonology-driven syncretization of agreement marking creates a learning bias against the null subject grammar. We show that only the latter approach has the potential to reconcile the intuition behind Taraldsen's Generalisation with the fact that it has proven nontrivial to formulate the notion of agreement richness in a way that would unequivocally predict whether a language has null subjects.

On the interpretation of gerundival null subjects and the theory of control

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verner Egerland
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Subsequent Work ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Obligatory Control ◽  
Theoretical Status ◽  
The Status ◽  
Feasible Alternative ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Reductionist Approach

It is generally known that gerunds can have a null subject (NS) that takes the preceding clause as its antecedent. Given certain restrictions independently argued for in the literature, the NS in question cannot be pro, neither can it be maintained that such gerunds have the status of relative clauses. Therefore, the subject in question must be analysed as PRO, which entails that the theoretical status of such a category must be recognized in a theory of syntax. Regardless of whether the case of Clausal Control is to be understood as Non Obligatory Control or Obligatory Control, the data present a serious problem for Hornstein’s (1999) reductionist approach to Control and subsequent work in the same spirit. If the phenomenon of Clausal Control is an instance of Obligatory Control, an analysis formulated in terms of A-binding is a feasible alternative as discussed here.

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