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Chapter 9. Brazilian and European Portuguese and Holmberg’s 2005 typology of null subject languages

  • Ana Maria Martins and Jairo Nunes
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Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2018
This chapter is in the book Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2018

Abstract

This paper rethinks Holmberg’s (2005) characterization of partial vs. consistent null subject languages (NSL) based on data from Brazilian and European Portuguese, the former a partial, the latter a consistent NSL. The paper proposes that rather than overt morphological distinctions, what is relevant for null subject licensing is the underlying feature specification of the verbal inflection, after agreement between T and a pronominal subject values the relevant person/number/gender/Case feature. Hence, only close inspection of the pronominal and agreement systems of individual NSLs permits an adequate characterization of them, for the same language may behave as a ‘partial’, ‘consistent’, or ‘radical’ NSL depending on the morphological feature specification of its nominative pronouns and T heads.

Abstract

This paper rethinks Holmberg’s (2005) characterization of partial vs. consistent null subject languages (NSL) based on data from Brazilian and European Portuguese, the former a partial, the latter a consistent NSL. The paper proposes that rather than overt morphological distinctions, what is relevant for null subject licensing is the underlying feature specification of the verbal inflection, after agreement between T and a pronominal subject values the relevant person/number/gender/Case feature. Hence, only close inspection of the pronominal and agreement systems of individual NSLs permits an adequate characterization of them, for the same language may behave as a ‘partial’, ‘consistent’, or ‘radical’ NSL depending on the morphological feature specification of its nominative pronouns and T heads.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Processing clitic pronouns outside coargumenthood 11
  5. Chapter 2. Infinitival complement clauses 25
  6. Chapter 3. Focus fronting vs. wh -movement 49
  7. Chapter 4. The varieties of temporal anaphora and temporal coincidence 71
  8. Chapter 5. The structure and interpretation of ‘non-matching’ split interrogatives in Spanish 97
  9. Chapter 6. Differential object marking and scale reversals 117
  10. Chapter 7. Contact phenomena 131
  11. Chapter 8. - ŋ plurals in North Lombard varieties 151
  12. Chapter 9. Brazilian and European Portuguese and Holmberg’s 2005 typology of null subject languages 171
  13. Chapter 10. Aspect in the acquisition of the Spanish locative paradigm by Italian L2 learners 191
  14. Chapter 11. Catalan nativization patterns in the light of weighted scalar constraints 205
  15. Chapter 12. Temporal marking and (in)accessibility in Capeverdean 225
  16. Chapter 13. Very …. extracted 249
  17. Chapter 14. On adverbial perfect participial clauses in Portuguese varieties and British English 263
  18. Chapter 15. Craindre (“fear”) and expletive negation in diachrony 287
  19. Chapter 16. Fission in Romance demonstrative-reinforcer constructions 303
  20. Index 317
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.357.09mar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Processing clitic pronouns outside coargumenthood 11
  5. Chapter 2. Infinitival complement clauses 25
  6. Chapter 3. Focus fronting vs. wh -movement 49
  7. Chapter 4. The varieties of temporal anaphora and temporal coincidence 71
  8. Chapter 5. The structure and interpretation of ‘non-matching’ split interrogatives in Spanish 97
  9. Chapter 6. Differential object marking and scale reversals 117
  10. Chapter 7. Contact phenomena 131
  11. Chapter 8. - ŋ plurals in North Lombard varieties 151
  12. Chapter 9. Brazilian and European Portuguese and Holmberg’s 2005 typology of null subject languages 171
  13. Chapter 10. Aspect in the acquisition of the Spanish locative paradigm by Italian L2 learners 191
  14. Chapter 11. Catalan nativization patterns in the light of weighted scalar constraints 205
  15. Chapter 12. Temporal marking and (in)accessibility in Capeverdean 225
  16. Chapter 13. Very …. extracted 249
  17. Chapter 14. On adverbial perfect participial clauses in Portuguese varieties and British English 263
  18. Chapter 15. Craindre (“fear”) and expletive negation in diachrony 287
  19. Chapter 16. Fission in Romance demonstrative-reinforcer constructions 303
  20. Index 317
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