The null-subject parameter at the interface between syntax and pragmatics: Evidence from bilingual German–Italian, German–French and Italian–French children
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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
The null-subject parameter at the interface between syntax and pragmatics: Evidence from bilingual German–Italian, German–French and Italian–French children
Published in:
First Language, 32 (2012) 1-2, Seite 205-238
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1177/0142723711403880
ISSN:
0142-7237;
1740-2344
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
This article investigates subject realizations and omissions in bilingual German–Italian, German–French and Italian–French children. The German–Italian children realize too many subjects in Italian, unlike the French–Italian child. The authors modify the criteria for cross-linguistic influence: this occurs if the vulnerable grammatical phenomenon is an interface property and if the surface strings of the two languages are analysable with the syntactic derivation of one language. All children produce target-deviant subject omissions in French and German. Odd omissions of subjects in French and German and odd realizations in Italian are all syntactically 3rd person. The authors argue for one explanation for all observations, namely the misinterpretation of the deictic nature of 1st and 2nd person as the anaphoric 3rd person. Odd realized and omitted subject pronouns are of the NP-type, independent from licensing via agreement and realized as default 3rd person.