{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T13:26:06Z","timestamp":1774358766198,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":113,"publisher":"MIT Press","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Linguistic Inquiry"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>In this article, I examine the properties of the partial null subject languages (NSLs) when compared with the consistent and the discourse pro-drop languages and argue that the same basic mechanism underlies pro-drop in partial as well as discourse pro-drop: namely, null NP anaphora, as originally proposed in Tomioka 2003 for discourse pro-drop. The two sets of languages show a correlation between the occurrence of null arguments and the availability of a bare nominal in argument position. I suggest that the null element is a default, minimally specified nominal\u2014the same item that arguably appears as a complement of D in pronouns. It is a proform that minimally consists of the categorizing head n, lacking a root, the meaning of which is \u2018entity\u2019 (a property that is trivially true of any individual in the domain). nP introduces a variable that may be bound under Existential Closure, yielding the impersonal interpretation; otherwise, its denotation is type-shifted to an individual (\u0269) under the appropriate conditions. The crosslinguistic differences found in the interpretation of the null subject depend on the resources available in particular languages for application of \u0269 type-shifting: the (bare NP) languages that lack such resources only have quasi-argumental and impersonal null subjects (semi pro-drop languages). Finally, I show that the idea that pro reduces to [<jats:sub>nP<\/jats:sub>e] can also be successfully extended to the consistent NSLs, provided it is assumed that, in this type of NSL, the head bearing agreement morphology bears a D-feature and interpretable \u03d5-features.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/ling_a_00312","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,7,26]],"date-time":"2018-07-26T21:59:07Z","timestamp":1532642347000},"page":"487-526","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["<i>pro<\/i>as a Minimal nP: Toward a Unified Approach to Pro-Drop"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"50","author":[{"given":"Pilar P.","family":"Barbosa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Letras e Ci\u00eancias Humanas, Campus de Gualtar, Universidade do Minho, Portugal,"}]}],"member":"281","reference":[{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib001","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1006090432389"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib002","first-page":"3","volume-title":"Harvard working papers in linguistics 5","author":"Baptista, Marlyse","year":"1995"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib003","unstructured":"Barbosa, Pilar . 1995. Null subjects. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5334\/jpl.158"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib005","first-page":"364","volume-title":"Parametric variation: Null subjects in Minimalist theory","author":"Biberauer, Theresa","year":"2010"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib006","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-94-009-2540-3_3"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib007","first-page":"99","volume-title":"L\u2019adjectif","author":"Borer, Hagit","year":"2006"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib008","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781614511601.179"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib009","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511802669"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib010","volume-title":"Proceedings of the conference \u201csub7\u2013Sinn und Bedeutung,\u201d","author":"Cabredo Hofherr, Patricia","year":"2003"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib011","first-page":"354","volume":"17","author":"Campos, H\u00e9ctor","year":"1986","journal-title":"Linguistic Inquiry"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib012","first-page":"259","volume-title":"Handbook of comparative syntax","author":"Cheng, Lisa","year":"2005"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib013","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511519710"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib014","first-page":"107","volume-title":"Quantification in natural language","author":"Chierchia, Gennaro","year":"1995"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib015","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008324218506"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib016","volume-title":"Lectures on government and binding","author":"Chomsky, Noam","year":"1981"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib017","volume-title":"The Minimalist Program","author":"Chomsky, Noam","year":"1995"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib018","first-page":"1","volume-title":"Ken Hale: A life in language","author":"Chomsky, Noam","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib019","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5927.001.0001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib020","first-page":"252","volume-title":"You take the high node and I\u2019ll take the low node","author":"Chvany, Catherine V","year":"1973"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib021","first-page":"521","volume":"19","author":"Cinque, Guglielmo","year":"1988","journal-title":"Linguistic Inquiry"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib022","first-page":"141","volume-title":"Long-distance reflexives","author":"Cole, Peter","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib023","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/9780470996591.ch39"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib024","first-page":"1","volume-title":"Selections from the third Groningen Round Table","author":"Cooper, Robin","year":"1979"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib025","first-page":"173","volume":"25","author":"Cyrino, Sonia","year":"2001","journal-title":"Boletim da ABRALIN"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib026","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11049-014-9264-6"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib027","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199577743.003.0006"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib028","volume-title":"A semantics for pseudo-incorporation","author":"Dayal, Veneeta","year":"2003"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib029","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/002438902760168554"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib030","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3765\/salt.v13i0.2881"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib031","first-page":"71","volume-title":"Proceedings of the forty-first annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society","author":"Dvo\u0159\u00e1k, V\u011bra","year":"2015"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib032","volume-title":"Situations and individuals","author":"Elbourne, Paul","year":"2005"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib033","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lingua.2013.07.009"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib034","volume-title":"The semantics of incorporation: From argument structure to discourse transparency","author":"Farkas, Donka","year":"2003"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib035","first-page":"189","volume-title":"Linguistische Arbeitsberichte 86","author":"Fehrmann, Dorothee","year":"2008"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib036","unstructured":"Ferreira, Marcelo . 