Lillo-martin-two Kinds of Null Arguments in Asl

8/3/2019 Lillo-martin-two Kinds of Null Arguments in Asl

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T W O K I N D S O F N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A NS I G N L A N G U A G E *

1 . I N T R O D U C T I O NIn some languages, such as Italian and Spanish, the subject of a sentencecan be non-lexical, as in example (1). 1

(1) Mangia una mela. ( I t a l i a n )( H e - ~ s h e - ) e a t s a n a p p l e .

Although the subject is not phonologically overt in these sentences, itis understood as a definite pronominal such as 'he' or 'she'. English, onthe other hand, does not allow such NULL ARGUMENTS in tensed clauses.In this paper, I will investigate the appearance of null arguments, (that is,those subjects and objects which are not specified phonologically as aseparate overt lexical pronoun or noun phrase), in yet another language,American Sign Language (ASL). It will be seen that there are two kindsof null arguments in ASL, one corresponding to the rtull argumentsfound in languages like Irish, and the other corresponding to the nullarguments found in languages like Chinese. I will show why two analysesare needed for null arguments in ASL, and how this bears on the analysesof other languages with and without null arguments. I will also examinesome other syntactic constructions which have been reported to beconnected to null arguments, and explain why ASL does or does notmanifest these constructions. Throughout, I am assuming in general the

* T h i s r e s e a r c h w a s s u p p o r t e d i n p a r t b y N a t i o n a l I n s t it u t e s o f H e a l t h G r a n t s # H D 1 3 2 4 9 ,N S 1 5 1 7 5 , N 8 1 9 0 9 6 , a n d b y N a t io n a l S ci e n ce F o u n d a t io n G r a n t # B N S 8 3 - 0 9 8 6 0 t o D rs .U r s u l a B e U u g i a n d H o w a r d P o i z n e r a t t h e S a l k I n s t i tu t e f o r B i o l o g i c a l S t u d i es . I w o u l d l i k et o t h a n k t h e f o l l o w i n g p e o p l e f o r t h e i r s u p p o r t , c o n s u l t i n g , a s s i s t a n c e , c o m m e n t s , a n dd i s cu s s io n s o f th i s r e s e a rc h : U r s u l a B e U u g i, S a n d r a C h u n g , D a v i d C o r i n a , C a r o l G e o r -g o p o l o u s , E d w a r d K i i m a , L u c i n d a O ' G r a d y , M a u r e e n O ' G r a d y , C a r o l P a d d e n , S al ly R i c e ,L e s l i e S a x o n , D e n n i s S c h e m e n a u e r , a n d t h r e e a n o n y m o u s NLLT r e v i e w e r s . I l l u s t r a t i o n sw e r e m a d e b y F r a n k A . P a u l , c o p y r i g h t D r . U r s u l a B e l l u g i , T h e S a i k I n s t it u t e .

T h e f o ll o w i n g n o t a t i o n i s u s e d i n t h e E n g l i s h t ra n s l a ti o n s . W h e n a p r o n o u n i s n o t g i v e n i nt h e o r i g i n a l l a n g u a g e ( i .e ., i t is n u ll ), b u t i s n e e d e d f o r a g r a m m a t i c a l E n g l i s h t r a n s l a t i o n , i tw i ll b e i n c l u d e d i n t h e t r a n s l a t i o n w i t h i n p a r e n t h e s e s , e . g . ( s h e) . I f a p r o n o u n i s n e e d e d i nE n g l i s h , a n d d o e s n o t a p p e a r a s a p r o n o u n i n t h e o r i g i n a l l a n g u a g e b u t i s s i g n i fi e d b y v e r ba g r e e m e n t , i t w i l l a p p e a r i n t h e t r a n s l a t i o n w i t h i n p a r e n t h e s e s p r e c e d e d b y a h y p h e n , e . g .( - t he m) , i f i t i s a sub j e c t , o r f o l l ow e d by a hyphe n , e . g . ( H e - ) , i f i t i s a n ob j e c t .Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 4 ( 1 9 8 6 ) 4 1 5 - 4 4 4~ ) 1 9 8 6 by D. Reidel Publishing Company


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t h e o r e t i c a l f r a m e w o r k o f G o v e r n m e n t a n d B i n d i n g , a s o u t l i n e d i nC h o m s k y ( 1 9 8 1 ) a n d s u b s e q u e n t w o r k s .

I n A m e r i c a n S i g n L a n g u a g e , f o r a l a r g e s e t o f v e r b s , s u b j e c t a n do b j e c t a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d f r o m e a c h o t h e r b y w o r d o r d e r o rc a s e m a r k i n g . R a t h e r , t h e y a r e m a r k e d b y t h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e v e r b i nr e l a t i o n t o s p e c i f i c p o i n t s i n s p a c e . T h i s s p a t i a l l y e x p r e s s e d s y n t a c t i cs y s t e m h a s b e e n c a l l e d ' v e r b a g r e e m e n t ' b y r e s e a r c h e r s w o r k i n g o nA S L . 2 T h i s p a p e r w i ll e x a m i n e t h e n u l l a r g u m e n t s o f v e r b s t h a t u s e t h iss y s t e m to m a r k a g r e e m e n t , a n d n u l l a r g u m e n t s o f v e r b s t h a t d o n o t m a r ka g r e e m e n t . I t w i ll b e s h o w n t h a t t h e n u l l a r g u m e n t s t o th e s e t w o t y p e s o fv e r b s a r e d i f f e r e n t i a l l y d i s t r i b u t e d a n d i n f a c t s h o u l d b e e x p l a i n e d i nd i f f e r e n t w a y s . S p e c i f i c a l l y , i f a n i n f l e c t i o n a l m a r k e r i s p r e s e n t , t h e e f f e c t ,e v e n w h e n t h e p r o n o u n ' a g r e e d w i t h ' i s n u l l , i s t h e s a m e a s if a n o v e r tp r o n o u n w e r e p r e s e n t , i n d i c a t i n g t h a t th e e m p t y c a t e g o r y s h o u l d b ep r o n o m i n a l , pro. H o w e v e r , w h e n t h e r e i s n o i n f l e c t i o n a l m a r k e r , t h e n t h ea p p e a r a n c e o f n u l l a r g u m e n t s i s m u c h m o r e l i m i te d , a n d t h e e m p t yc a t e g o r y w i l l b e a n a l y z e d a s a n o n p r o n o m i n a l ( W h - t r a c e ) e m p t y t o p i c . 3

