Null object constructions in KiNande

1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-Marc P. Authier
Keyword(s):  
Null Object ◽  
Null Object Constructions

Null objects and non-thematic subjects

1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Massam
Keyword(s):  
Null Objects ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Middle Constructions ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Null Object Constructions

This article analyses middle constructions in English, accounting for their key syntactic and semantic properties. The analysis rests on the observation that there are certain similarities between middle, tough and recipe-context null-object constructions, such as in (1a–c). (1) (a) This bread cuts—easily. (b) This bread is easy to cut—. (c) Take bread. Cut—carefully (and arrange—nicely).

Directionality of cross-linguistic influence: Which referring choices do bilingual Ukrainian–English children make?

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roksolana Mykhaylyk ◽  
Elinor Ytterstad
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Object Language ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Significant Difference

Aims and research questions: This paper presents a new study addressing the issue of cross-linguistic influence in acquisition of referring expressions. The main research question is how to predict directionality of this influence in a dual language development. Methodology: The method is an elicited production task. We consider the phenomenon of direct object referring choices, i.e. noun, pronoun and null element, in a ‘null-object’–‘overt-object’ language pair (Ukrainian and English). Data and Analysis: Participants of the experiment are 4–6-year-old Ukrainian–English bilinguals (N20) and Ukrainian monolinguals (N21). The data are analyzed in the statistical program R, utilizing the R-library function lme4. The results are presented as odds ratios (ORs) of each direct object type. Findings: Our data reveal that while there is no significant difference in Ukrainian object types in most of the age groups, there is a considerable amount of null object usage in English at the ages of four to five. Originality: The innovative nature of this study lies in: (i) the consideration of a licit object omission at a later stage of language development (from 4 to 6 years of age); (ii) the examination of an under-investigated language combination (i.e. English and Ukrainian); and (iii) the innovative approach to linguistic data analysis (e.g. comparing OR values). Implications: Our findings suggest that the directionality of influence in dual language acquisition depends on the developmental stage, language-specific means of syntax–pragmatics interaction, and extra-linguistic input-related factors. At the early stages of development, the null-object language is likely to influence the overt-object language, especially under conditions of limited exposure to the latter.

Al nominalista non manca proprio nulla? La dispensabilitŕ dell'insieme vuoto in mereologia

2009 ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Latronico
Keyword(s):  
Set Theory ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Seminal Paper ◽  
Translation Strategy ◽  
Null Object

- Quine's commitment to nominalism has always required set theory to be replaced by an ontologically less dubious tool for the analysis of predication, one that is usually ABSTRACT Rivista di storia della filosofia, n. 1, 2009 mereological in nature, akin to the Calculus of Individuals he and Goodman developed in a seminal paper on nominalism. The problem Quine himself always acknowledged as central in any such replacement arises with the mereological "translation" of numbers. I show here that Quine's proposed translation strategy, even when successful, raises even more serious issues since it requires mereology to supply a substitute for the empty set. After proving the indispensability, given Quine's translation, of such an entity, I demonstrate that an exact mereological replica of the empty set (the "null object") cannot be admitted without engendering contradictions. I conclude by discussing some paraphrases of the usual mereological axioms that prima facie might seem to be compatible with the null object and assessing their implausibility.

On the development of null implicit objects in L1 English

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana T. Pérez-Leroux ◽  
Mihaela Pirvulescu ◽  
Yves Roberge ◽  
Anny Castilla
Keyword(s):  
Sole Source ◽  
Incomplete Knowledge ◽  
Null Objects ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Object Construction ◽  
Production Study ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Verb Meaning ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
L1 English

AbstractThis article explores a defining property of implicit null object constructions, and how this property emerges during the L1 acquisition process. Implicit objects are non-referential and characterized by a strong semantic association between a null N in object position and the contents of the verb root. By means of an elicited production study, we examine children’s sensitivity to this association in terms of the typicality of implicit direct objects and of their use in a potentially contrastive context. Participants were 73 English-speaking children (between the ages of 2;09 and 5;08) and 20 adult controls. Our results show that children make a distinction between implicit objects with typical and atypical objects—even in scenarios where a previous use introduces a potential contrast—but at rates that differ from those of adults. This suggests an incomplete knowledge of the target properties of null objects and indicates that children use a referential null N until later in development, when the selectional link between V and the null object becomes entrenched and hyponymy with the verb root becomes the sole source of recoverability. We draw implications about the co-development of verb meaning and the null object construction.

Automated refactoring to the Null Object design pattern

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 33-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Anna G. Gaitani ◽  
Vassilis E. Zafeiris ◽  
N.A. Diamantidis ◽  
E.A. Giakoumakis
Keyword(s):  
Design Pattern ◽  
Null Object

On the (non)-existence of verb-stranding ellipsis in Chinese

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-100
Author(s):  
Hsiao-Hung Iris Wu
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Argument Analysis ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Idiomatic Expression ◽  
Null Argument ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Identity Requirement

This paper develops the empirical and theoretical basis for the necessity in admitting the operation of verb-stranding ellipsis (VVPE) in Chinese. I present new arguments showing that, though two analytic possibilities — null argument analysis and VVPE analysis — are in principle available in the grammar of Chinese, they can be differentiated in specific syntactic environments. In particular, I show that the existing null argument approaches would have difficulty in accounting for the following facts: disjunction of multi-constituent elements under negation, the difference of island effects in the presence of a linguistic antecedent, the verb identity requirement and the possibility of having part of the idiomatic expression as the missing gap. Therefore, it is argued that VVPE must remain a viable syntactic operation in Chinese when a null object analysis is unavailable.

Parallelism revisited

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-270
Author(s):  
Helen Koulidobrova
Keyword(s):  
Null Subject ◽  
Verb Classes ◽  
Null Object ◽  
Null Argument

Previous research has argued that the null argument surfacing in ASL is comparable to its Spanish counterpart — agreement licensed pro (e.g. Rizzi 1986). This analysis has been applied to both subjects and objects of either all verb classes (Bahan et al. 2000) or agreeing verbs only (Lillo-Martin 1991). In this squib, I demonstrate that the nature of both the null subject and the null object in ASL does not neatly parallel that of Spanish, taken here to be a representative of consistent null subject languages (Biberauer et al. 2010).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document