2000. Argumentos nulos em Portugu\u00eas Brasileiro. Master\u2019s thesis, UNICAMP, Campinas, Brazil."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195089707.001.0001","volume-title":"Parameters of Slavic morphosyntax","author":"Franks, Steven","year":"1995"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib038","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11049-007-9025-x"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib039","first-page":"141","volume":"17","author":"Giannakidou, Anastasia","year":"1997","journal-title":"Studies in Greek Linguistics"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib040","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0022226704002890"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib041","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/ling.2007.38.2.363"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib042","first-page":"111","volume-title":"The view from Building 20: Essays in linguistics in honor of Sylvain Bromberger","author":"Halle, Morris","year":"1993"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib043","unstructured":"Heim, Irene . 1982. The semantics of definite and indefinite NPs. Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib044","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/002438905774464322"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib045","first-page":"88","volume-title":"Parametric variation: Null subjects in Minimalist theory","author":"Holmberg, Anders","year":"2010"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib046","first-page":"200","volume-title":"Parametric variation: Null subjects in Minimalist theory","author":"Holmberg, Anders","year":"2010"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib047","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9582.2008.01154.x"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib048","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780195142242.003.0004","volume-title":"Subjects, expletives, and the EPP","author":"Holmberg, Anders","year":"2002"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib049","first-page":"141","volume-title":"Long-distance reflexives","author":"Huang, C.-T. James","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib050","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198235293.001.0001","volume-title":"Anaphora: A cross-linguistic approach","author":"Huang, Yan","year":"2000"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib051","first-page":"59","volume-title":"Papers and studies in contrastive linguistics 11","author":"Ihalainen, Ossi","year":"1980"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib052","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00136264"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib053","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1163\/9789004368859_021","volume-title":"Notes from the linguistic underground","author":"Karttunen, Lauri","year":"1976"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib054","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/prbs.1999.11.1.1"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib055","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008354600813"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib056","first-page":"343","volume":"4","author":"Lebeaux, David","year":"1984","journal-title":"The Linguistic Review"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib057","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lingua.2013.10.013"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib058","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3726\/b12585"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib059","first-page":"609","volume":"25","author":"Longobardi, Giuseppe","year":"1994","journal-title":"Linguistic Inquiry"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib060","first-page":"107","volume-title":"Sounds of silence","author":"Lowenstamm, Jean","year":"2008"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib061","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5565\/rev\/catjl.57"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib062","volume-title":"the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL) 20","author":"Marantz, Alec","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib063","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9582.2008.01155.x"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib064","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31819\/9783964561497-008"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib065","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4020-6176-9_10"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib066","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/la.132.17mod"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib067","first-page":"72","volume-title":"Proceedings of SULA 1 (Semantics of Under-Represented Languages in the Americas)","author":"M\u00fcller, Ana","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib068","first-page":"93","volume-title":"Form, structure and grammar: A festschrift presented to G\u00fcnther Grewendorf on the occasion of his 60th birthday","author":"M\u00fcller, Gereon","year":"2005"},{"issue":"2","key":"ling_a_00312.bib069","first-page":"47","volume":"5","author":"Muysken, Pieter","year":"2001","journal-title":"Glot International"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib070","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/ling.2007.38.4.671"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib071","unstructured":"Noyer, Rolf . 1992. Features, positions, and affixes in autonomous morphological structure. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib072","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/rllt.1.13nun"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib073","unstructured":"Oku, Satoshi . 1998. A theory of selection and reconstruction in the Minimalist perspective. Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib074","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0024-3841(98)00020-5"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib075","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/la.46"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib076","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9781139811927"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib077","first-page":"115","volume-title":"Studies in Discourse Representation Theory and the theory of generalized quantifiers","author":"Partee, Barbara","year":"1987"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib078","volume-title":"Deep and surface constraints in syntax","author":"Perlmutter, David","year":"1971"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib079","first-page":"83","volume":"73","author":"Platzack, Christer","year":"2004","journal-title":"Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib080","first-page":"261","volume":"23","author":"Pollard, Carl","year":"1992","journal-title":"Linguistic Inquiry"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib081","volume-title":"Langage et cognition: Introduction au programme minimaliste de la grammaire g\u00e9n\u00e9rative","author":"Pollock, Jean-Yves","year":"1997"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib082","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1005311504497"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib083","first-page":"177","volume-title":"Report on the Seventeenth Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies","author":"Postal, Paul","year":"1966"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib084","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/cilt.160.16rap"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib085","first-page":"657","volume":"24","author":"Reinhart, Tanya","year":"1993","journal-title":"Linguistic Inquiry"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib086","first-page":"343","volume-title":"Long-distance reflexives","author":"Reuland, Eric","year":"2001"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib087","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF00992737"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib088","first-page":"58","volume-title":"Parametric variation: Null subjects in Minimalist theory","author":"Roberts, Ian","year":"2010"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib089","unstructured":"Rodrigues, Cilene . 2004. Impoverished morphology and A-movement out of case-domains. Doctoral dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib090","first-page":"223","volume-title":"Readings in English transformational grammar","author":"Ross, John Robert","year":"1970"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib091","volume-title":"the annual meeting of the Linguistic Society of America","author":"Ross, John Robert","year":"1982"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib092","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/la.244"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib093","unstructured":"Saab, Andr\u00e9s . 2009. Hacia una teor\u00eda de la identidad parcial en la elipsis. Doctoral dissertation, Universidad de Buenos Aires."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib094","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780190465889.003.0003"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib095","first-page":"21","volume":"1","author":"Saito, Mamoru","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nanzan Linguistics"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib096","first-page":"203","volume":"43","author":"Saito, Mamoru","year":"2007","journal-title":"Language Research"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib097","unstructured":"Samek-Lodovici, Vieri . 1996. Constraints on subjects: An optimality theoretic analysis. Doctoral dissertation, The State University of New Jersey."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib099","first-page":"339","volume-title":"NELS 29","author":"Schmitt, Cristina","year":"1999"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib100","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9582.2008.01156.x"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib101","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1162\/LING_a_00042"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib102","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9582.2008.01157.x"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib103","unstructured":"Sung, Li-May . 1990. Universals of reflexives. Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib104","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10831-005-2166-1"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib105","volume-title":"GLOW in Asia VI","author":"Takahashi, Daiko","year":"2007"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib106","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780195307344.013.0015"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib107","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/acprof:oso\/9780199945207.003.0004"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib109","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1075\/la.61.16tom"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib110","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.lingua.2014.07.015"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib111","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1006225032592"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib112","unstructured":"Vallduv\u00ed, Enric . 1990. The informational component. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia."},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib113","volume-title":"Semantic incorporation and indefinite descriptions: Semantic and syntactic aspects of noun incorporation in West Greenlandic","author":"Van Geenhoven, Veerle","year":"1998"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib114","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S1470542706000079"},{"key":"ling_a_00312.bib115","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2307\/414931"}],"container-title":["Linguistic Inquiry"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mitpressjournals.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1162\/ling_a_00312","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,8]],"date-time":"2024-07-08T18:00:40Z","timestamp":1720461640000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/ling\/article\/50\/3\/487-526\/726"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]},"references-count":113,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1162\/ling_a_00312"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/ling_a_00312","relation":{},"ISSN":["0024-3892","1530-9150"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0024-3892","type":"print"},{"value":"1530-9150","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2019,6]]}}}