2 . V E R B A G R E E M E N T ' I N A S LA m e r i c a n S i g n L a n g u a g e i s t h e v i s u a l - g e s tu r a l l a n g u a g e u s e d b y m o s t o ft h e d e a f c o m m u n i t y i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d p a r t s o f C a n a d a . T h e

2 R e se a rc h e r s w h o h a v e d i s cu s se d A S L v e rb a g re e m e n t i n v a r i o u s te rm s i n c l u d e C o u l t e r(1979), F i scher (1974), F i scher and Go ugh (1978), Fr i shberg and G oug h (1973) , K egl(1976), L acy (1973), Lidde l l (1977), M eier (1982), an d Padd en (1983), and She par d-K egi(1986), amo ng o thers . Fo r an ov erv iew see Kl im a and BeUugi (1979), o r W i lbur (1979).Th e ana lys is t o be p resen ted here resem bles in many ways an ana lys is o f nu l l a rgument si n A S L p ro p o se d i n d e p e n d e n t l y b y S h e p a rd -K e g l (19 86 , p p . 4 8 0 -4 9 1 ) . B o t h a n a ly se sconc lude tha t A SL i s bo th a p ro-d rop l anguag e and a d i scou rse-or i en ted l anguage , wi th thesame d i s t inc t ion be tween agree ing verb s and nonagree ing v erbs se rv ing to d i s t ingui sh thetwo types of nu l l a rgument s . However , many de ta i l s o f t he ana lyses d i f fe r . Impor t an t ly ,She pard-K egl assumes a d i f fe ren t ana lys is o f t he in t e rna l s t ruc ture o f t he AS L s ign than theone assumed here . T hi s ana lys is t akes as m orphologica l ly s ign if i can t many of t he prope r t i esof AS L s igns (such as the h andshape , and aspec t s o f t he loca t ion and movem ent ) which a recons idered he re mere ly form at iona l . W i th respec t ~o the analys is o f nu l l a rgument s , t hem a i n d i f f e r e n c e is t h a t ! n so m e c a se s, S h e p a rd -K e g l d o e s n o t c o n s i d e r th e v e rb m o v e m e n tto spa t i a l l oc i as t he ag reem ent (A GR ) which sanc t ions nu ll a rgumen t s . Rather , t he pos i t i onof the s igner ' s body wi th res pe c t t o the spa t i a l l oc i , which Shep ard-K egl ca l ls a c l i ti c ,sanc t ions em pty a rgum ent s . She pard -Ke gl ' s analys is o f t he in t e rna l s truc ture o f t he s ign ish igh ly comp lex , lead ing her t o pos i t t ha t t he s ing le in fl ec ted sign which I w ould represen tby o GIV Eb cons i s ts o f 43 morphem es (p . 136). Un der my ana lys is , t h is complex i ty i sunneeded and unwarran ted , a t l eas t fo r t he ana lys i s o f t he nu l l a rgument s t ruc turesdiscusse d here. (See Li l lo-M art in 1986b for further discussion of the simi lari t ies anddi f fe rences be tween these two account s . )


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 1 7p o s i t i o n t a k e n i n t h is p a p e r i s t h a t w h e n t h e s u r f a c e e f f e c t s o f m o d a l i t ya r e s t r i p p e d a w a y , A S L w i l l b e s e e n t o f o l l o w m a n y o f t h e p a t t e r n sp r o p o s e d a s u n i v e r s a l s f o r h u m a n l a n g u a g e . F o r t h is r e a s o n , t h e s t u d y o fA S L c a n b e s i g n if ic a n t f o r p r o p o s e d t h e o r i e s o f u n i v e r s a l g r a m m a r .

P r i m a r y t o a n u n d e rs t a n d i n g o f t he v e r b a g r e e m e n t s y s t e m of A S L ist h e n o t i o n o f n o m i n a l a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h l o c i i n t h e s i g n i n g s p a c e . L o c i ins p a c e c a n b e i d e n t i f i e d a s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h p a r t i c u l a r N P s . F o r r e f e r e n t sw h i c h a r e p l i y si c a ll y p r e s e n t i n t h e s i g n i n g s i tu a t i o n , t h e p l a c e s w h i c ht h e y o c c u p y a r e g e n e r a l l y u n d e r s t o o d a s t h e i r a s s o c i a te d l o ci . T h u s , t h el o c u s o f f i r s t p e r s o n a s s o c i a t i o n i s t h e s i g n e r ' s o w n c h e s t ( o r t h e s p a c ed i r e c t l y i n f r o n t o f it ); s e c o n d p e r s o n i s t h e a d d r e s s e e ' s c h e s t , a n d t h i r dp e r s o n a s s o c i a t i o n , f o r t h o s e t h ir d p e r s o n s i n th e i m m e d i a t e s u r r o u n d -i n g s , is w i t h t h e p l a c e s a t w h i c h t h e s e t h i r d p e r s o n s a r e l o c a t e d . 4

F o r r e f e r e n t s w h i c h a r e n o t p h y s ic a l ly p r e s e n t , a b s t r a c t l o c i in t h es i gn i n g s p a c e i n f r o n t o f t h e s i g n e r ' s b o d y a r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e a c hr e f e r e n t . 5 T h i s is a c c o m p l i s h e d b y s i g n in g t h e N P a t s o m e a r b i t r a r y l o c u si n s p a c e , o r m a k i n g t h e s i g n a n d t h e n p o i n t i n g t o t h e l o c u s w i t h t h e i n d e xf i n g e r , o r b y g a z i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e l o c u s w h i l e m a k i n g t h e s i g n .

