Null subjects: a state-of-the-art review
Humberto Borges
October 2023
 

This work points to the main studies about the syntax of null subjects and their correlated properties in natural languages within the minimalist program. To this end, we presented and discussed the four types of null subject languages which show the state of the art of the research within the minimalist program, namely: consistent null-subject languages; partial null-subject languages; radical null-subject languages; and expletive null-subject languages. Considering that Brazilian Portuguese and Finnish are partial null-subject languages, we compare the (as)symmetries in the syntax of null subjects between these languages, using approaches not yet widely discussed in the literature. Going beyond the morphology-syntax interface, we conclude that minimalist studies propose that the formal features (hence abstract) in the functional head T are crucial for the licensing and identification of null subjects, including in radical null-subject languages.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/006951
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: just accepted, Fórum Linguístico
keywords: null subjects, syntax, morphology.
previous versions: v1 [November 2022]
Downloaded:582 times

 

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