Chapter 2. The distribution of null subjects in Chinese discourse

2020 ◽  
pp. 12-36
Author(s):  
Shuangshuang (Lillian) Chen
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects

scholarly journals A Variationist Study of Subject Pronoun Expression in Medellín, Colombia

Languages ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Rafael Orozco ◽  
Luz Marcela Hurtado
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Routine Activities ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
Lexical Effect ◽  
Spanish Speaking ◽  
Baseline Knowledge ◽  
Subject Pronoun ◽  
Reflexive Verbs

This variationist study of subject pronoun expression (SPE) in Medellín, Colombia uses multivariate regressions to probe the effects of ten predictors on 4623 tokens from the Proyecto para el Estudio Sociolingüístico del Español de España y de América (PRESEEA) corpus. We implement analytical innovations by exploring transitivity and the lexical effect of the verb, which we analyze by testing infinitives and subject pronoun + verb collocations, respectively, as standalone, random-effect factors. Our results reveal the highest pronominal rate (28%) found in a mainland Spanish-speaking community. Additionally, we uncover that pronominal rates increase with age, a finding which appears to have cognitive implications. The internal conditioning contributes to pronombrista studies by showing the effects of discourse type and transitivity. Narratives and opinion statements favor overt subjects, but statements indicating routine activities favor null subjects. Whereas unergative verbs promote overt subjects, reflexive verbs favor null subjects. The lexical effect of the verb reveals opposing tendencies between verbs in the same category as well as within different collocations of the same verb, providing more definitive answers than the semantically guided approaches used for the last four decades and showing that verb groupings do not constitute functional categories with regard to SPE. Overall, this study contributes to expand our baseline knowledge of SPE in mainland Latin American communities and opens interesting research avenues.

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

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-377
Author(s):  
Alexandra Simonenko ◽  
Benoit Crabbé ◽  
Sophie Prévost
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects

Faetar null subjects: a variationist study of a heritage language in contact

2017 ◽  
Vol 2018 (249) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Nagy ◽  
Michael Iannozzi ◽  
David Heap
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Greater Toronto Area

AbstractFaetar is an under-documented variety descended from Francoprovençal and spoken in two isolated Apulian villages in southern Italy as well as in the emigrant diaspora, especially in the Greater Toronto Area. Speakers use two series of subject pronouns (

Null Subjects in Swabian

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Bohnacker
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects

Never saw one – first-person null subjects in spoken English1

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSANNE WAGNER
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Person ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Language Variation And Change ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Verb Phrase ◽  
The One ◽  
Colloquial Speech

While null subjects are a well-researched phenomenon in pro-drop languages like Italian or Spanish, they have not received much attention in non-pro-drop languages such as English, where they are traditionally associated with particular (written) genres such as diaries or are discussed under a broader umbrella term such as situational ellipsis. However, examples such as the one in the title – while certainly not frequent – are commonly encountered in colloquial speech, with first-person singular tokens outnumbering any other person.This article investigates the linguistic and non-linguistic factors influencing the (non-) realisation of first-person singular subjects in a corpus of colloquial English. The variables found to contribute to the observed variation are drawn from a variety of linguistic domains and follow up on research conducted in such different fields as first language acquisition (FLA), cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and language variation and change. Of particular interest is the finding regarding the link between null subjects and complexity of the verb phrase, which patterns in a clearly linear fashion: the more complex the verb phrase, the more likely is a null realisation. Not discussed in this form before, this finding, given its high significance and its robustness in light of alternative coding, may prove to be an important candidate for inclusion in future studies on (English) null subjects.

Null Subjects in Old English

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elly van Gelderen
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Verb Movement ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Null Arguments ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
English I

I review the proposal made by Sigurðsson (2011) that null arguments follow from third-factor principles, as in Chomsky 2005 . A number of issues remain unclear: for instance, the kind of topic that licenses null arguments in Modern Germanic, including Modern English. I argue that Old English is pro drop and add to the discussion Frascarelli (2007) started as to which topic licenses a null subject. I agree with Frascarelli and Hinterhölzl (2007) that the licensing topic in Modern Germanic and Old English is an aboutness-shift topic. I also argue that verb movement to C is necessary to license the empty argument in the modern Germanic languages (including Modern English), but not in Old English, since agreement is still responsible for licensing in that language, as in Italian.

Romance Null Subjects at the Sensory-Motor Interface

Syntax ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Fernández-Salgueiro
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects ◽  
Sensory Motor

scholarly journals Referential vs. non-referential null subjects in Middle Norwegian

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kari Kinn
Keyword(s):  
Null Subjects ◽  
Diachronic Analysis ◽  
The Relationship

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.

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