P r o n o m i n a l r e f e r e n c e i s m a d e b y i n d i c a ti n g t h e l oc i a s s o c i a te d w i t h th ei n t e n d e d r e f e r e n t . T h u s , f ir st p e r s o n p r o n o m i n a l r e f e r e n c e is m a d e b y t h es i g ne r p o in t in g t o w a r d h e r o w n c h e s t, a n d s e c o n d p e r s o n p r o n o m i n a lr e f e r e n c e i s m a d e b y p o i n t i n g t o w a r d t h e a d d r e s s e e ' s c h e s t . T h i r d p e r s o np r o n o u n s , w h e n t h e re f e r e n t s a r e a c t u a l ly p re s e n t , a r e l ik e w i s e m a d e b yp o i n t in g t o w a r d t h e a p p r o p r i a t e p e r s o n s . W h e n t h e r e f e r e n t s a r e n o tp r e s e n t , t h e a b s t r a c t l o c i a s s o c i a t e d w i t h e a c h r e f e r e n t s e r v e a s t h el o c a t i o n s f o r t h e d i r e c t i o n o f th e p r o n o m i n a l s ig n s. H e n c e , a f t e r a s i g n e rh a s a s s o c i a t e d J o h n w i t h a l o c u s o n h e r r i g h t s i d e , s h e c a n u s e ap r o n o m i n a l s i g n in d i c a t in g t hi s l o c u s a s a p r o n o u n f o r J o h n . T h e a s s o -c i a t io n o f a b s t r a c t l oc i w i t h n o n - p r e s e n t r e f e r e n t s r e m a i n s t h r o u g h o u t ad i s c o u r s e u n t il a n e w f r a m e w o r k is e s t a b l i s h e d . 6

A n i m p o r t a n t f a c t a b o u t th is s y s t e m is t h a t t h e n u m b e r o f d if f e r e n t

See M eier (1986) for discussion of the lack of distinction between second and thirdperson pronominals in A SL.5 A bstract loci are also often used for discussing hypothetical situations, or past o r futuresituations, even w he n the referents are present. See Ba han an d Petitto (1980 ) for discussionof the ph ysical spacing of the abstract loci.The /1/ handshape (index finger only projecting from a closed fist) is used for personalpronominal reference; /B / (all four finge rs extended and c lose d together) for possessivereference; a nd /A /(c los ed fist with thumb extended) for reflexives. Note, how ever, that thedistribution of the /A / 'SE LF ' sign is not exactly parallel to English reflexives. Se e, forexample, Fischer and Johnson (1982).


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referents is theoretically unlimited. If there are three individuals whofigure in a particular narrative that the signer is relating, then three lociwill be established in space. If there are five or seven or ten individuals,the signer could divide up the space with that many distinct loci, but thistends not to be done because of perceptual and memory factors. Thissystem of indexed pronouns thus more resembles overt referential indicesthan it does the categorical pronouns of spoken languages (Lacy, 1974;Lillo-Martin and Klima, 1986).

The ASL verb agreement system makes use of the association ofnominals with loci described above. ASL has a class of verbs which takesagreement morphology, and a class which does not. When agreementmorphology is present, it is manifested in the following way. Agreemen tis signaled by changing the movement dimension of the verb root. Underthis modulation, for a large set of verbs, the sign begins at the locuswhich the subject occupies, and terminates a t the locus of the object.With present referents, for example, to sign, I hate you, the basic sign7HATE is articulated so that the movement begins at me, and movestoward and ends at you: 1HATE2. For referents which are not present,the verb is executed between the abst ract loci. Thus, if John is associatedwith a locus to my right, and Mary is associated with a locus to my left,then movement of the sign root (HATE) from the locus on my right tothe locus on my left means, John hates Mary. Similarly, if the verb movesfrom my left to my .right, it means, Mary hates John. This verb ag reementserves as the strongest kind of cue for grammatical relations (Wilbur,1979). s

An example of the locus association and verb agreement morphologysystem is illustrated in Figure 1 below. The utterance consists first ofassociating 'the dog' with a locus on the signer's left, called a, and 'thecat' with a locus on the signer's right, called b. Verb agreement mor-phology is then illustrated with the verb BITE. In the figure, themovement of the verb BITE is from the left to the right; thus, thesentence means, '(The dog) bites (the cat)'. If the verb moved from rightto left, it would mean, '(The cat) bites (the dog)'.

Not all verbs, however, can be marked for agreement in this way. Withnoninflecting verbs, called "Plain verbs" by Padden (1983), SVO word

7 The notation used for the ASL examples is shown in the Appendix.The ASL verb agr eement is an inflectional process rather than a process of cliticization,

at least using the morphol ogical crite ria of Zwicky and Pullum (1983). See Lillo-Martin(1985). For a diffe rent view of agreement and cliticization in ASL, see Kegl (1985) andShepard-Kegl (1986).


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r,

D O G - a IN D E X C A T - b l N D E X

o B I T E b(Th e dog) bites ( the cat).

F ig . 1 . A S L v e r b a g r e e m e n t m o r p h o l o g y .

o r d e r u s u a l ly se r v e s t o m a r k g r a m m a t i c a l r e l a ti o n s. D e v i a t i o n s i n S V Oo r d e r , w i t h b o t h p l a i n a n d i n f l e c t i n g v e r b s , o c c u r v i a a p r o d u c t i v ep ro ces s o f t o p i ca l i za t i o n , w h i ch i s a l s o mark ed i n A SL b y a s p ec i f i c f ac i a lg es t u re an d b y t h e rh y t h m i c g ro u p i n g o f t h e s ig n s (L i d d e ll , 1 9 7 7 ) .

