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LINGUIST List 21.455

Thu Jan 28 2010

Qs: Pro-Drop Languages: pro vs. PRO

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        1.    Akbar Sohrabie, Pro-Drop Languages: pro vs. PRO
Message 1: Pro-Drop Languages: pro vs. PRO
Date: 23-Jan-2010
From: Akbar Sohrabie <akbar_sohrabieyahoo.com>
Subject: Pro-Drop Languages: pro vs. PRO
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Dear linguists,

In a non-pro-drop language like English, PRO happens to occupy the
argument position as the subject of a control construction like 'I want to
go.' Thus, PRO is the subject of the nonfinite clause and we have 'I
want PRO to go' for the sake of the Extended Projection Principle. And
in a pro-drop language like Persian, due to its rich morphology, pro
happens to occupy the argument position as the subject in a construct
like:

mæn mirævæm
I go. 1st person simple present

in which 'mæn' can be omitted to have:

mirævæm
pro go. 1st person simple present

According to Ahmad R. Lotfi (personal communication) it is impossible
to have both pro and PRO in language. My question is whether it is
possible to have both PRO and pro in a language like Spanish or any
other pro-drop language.

I do appreciate it if you provide answers or resources with tangible
examples.

With best regards,
Akbar Sohrabie
Graduate student of linguistics
Azad University at Khorasgan, Isfahan, Iran

Linguistic Field(s): Syntax
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