Summary Details
| Query: |
Null Subject Languages
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| Author: | Ronald Sheen | |
| Submitter Email: | click here to access email | |
| Linguistic LingField(s): |
Language Documentation
Morphology Syntax |
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| Summary: |
For Query: Linguist 11.821 I recently requested feedback on null argument/subject languages. I wish to express my appreciation to the following who generously provided me with much information in addition to specifying the languages listed below as belonging to this group: Habibeh Samadi, Mari Siiroinen, Arash Behazin, Javier A. Galvan, Peggy Speas, Soohee Kim, Dan Moonhawk Alford, Georges Rebuschi, John Koontz, Richard Cameron, Annie Desnoyers, Elizabeth J. Pyatt, Umit Uturan, James C. Pennington, Roy Dace, John Lynch, Rob Pensalfini, Young-Key Kim-Renaud, M. J. Hardman, Cilene Rodrigues, Claire Hiscock, Greg Matheson. Persian, Finnish, Korean, Algokian and other North American Indian languages, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Omaha-Ponca and other Siouan languages (Dakotan dialects, Crow etc), Winnebago, Sinhala, Irish Celtic, Breton Celtic, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Yiddish, Catalan, Greek, Mandarin Chinese, most Bantu languages and some members of the Niger-Congo group, Jabem, Numambi, the vast majority of Australian aboriginal languages, Jaqaru, Kawki, Aymara, Lisu, Lahu. There are probably many more. James Pennington provided the following information: "Mike Maxwell states that languages that are NOT null subject languages constitute a small minority of the world's languages. This is supported by Gary Gilligan USC dissertation on the topic in 1987 ("A Cross-Linguistic Approach to the Pro-Drop Parameter"), based on a sample of 100 languages. Of these 100 languages, only 7 do not allow null subjects in finite clauses." I am pretty sure I have included all those who have provided feedback and the languages they identified. However, if I have omitted anyone or any language, would they mail me once again and accept my apologies for the omission. For anyone interested in my reasons for making the request, it is related to a recent discussion on SLART-L on access to UG in second language acquisition. More specifically, it was about the Overt Pronoun Constraint in null subject languages when learned as a second/foreign language. Anyone wanting an account of this discussion should contact me off-list. Ron Sheen U of Quebec in Trois Rivieres, Canada. |
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| LL Issue: | 11.929 | |
| Date Posted: | 23-Apr-2000 | |
| Original Query: | Read original query | |
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