Parametric variation
Subtitle: null subjects in minimalist theory
By: Theresa Biberauer ... [et al.].
Contributors: Biberauer, Theresa.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521886956
Subjects: Grammar, Comparative and general -- Null subject; Grammar, Comparative and general -- Person; Principles and parameters (Linguistics)
Description: "Parametric variation in linguistic theory refers to the systematic grammatical variation permitted by the human language faculty. Although still widely assumed, the parametric theory of variation has in recent years been subject to re-evaluation and critique. The Null Subject Parameter, which determines among other things whether or not a language allows the suppression of subject pronouns, is one of the best-known and most widely discussed examples of a parameter. Nevertheless its status in current syntactic theory is highly controversial. This book is a defence of the parametric approach to linguistic variation, set within the framework of the Minimalist Program. It discusses syntactic variation in the light of recent developments in linguistic theory, focusing on issues such as the formal nature of minimalist parameters, the typology of null-subject language systems and the way in which parametric choices can be seen to underlie the synchronic and diachronic patterns observed in natural languages"--Provided by publisher.

"This book is a defence of the parametric approach to linguistic variation, set within the framework of the Minimalist Program. It discusses syntactic variation in the light of recent developments in linguistic theory, focusing in particular on issues such as the formal nature of minimalist parameters, the typology of null-subject language systems and the way in which parametric choices can be seen to underlie the synchronic and diachronic patterns observed in natural languages"--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction: parameters in minimalist theory; 1. A deletion analysis of null subjects; 2. Null subject parameters; 3. Control into finite clauses in partial null-subject languages; 4. Semi null-subject languages, expletives and expletive pro reconsidered; 5. The null generic pronoun in Finnish: a case of incorporation in T; 6. 'Free' inversion in romance and the null subject parameter; 7. Subjects, tense and verb-movement; 8. Varieties of French and the null subject parameter.