A n e x a m p l e o f ( o v e r t p r o n o m i n a l ) w o r d o r d e r u s e d w i t h n o n a g r e e i n gv e r b s i s g i v e n i n F i g u r e 2 b e l o w . T h i s f i g u r e a s s u m e s t h e s a m e a s s o -c i a t i o n o f n o m i n a l s w i t h l o c i a s i n F i g u re 1 , w i t h t h e d o g o n t h e l e ft , an dt h e ca t o n t h e r i g h t . A s w i t h t h e ex amp l e i n F i g u re 1 , t h i s a s s o c i a t i o n i sa s s u m e d t o t a k e p l a c e s o m e t i m e i n t h e p r e c e d i n g d i s c o u r s e . T h e o v e r tp r o n o u n s , , I N D E X a n d b I N D E X a r e u s e d w i th th e n o n a g re e i n g v e r bL I K E , i n a s e n t e n c e w h i c h m e a n s , ' H e ( t h e c a t ) l i k e s h e r ( t h e d o g ) ' .N o t i c e t h a t t h e r e f e r e n c e ( a l th o u g h n o t t h e g e n d e r ) f o r e a c h o f t h ep r o n o u n s i s u n a m b i g u o u s , g i v e n t h e p r e c e d i n g a s s o c i a t i o n o f N P s w i t hloc i .A s i s o f t e n t h e c a s e i n l a n g u a g e s w i t h r i c h a g r e e m e n t s y s t e m s , s u b j e c ta n d o b j e c t N P s i n A S L c a n b e " ' p ho n o l o g ic a l ly ' n u l l ( n o n o v e r 0 . F o re x a m p l e , o n c e N P s h a v e b e e n a s s i g n e d t o lo c i, i n fl e ct in g v e r b s m a y s h o wa g r e e m e n t w i th t h e s e l o ci w i t h o u t t h e N P s h a v i n g t o b e o v e r t l y re n a m e d


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C?DOG-.INDEX CAT-bINDEXbINDEX LIKE ,,INDEX

H e (the cat) likes her (the dog).Fig. 2. Nonagreeing verbs, over t pronouns, and SVO order.

e i t h e r a s f u ll N P s o r o v e r t p r o n o u n s . I t is al so p o s s ib l e i n A S L f o r a no v e r t p r o n o u n o r n o m i n a l to c o - o c c u r w it h th e v e r b a g r e e m e n t . T h i s isa l s o t r u e f o r s o m e o t h e r n u l l s u b j e c t l a n g u a g e s ( e . g . , S p a n i s h) , b u t n o tf o r o t h e r s , s u c h as I r i sh ( M c C l o s k e y a n d H a l e , 1 9 8 4 ), a n d C h a m o r r o( C h u n g , 1 9 84 ) , in w h i c h a n o v e r t p r o n o u n c a n n o t c o - o c c u r w i th c e r t a int y pe s o f v e r b a g r e e m e n t .

I t w il l b e a r g u e d i n t hi s p a p e r t h a t w h e n a g r e e m e n t is p r e s e n t i n A S Lt h e e f f e c t is in s e v e r a l w a y s t h e s a m e a s if a n o v e r t p r o n o u n w e r e p r e s e n t ,i n t h a t s t r u c t u r e w h i c h o t h e r w i s e w o u l d n e e d a n o v e r t p r o n o u n a r eg r a m m a t i c a l , a n d s t r u c t u r e s i n w h i c h i sl an d v i o l a ti o n s w o u l d h a v eo c c u r r e d a r e ' s a v e d ' . I n t h i s r e s p e c t , A S L i s l ik e I ri s h (w h i c h is d e s c r i b e di n t h e f o l l o w i n g s e c t io n ) , a l t h o u g h i t is u n l i k e I r is h , a s a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d ,in th a t A S L o v e r t p ro n o u n s m a y c o - o c c u r w it h a g re e m e n t .

3 . N U L L P R O N O M I N A L A R G U M E N T S O F A G R E E I N G V E R B S3 . 1 . p r o i n I r i s h

M c C l o s k e y a n d H a l e ( 1 9 8 4 ) a r g u e t h a t I r i s h s e n t e n c e s i n w h i c h a na r g u m e n t is o v e r t l y s i g n a le d o n l y b y a g r e e m e n t b e h a v e i n s e v e r a l w a y s asif a p r o n o u n c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t h e a r g u m e n t w e r e a c t u a l l y p r e se n t . T h e yp o s t u l a t e t h a t t h e r e i s, i n t h e s e c a s e s , a s y n t a c t ic a l l y r e a l t h o u g h n o n o v e r t


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 421argument, (not merely a semantically real one), which they call the'inflectional argument'.

In Irish, for example, a variety of suffixes and enclitics attach to basicpronouns to make other kinds of pronouns: These elements also attach tothe inflectional argument. The inflectional argument behaves like anovert resumptive pronoun with respect to the syntax of relative clausesand constituent questions. The inflectional argument can function as thehead of a relative clause. It can even be conjoined with a lexically-specified NP. All of these facts, and additional facts about government,semantics, and binding requirements, support the existence of a syntac-tically real nonovert pronoun: The presence of this form is sanctioned bya particular agreeing verb form, and its behavior is like an overtpronoun. McCloskey and Hale therefore suggest that this null element isthe empty category p r o , because that is the empty category which ispredicted to behave exactly like an overt pronoun.

It will be argued in this paper that the facts of ASL likewise indicatethe presence of an inflectional argument in sentences containing anagreeing verb. I propose that this empty category is pro , sanctioned byverb agreement and identified by an INFLection which is marked[+AGR].

3.2. p ro i n A S LIn ASL, null subjects and objects ca n occur in tensed finite clauses. Someexamples with plain (2-3) and inflecting (4-5) verbs follow.

P l a i n V e r b s :h n(2) a JOHN aFLYb bCALIFORNIA LAST-WEEK. ENJOY

SUNBATHE[dur].J o h n f l e w t o C a l i f o r n i a la s t w e e k . ( H e ' s ) e n j o y i n g a l o t o fs u n b a t h i n g .

(3)A. Did you eat my candy?B. YES, EAT-UP.

