John Benjamins Publishing Company
The pro cycle
Abstract
The argument in this paper is based on the premise that null subjects are pronouns with no phonological substance, called pro, which may receive case and theta-role. Null subject languages may differ as to the referential properties of pro, in some languages pro may have specific reference, in others only generic or expletive reference, and again in others there is no pro at all. In some languages pro may also function as a complement. Pro is found in languages with or without rich verb agreement. There is thus no direct correlation between pro and subject-verb agreement. Many of the languages with obligatory subject (e.g. Scandinavian, English, French) have developed from earlier stages with null subjects. This can be described as a loss of pro from the lexicon of those languages. This loss can in turn be explained as caused by a lack of sufficient input data during acquisition; at a certain stage the necessary cues for a phonologically empty item is insufficient, and pro is lost from the language. This would also account for the apparent unidirectionality of the loss of null subjects. However, there are cases of null subjects as an innovation (e.g. contemporary colloquial French). Furthermore, since pro is such a widespread phenomenon cross-linguistically, there must be causes why it still exists after more than 100,000 years of language development, and why it originated in the first place. The paper will end by some attempts to explain such facts. Keywords: null subject; null object; empty categories; syntactic change; Scandinavian languages; Romance languages; Latin; Greek
Abstract
The argument in this paper is based on the premise that null subjects are pronouns with no phonological substance, called pro, which may receive case and theta-role. Null subject languages may differ as to the referential properties of pro, in some languages pro may have specific reference, in others only generic or expletive reference, and again in others there is no pro at all. In some languages pro may also function as a complement. Pro is found in languages with or without rich verb agreement. There is thus no direct correlation between pro and subject-verb agreement. Many of the languages with obligatory subject (e.g. Scandinavian, English, French) have developed from earlier stages with null subjects. This can be described as a loss of pro from the lexicon of those languages. This loss can in turn be explained as caused by a lack of sufficient input data during acquisition; at a certain stage the necessary cues for a phonologically empty item is insufficient, and pro is lost from the language. This would also account for the apparent unidirectionality of the loss of null subjects. However, there are cases of null subjects as an innovation (e.g. contemporary colloquial French). Furthermore, since pro is such a widespread phenomenon cross-linguistically, there must be causes why it still exists after more than 100,000 years of language development, and why it originated in the first place. The paper will end by some attempts to explain such facts. Keywords: null subject; null object; empty categories; syntactic change; Scandinavian languages; Romance languages; Latin; Greek
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Argument structure in flux 1
-
Part I. Argument structure and encoding strategies
- Non-canonical subjects in clauses with noun predicates 15
- Differential agent marking in Hinuq 33
- Case variation and case alternation in Indo-European and beyond 53
- Constructional polysemy and argument realisation with the Irish GET verb 87
-
Part II. Argument structure and verb classes
- Latin preverbs and verb argument structure 119
- Experiencing linking 135
- Introduce 169
- On the relationship between lexical aspect, verbal meaning, and (lexical) argument structure 201
- Four Romanian verbs of occurring 231
-
Part III. Unexpressed arguments
- The pro cycle 257
- Argument promotion and SE-constructions in Brazilian Portuguese 285
- Unaccusativity and the diachrony of null and cognate objects in Greek 307
-
Part IV. Split intransitivity
- Split intransitivity in Irish and the syntax-semantics interface 345
- Semantic constraints on the Latin impersonal passive 373
- Auxiliary selection in German 405
- Tornar and volver 435
-
Part V. Existential and presentational constructions
- Control and the evolution of possessive and existential constructions 461
- Existential constructions 477
- Variation and change in the presentational constructions of north-western Italo-Romance varieties 511
- Argument realization and existential pro-forms in early Italo-Romance 549
- Author index 567
- Language and topic index 573
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Argument structure in flux 1
-
Part I. Argument structure and encoding strategies
- Non-canonical subjects in clauses with noun predicates 15
- Differential agent marking in Hinuq 33
- Case variation and case alternation in Indo-European and beyond 53
- Constructional polysemy and argument realisation with the Irish GET verb 87
-
Part II. Argument structure and verb classes
- Latin preverbs and verb argument structure 119
- Experiencing linking 135
- Introduce 169
- On the relationship between lexical aspect, verbal meaning, and (lexical) argument structure 201
- Four Romanian verbs of occurring 231
-
Part III. Unexpressed arguments
- The pro cycle 257
- Argument promotion and SE-constructions in Brazilian Portuguese 285
- Unaccusativity and the diachrony of null and cognate objects in Greek 307
-
Part IV. Split intransitivity
- Split intransitivity in Irish and the syntax-semantics interface 345
- Semantic constraints on the Latin impersonal passive 373
- Auxiliary selection in German 405
- Tornar and volver 435
-
Part V. Existential and presentational constructions
- Control and the evolution of possessive and existential constructions 461
- Existential constructions 477
- Variation and change in the presentational constructions of north-western Italo-Romance varieties 511
- Argument realization and existential pro-forms in early Italo-Romance 549
- Author index 567
- Language and topic index 573
