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On Partial Null Subject languages: Why pro-drop in Brazilian Portuguese and Russian became similar but not identical/ Sobre as línguas de Sujeito Parcialmente Nulo: Por que o pro-drop em português brasileiro e em russo se tornaram semelhantes, mas não idênticos
Abstract
Abstract: In this paper, I claim that a parametric view on change in pro-drop does not contradict the fact that not all the Partial Null Subject (PNS) languages display identical properties. I show that the contingent nature of diachronic change is the reason for the slight differences between PNS languages. Modern Russian (MR) and Brazilian Portuguese (BP) are two PNS languages that developed from Consistent Null Subject antecessors (Old Russian and European Portuguese) independently from each other. I account for the change in pro-drop experienced by these two languages, analyzing the properties usually related to the null subject parameter (verbal inflection, clitics, null objects, embedded and arbitrary null subjects), and show that the final parametric setting in both MR and BP was almost identical, with small differences that can be attributed to the different initial conditions for the change.
Keywords: Pro-drop; null subjects; null objects; clitics; Consistent Null Subject languages; Partial Null Subject languages; Brazilian Portuguese; European Portuguese; Modern Russian; Old Russian.
Resumo: Neste artigo, afirmo que uma visão paramétrica sobre a mudança em pro-drop não está em conflito com o fato de que nem todas as línguas de sujeito nulo parcial (PNS) apresentam propriedades idênticas. Mostro que a natureza contingente da mudança diacrônica é a razão para as pequenas diferenças entre as línguas PNS. O russo moderno (MR) e o português brasileiro (BP) são duas línguas PNS que se desenvolveram a partir dos antecessores de sujeito nulo consistente (antigo russo e português europeu) independentemente uma da outra. Relato a mudança de pro-drop experimentada por essas duas línguas, analisando as propriedades geralmente relacionadas ao parâmetro de sujeito nulo (inflexão verbal, clíticos, objetos nulos, sujeitos nulos subordinados e arbitrários), e mostro que a configuração paramétrica final em ambas MR e BP foi quase idêntica, com pequenas diferenças que podem ser atribuídas às diferentes condições iniciais para a mudança.
Palavras-chave: Pro-drop; sujeitos nulos; objetos nulos; clíticos; línguas de sujeito nulo consistente; línguas de sujeito nulo parcial; português brasileiro; português europeu; russo moderno; russo antigo.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.30.4.1896-1935
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