Y e s , ( I ) a t e ( i t ) u p .I n f l e c t i n g V e r b s :

(4)A. Did John send Mary the paper?(In which John has been established at a and Mary at b.)

B. YES, oSENDb.Yes , (he - ) sen t ( i t ) t o ( -her ) .


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422 D I A N E L I L L O - M A R T I N(5)a.

b .

a JO HN KNOW -WE LL PAPE R FINISH oGIVEb.John~ kn ow s (he i - ) gave the paper to ( -her ) .JOHN KNOW-WELL PAPER FINISH bGIVEa.Joh n~ kn o w s ( s h e - ) g a ve t h e p a p er to ( -h i m ) .

Note the difference in the direction of movement for the verb GIV E in(4a) (oGIVEb) and (4b) (bGIVEo), which correlates with a difference inmeaning, specifically in the determination of subject and object. Both inflecting and plain verbs can have null subjects and objects,

though the appearance of null arguments with plain verbs is morelimited. In sect ion 4.2 1 will discuss the null arguments of plain verbs, andshow that they have a different explanation from the null arguments ofinflecting verbs. In this section I will be concerned with the occurrenceof null arguments with inflecting verbs, in structures for which nullarguments do not occur with plain verbs. I will provide evidence thatthose sentences with an inflectional argument and no overt pronoun arecomparable to sentences with plain verbs and an over t pronoun. 9

3.2.1. p r o a s a L o c u s - A s s i g n i n g P r o n o u nOne way in which the inflectional argument is like an overt pronoun isthat the inflectional argument can associate NPs with loci in space. Asmentioned above, there are several ways in which to indicate the asso-ciation of an NP with a point in space. Recall that one such way was toproduce the sign, and then point with the index finger to some locus. Anadditional method, not mentioned above, is to produce the sign (inneutral space) and then to produce an inflecting verb for which the onsetlocation is a locus in space which is not already associated with adifferent NP. That onset locus is now associated with the nominal, andcan participate in further verb agreement and pronominal reference. Insentence (6), for example, the subject verb agreement with point a onPREACH indicates that the nominal MOTHER is associated with pointa. Thus, the subject pronoun of the second sentence, which agrees withpoint a, is understood as referring to MOTHER. This is parallel to theuse of an overt index to associate an NP with a spatial locus.

9 Recall that both inflecting and plain verbs can also occur with overt pronouns.


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 2 3(6) B R O T H E R S I C K M O T H E R a P R E A C H b [c o n t] , a l N D E X

a T E L L b C L E A N R O O M .M y b ro th e r i s s i c k o f m o t h e r p r e a c h i n g a t ( - h i m ) . N o w s h e ' st e ll i n g ( -h i m ) t o c l ea n h i s r o o m.

3.2 .2 . p r o a s a R e s u m p t i v e P r o n o u nT h e i n fl e ct io n a l a r g u m e n t a l so p a t t e r n s l ik e a n o v e r t p r o n o u n i n t o p i-c a l i z a t i o n , w h i c h i s a h i g h l y p r o d u c t i v e p r o c e s s i n A S L . W h e n a c o n -s t i t u en t i s t o p i ca l i z ed , i t i s ma rk ed b y a p a r t i cu l a r co mb i n a t i o n o f r a i sede y e b r o w s a n d s l ig h t b a c k w a r d h e a d t ilt , a n d a t e m p o r a l l e n g t h e n i n g o ft h e t o p i ca l i z ed s i g n (L i d d e l l 1 9 7 7 ) . T h e t o p i ca l i z ed co n s t i t u en t u su a l l ya p p e a r s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e s e n t e n c e . S e n t e n c e s ( 7 - 8 ) s h o w e x a m p l e sof top ica l i za t ion . 1

t(7) a T H A T a B O O K , ~ J O H N a R E A D .T h a t b o o ~ , J o h n r e a d ( - i ~ ) .

t(8 ) a E X E R C I S E C L A S S , 1 IN D E X H O P E b S IS T E R S U C C E E Db P E R S U A D E c c M O T H E R a T A K E - U P . ( Pa dd en , 19 83 )Th e exerc i se c lassy, I hope m y s i s ter m an age s to persua de m ymo t h er t o t a ke ( - i ~ )

S e n t e n c e ( 7) s h o w s to p i c a li z a ti o n f r o m a m a i n c l a u s e , a n d s e n t e n c e ( 8)s h o w s t h a t t o p ic a l iz a t io n is p o s s i b l e f r o m a n e m b e d d e d c l a u s e c o n t a i n in ga n i n f l e c t i n g v e r b . H o w e v e r , w h e n a c o n s t i t u e n t i s t o p i c a l i z e d f r o m a ne m b e d d e d c l a u s e c o n t a i n i n g a p l a i n v e r b , a r e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n i sr e q u i r e d t o f i l l t h e g a p . C o m p a r e s e n t e n c e ( 8 ) a b o v e w i t h ( 9 ) b e l o w , a n dco mp are (1 0 ) w i t h (1 1 ) . I n (8 ) an d (1 0 ) , t h e v e rb o f t h e c l au se f rO m w h i cht h e t o p i c h a s b e e n e x t r a c t e d i s a n i n f l e c t i n g v e r b , a n d t h e s e n t e n c e s a r ef i n e w i t h o u t a n o v e r t p r o n o u n . H o w e v e r , i n ( 9 ) a n d ( t l ) , t h e v e r b i sp l a i n , a n d m u s t h a v e a n o v e r t p r o n o m i n a l a r g u m e n t .

t(9 )a . a T H A T a C O O K I E , 1 IN D E X H O P E b S IS T E R S U C C E E Db P E R S U A D E ~ ~ M O T H E R E A T a lN D E X .

tb . * a T H A T a C O O K I E , 1 IN D E X H O P E b S IS T E R S U C C E E Db P E R SU A D E ~ , M O T H E R E A TTh a t co o k i e i, I h o p e my s i s t er ma n a g es to p er s u a d e m y m o t h erto eat i~ .

