Null subject language

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A null subject language, in linguistic typology, is a language whose grammar permits a null subject, that is, the omission of an explicit subject in main clauses.

For example, in

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:

Maria non vuole mangiare.

"Maria does not want to eat."

Non vuole mangiare.

"She does not want to eat."

In the second sentence in Italian the subject (Maria) is implied.

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, on the other hand, requires an explicit subject, which in the translation is supplied by the pronoun "she".

Among the null subject languages are Latin, most Romance languages (including Portuguese, Spanish, Occitan, Catalan, Italian, and Romanian – but not French), Slavic languages (Polish, Slovenian, Croatian, etc.), Finnish, Hungarian, Modern and Ancient Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Tamil, and Turkish.

Characterization

In the framework of government and binding theory of syntax, the term null subject refers to an empty category. The empty category in question is thought to behave like an ordinary pronoun with respect to anaphoric reference and other grammatical behavior. Hence it is most commonly referred to as "pro".

This phenomenon is similar, but not identical, to that of pro-drop languages, which may omit pronouns, including subject pronouns, but also object pronouns. While pro-drop languages are null subject languages, not all null subject languages are pro-drop.

In null subject languages that have verb inflection in which the verb inflects for person, the grammatical person of the subject is reflected by the inflection of the verb, and likewise for number and gender.

Examples

The following examples come from Portuguese:

• "I'm going home" can be translated either as Vou para casa or as Eu vou para casa, where eu means "I".
• "It's raining" can be translated as Está a chover but not as *Ele está a chover, where ele would correspond to English it.
• "I'm going home. I'm going to watch TV." only in exceptional circumstances would be translated as ?Eu vou para casa. Eu vou ver televisão. At least the second eu ("I") should be omitted, except to indicate a strong stress, as in "[I don't care what you are doing, but] I am going to watch TV."

As the examples illustrate, in Portuguese, and many other null subject languages, an explicit pronoun may be stated as subject, in particular in order for emphasis, but some sentences do not allow a subject in any form, while in other cases an explicit subject without particular emphasis would sound awkward or unnatural.

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Blekinge | Dalarna | Gotland | Gävleborg | Halland | Jämtland | Jönköping | Kalmar | Kronoberg | Norrbotten | Örebro | Östergötland | Skåne | Stockholm | Södermanland | Uppsala | Värmland | Västerbotten | Västernorrland | Västmanland | Västra Götaland

and several other null subject languages are topic-prominent languages: they require an expressed topic in order for sentences to make sense. In Japanese, for instance, it is possible to start a sentence with a topic marked by the particle wa. In subsequent sentences the topic can then be left unstated and understood to remain the same, until another one is explicitly introduced. For example, in the second sentence below, the subject ("we") is not expressed again but left implicit:

Japanese	Watashitachi wa	kaimono o	shita.	Ato de	gohan o	tabeta.
Literal translation	We (TOPIC)	shopping (OBJ)	did.	After (COMPL)	dinner (OBJ)	ate.
Idiomatic translation	"We went shopping. After that, we ate dinner."

Null subjects in non-null subject languages

Other languages (sometimes called non-null subject languages) require each sentence to include a subject — this is the case for most Germanic languages, such as English and German. Even in these languages it is sometimes possible to omit the subject, although contextual clues are usually necessary.

"Bumped into George this morning." (I)

"Agreed to have a snifter to catch up on old times." (We)

"Told me what the two of you had been up to." (He)

"Went down to Brighton for the weekend?" (You)

See also

• Anaphora
• Pro-drop language
• Impersonal verb
• Weather verb

References

• Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on Government and Binding: The Pisa Lectures. Holland: Foris Publications, Reprint. 7th Edition. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1993.

 

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