~o I n t h e s e a n d f u t u r e e x a m p l e s I a m u s i n g t e r m s s u c h a s ' e x t r a c t i o n ' a n d ' e x t r a c t i o n s i te 'without meaning to necessarily mply a mo vemen t analysis.


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4 2 4 D I A N E L I L L O - M A R T I N

(10)

( l l ) a .

b .

t bra T H A T ~ M A N , b J O H N S A Y c M A R Y F I N IS H c G IV E ~B O O K .Th a t m a n ~ , Jo h n s a i d M a r y a l r ea d y g a ve a b o o k t o ( -h i n ~ ) .

t bra T H A T M A N , b J O H N S A Y c M A R Y D O N ' T - K N O Wa I N D E X

t br* a T H A T a M A N , b O H N S A Y c M A R Y D O N ' T - K N O WT h a t m a w , J o h n s a i d M a r y d o e s n ' t k n o w h i n ~ .

A l t h o u g h a n o v e r t r e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n is n o t a l w a y s r e q u i re d u n d e rt o p i c a l i z a t i o n , i n s o m e s t r u c t u r e s w i t h n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s t h i s p r o n o u n i sn e c e s s a r y . H o w e v e r , i n t h e o t h e r w i s e c o m p a r a b l e s t r u c t u r e s w i t h v e r ba g r e e m e n t , t h e o v e r t p r o n o u n is o p ti o n al . T h e p r e s e n c e o f a g r e e m e n t i ss u ff ic ie n t t o m a k e a n o v e r t p r o n o u n u n n e c e s s a ry .

A t h i r d c a t e g o r y o f s t r u c t u r e s w h i c h e x h i b i t p a r a l l e l s b e t w e e n o v e r tp r o n o u n s a n d t h e i n f l e c t i o n a l a r g u m e n t a r e t h o s e s t r u c t u r e s t r a d i t i o n a l l ys u b s u m e d u n d e r t h e I s l a n d C o n s t ra i n ts o f R o s s ( 1 9 6 7 ), a n d m o r e r e c e n t l ya c c o u n t e d f o r b y S u b j a c e n c y ~ n d t h e E m p t y C a t e g o r y P r i n c i p l e . A S Lo b e y s t h e I s l a n d C o n s t r a in t s . 11 H o w e v e r , a s in m a n y l a n g u a g e s , o v e r tr e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n s c a n ' s a v e ' s e n t e n c e s w h i c h w o u l d o th e r w i s e b ei s l an d v i o l a t i o n s . I n A SL , t h e i n f l ec t i o n a l a rg u men t i t s e l f c an a l so se rv et o ' s a v e ' a s e n t e n c e f r o m b e i n g a n i s l a n d v i o l a t i o n .

S e n t e n c e ( 1 2 ) i s a v i o l a t i o n o f t h e W h - i s l a n d C o n s t r a i n t s u b c a s e o fs u b j a c e n c y , s i n c e t h e t o p ic a l iz e d e l e m e n t m u s t c r o s s o v e r m o r e t h a n o n eb o u n d i n g n o d e ( t w o S - n o d e s a n d a n S - n o d e ) . I t f u r t h e r m o r e v i o l a t e s t h eE m p t y C a t e g o r y P r i n c ip l e, s i n c e th e t r a c e i n t h e m o s t d e e p l y e m b e d d e dc l a u s e i s n o t p r o p e r l y g o v e r n e d . H o w e v e r , t h e s e n t e n c e c a n b e s a v e dw h e n a r e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n m a r k s t h e s i t e o f e x t r a c t i o n , a s i n ( 1 3 ) .E x a m p l e ( 1 4 ) s h o w s t h a t w i th a g r e e i n g v e r b s , t h e i n f le c ti o n a l a r g u m e n tc a n ' s a v e ' t h e s e n t e n c e . t(1 2) *[~ [Top a M O T H E R , ] , Is I I N D E X D O N ' T - K N O W [g ' W H A T '

I s t , L IK E ] ] ] ] .* M o t h e rl , I d o n ' t k n o w w h a t ~ l ikes.

t(1 3 ) a M O T H E R , l IN D E X D O N ' T - K N O W ' W H A T ' I N D E XL I K E .M o t h er i, I d o n ' t kn o w w h a t s he~ l ike s .

11 Fischer (1974) shows this for the Complex NP Constraint, and Padden (1983) for theCoordinate Structure Constraint.


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 2 5t(14 ) a M O T H E R , 1 IN D E X D O N ' T - K N O W ' W H A T ' aS EN D 1.

M o t h e r i , ! d o n ' t k n o w w h a t ( s h e i - ) s e n t ( - m e ) .S e n t e n c e ( 1 5 ) s h o w s a v i o l a t i o n o f t h e S e n t e n t i a l S u b j e c t C o n s t r a i n t

s u b c a s e o f s u b j a c e n c y ( t h e t o p i c a l i z e d e l e m e n t m u s t c r o s s t w o S - n o d e s ) .A g a i n , ( 1 6) s h o w s t h a t a r e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n c a n s a v e t h e s e n t e n c e , a n d( 17 ) s h o w s t h a t a g r e e m e n t c a n a l so s a v e t h e s e n t e n c e .

t br(15) *[g [Top oB ILL i] , [s[s b M A R Y K N O W t,] , N O T ^ N E C E S -S A R Y I I .

* A s f o r B i l~ , t h a t M a r y k n o w s ~ i s n o t n e ce s sa r y .t br(1 6) ~B ill, b M A R Y K N O W I N D E X , N O T ' I N E C E S S A R Y .

A s f o r B i l l , t h a t M a r y k n o w s h i m is n o t n e ce ss a ry .t br(1 7) a B IL L , b M A R Y b G IV E ~ P A P E R , N O T ^ N E C E S S A R Y .

A s f o r B i l l , t h a t M a r y g i v es ( - h in ~ ) t h e p a p e r is n o t n e ce s sa r y .A S L o b e y s t h e C o o r d i n a t e S t r u c t u r e C o n s t r a i n t . T h i s c a n b e s e e n i n

s e n t e n c e ( 1 8 ) , i n w h i c h a n a r g u m e n t h a s b e e n t o p i c a l i z e d f r o m o n ec o n j u n c t b u t n o t t h e o t h e r , a n d t h e r e s u lt is u n g r a m m a t i c al .t

( 1 8 ) * [~ [T op a M O T H E R ~ ] , [ s 1 I N D E X t H I T b S I S T E R ] , [ s c l N D E XT A T T L E , , t , ] ] .

*H i s m o t he ri , I h i t m y s is te r an d he t o ld 4 . ( P a d d e n 1 9 8 3 )A S L d o e s , i n a d d i t i o n , a l l o w A c r o s s t h e B o a r d e x t r a c t i o n s ( R o s s ,

1967 ; W i ll i ams , 1978) , a s in (19) w i th non in f l ec t i ng ve rbs .t( 1 9) [~ [T op ~ T H A T ~ M O V I E ] , [ s b O H N L I K E t ,] , [ s c a l L L

D I S L I K E t ~ ] ] .T h a t m o v i e , J o h n l ik e s ~ ( b u t ) B i l l d is l ik e s ~.

I n s e n t e n c e ( 2 0 a ) w e s e e t h a t w i th a c r o s s - t h e - b o a r d e x t r a c ti o n s , o v e r tr e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n s c a n o c c u r a t b o t h e x t r a c t i o n s i t e s . I n ( 2 0 b ) t h e r e i sv e r b a g r e e m e n t w it h n ul l a r g u m e n t s in b o t h c o n j u n c t s .

t(2 0)a . . T H A T . W O M A N , b BIL L F O R G E T . I N D E X (B U T )cJ O H N K N O W IN D E X .T h a t w o m a n , , B i l l f o r g o t her~ b u t J o h n k n o w s h er~ .

tb . . T H A T a W O M A N , b B IL L b SL A Po ( B U T ) cJ O H N , K I S S a .T h a t w o m a n , , B i l l s l a p p e d ( -h e r ) b u t J o h n k i s se d ( -h e r ).


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Null arguments with agreement can behave like overt resumptivepronouns in across the board extractions. Sentence (21) shows that aresumptive pronoun can occur in one conjunct with agreement in theother. whq

(21) WHO a JOHN LI KE bINDEX (BUT) cMARY cHATEb?W h o~ d o es Jo h n l i ke (h i n ~ ) b u t M a r y h a t e (-hirr~)?

If the sites governed by verb agreement and containing no overtpronoun were simply deletion sites, then (21) should be bad, as a CSCviolation, just as (18) is. However, I suggest that in (21) verb agreementis sanctioning the inflectional argument, which is again functioning in thesame way as the double overt pronouns in example (20a), and the doubl enull arguments in (20b).3.2.3. p ro a s a C r o s s o v e r - E v a d i n g R e s u m p t i v e P r o n o u nOne additional area in which parallels between the inflectional argumentand overt pronouns can be found are crossover-like sentences. Sentenceswhich display Strong Crossover are ungrammatical in ASL. In (22), forexample, an object gap is c-commanded by an A-binder in subjectposition as well as an ,~-binder in COMP, and the sentence is bad inASL, as it is in English.

(22) whq*WHICI~I BOY a.cINDEX bINDEX EXPECT 1INDEX LOVE ti, WHICH?T . I

* W hic h boyi does he i expec t me to love ~?Example (23) shows that this structure is fine (again as it is in English),if the pronoun in subject position is not coreferential with the moved

element.(23) whqWHICH BOY .cINDEX alNDEX EXPECT tlNDEX LOVE, WHICH.'?

WMch boyi does he j expec t me to love ~?However, ASL can evade a crossover violation by base-generating apronoun in object position, and moving the Wh-word from subject

position, leaving an overt resumptive pronoun in the subject's place.Although a crossover analysis of (24), schematized in (25a), would betheoretically ungrammatical, the sentence would not be ruled out under a


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NULL ~_RGUMENTS IN AME RIC AN SIGN LA NG UA GE 427

subject extraction analysis, schematized in (25b). This sentence isgrammatical in ASL.

(24) whqWHICH BOY ..clNDEX bINDEX EXPECT IINDEX LOVE blNDEX WHICH?W h i c h b o y~ d o e s he~ e x p e c t m e t o l o v e h ira m?(i.e., W h i c h b o y i e x p e c t s m e t o l o v e h i m ~ ? )

(25)a.

b.

*i i it Ii i i

5 ' iThe same evasion strategy can be used with agreeing verbs. Although

all three pronouns need to be over t with the nonagreeing verbs in orderfor the sentence to be grammatical, with the agreeing verbs the objectpronoun governed by agreement need not be overt. This is shown inexample (26).

(26) whqWHICH BOY ._clNDEX blNDEX EXPECT 1INDEX 1BEATb, WHICH?W h i c h b o y l d o e s h e i e x p e c t m e t o b e a t u p (-him~)?(i.e., W h i c h b o y l e x p e c t s m e t o b e a t h i m ~ u p ? )

This is another construction in which the inflectional argument func-tions comparably to an overt pronoun.

In summary, the distribution of overt pronouns in ASL is paralleled bythe distribution of nonovert pronouns with agreeing verbs. I argue thatthis supports an analysis which incorporates a syntactically real nonovertargument, of the pronominal category. This element, p r o , is sanctionedby the presence of overt morphological verb agreement.

4. THE OCCU RRE NCE OF NULL ARGUMENTS WITHN O N A G R EEI N G V ER B S

In the preceding sections I have established that the inflectionalargument in ASL acts like an overt pronoun. In so doing, I includedexample sentences in which a null argument was not allowed withnonagreeing verbs. However, it is not the case that null arguments arenever allowed with nonagreeing verbs (cf. examples (2) and (3) above).The contrast of (2) and (3) with the ungrammatical sentences in the


14/30


p r e c e d i n g s e c t i o n s r ai s es t h e q u e s t i o n o f e x a c t l y w h e n n u l l a r g u m e n t s a r ea l l o w e d w i t h n o n ag re e i n g v e rb s . I w il l a rg u e h e re t h a t t h e r e i s an an a l y s iso f n u ll a r g u m e n t s w i th n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s w h i c h a c c o u n t s f o r t h e s ed i f f e r e n c e s .

I n e x a m p l e ( 2 7 ) b e l o w , t a k e n f r o m a s i g n e d n a r r a t i v e , n u l l a r g u m e n t sa p p e a r w i t h b o t h a g r e e i n g a n d n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s .

(2 7 ) O N E D A Y , , , D A U G H T E R N O T H I N G C AD -O , D E C I D EW A L K b .c W O O D S , b W A L K c a l N D E X S E E d d F L O W E R ,P I C K - U P a , S E E , , W A T E R F A L L , c W A L K e ,F A S C I N A T E D , , L O S T [ d : r e s u l t a t i v e ] .O n e d a y , t h e d a u g h t e r h a d n o t h i n g t o d o , s o ( s h e ) d ec i d ed t ot a ke a wa l k i n t h e wo o d s . (S h e ) wa l ked a r o u n d , a n d s a w t h er es o m e f lo wer s , a n d p i cked ( - t h em ) u p ; (s h e ) s a w a wa t e rf a ll ,a n d w a l ked ( -n ea r i t) ; a n d ( s h e ) wa s s o f a s c i n a t ed ( - b y i t) that(she) became los t .

In th is e xa m p le , D E C I D E , W A L K , S E E , P IC K - U P , F A S C I N A T E ,a n d L O S T a l l a p p e a r w i t h a t l e a s t o n e n u l l a r g u m e n t . D E C I D E a n dL O S T a re b o t h v e rb s w h i c h d o n ot ta k e v e r b a g r e em e n t . S E E , P I C K -U P , a n d F A S C I N A T E D a g r e e o n ly w i th t he ir o b j e c t s ( in d ic a te d b y th e u b s c r i p t s at t h e e n d o f t h e v e r b s ) . T h e o b j e c t s o f t h e t w o S E E v e r b s a r eo v e rt ; th e o b je c ts o f P I C K - U P a nd F A S C I N A T E D , b e i ng g o v e r n e d bya g r e e m e n t w i t h ' t h e f l o w e r s ' a n d ' t h e w a t e r f a l l ' , r e s p e c t i v e l y , a r e pro.W A L K is w h a t P a d d e n c a ll s a 's p a t ia l ' v e r b ; i t a g r e e s w i t h p o i n t sr e p r e s e n t i n g l o c a t i o n ra t h e r t h a n p o i n t s r e p r e s e n t i n g N P a r g u m e n t s .N o t i c e t h a t a ll o f th e n u l l p r o n o u n s ( e x c e p t f o r th e t w o pros) , r e f e r t o t h esame p e r so n : t h e d au g h t e r . I t i s a l so c l ea r t h a t i n t h i s p a ssag e , t h ed au g h t e r i s t h e t o p i c o f t h e n a r r a t i v e . T h i s f ac t w i l l p l ay a ro l e i n t h ea n a l ys i s s u g g e s t e d .

4 .1 . H u a n g " s A c c o u n t o f C h i n e s e N u l l A r g u m e n t sC h i n e s e h a s n o v e r b - s u b j e c t o r v e r b - o b j e c t a g r e e m e n t , y e t it d o e s a l lo wn u l l a r g u m e n t s . H u a n g ( 1 9 8 4 ) g i v e s t h e f o l l o w i n g a c c o u n t f o r n u l la rg u men t s i n Ch i n ese . I w i l l d i scu ss t h i s a cco u n t b r i e f l y , an d t h en i ns e c t i o n 4 . 2 c l a i m t h a t a n a n a l o g o u s e x p l a n a t i o n c a n b e u s e d f o r t h e n u l la r g u m e n t s t h a t a p p e a r w i th a o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s in A S L .S o m e a c c o u n t s d e s c r i b e C h i n e s e a s a d i s c o u r s e -o r i e n te d l a n g u ag e ,a s o p p o s e d t o a s e n t e n c e - o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e l ik e E n g l is h ( fo r e x a m p l e , L ia n d T h o m p s o n , 1 9 7 6 ). T h e r e a r e a c l u s te r i n g o f p r o p e r t i e s i n C h i n e s ew h i c h l e d T s a o ( q u o t e d i n H u a n g , 1 9 8 4 ) t o p o s i t a p a r a m e t e r t o d i s -


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NULL ARGUMENTS IN AMERICAN S IGN LANGUAGE 4 2 9t in g u i s h d i s c o u r s e - o r ie n t e d l a n g u a g e s f r o m s e n t e n c e - o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e s .A m o n g t h e p r o p e r ti e s o f a d is c o u r s e - o r i e n te d l a n g u a g e is a p h e n o m e n o nc a l l e d 't o p i c c h a i n i n g ' , b y w h i c h t h e t o p i c o f a s e n t e n c e c a n b e d e l e t e du n d e r i d e n t i t y w i t h a t o p i c in a p r e c e d i n g s e n t e n c e . H u a n g a s s u m e s t h e s el a n g u a g e s h a v e " a r u le o f c o i n d e x a t i o n , i n t h e d is c o u r se g r a m m a r . . . (int h e L F ' m o d u l e o f g r a m m a r f o l lo w i n g L F ) , w h i c h c o i n d e x e s a n e m p t yt o p ic n o d e w i t h a n a p p r o p r i a te p r e c e d i n g t o p i c . "

A n o t h e r p r o p e r t y o f d i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e s i s t h a t t h e y a r e' t o p ic p r o m i n e n t ' , as o p p o s e d t o ' s u b j e c t p r o m i n e n t '. T o p i c p r o m i n e n tl a n g u a g e s ( a t l e a s t o n t h e s u r f a c e ) d o n o t s e e m t o h a v e t h e r e q u i r e m e n tt h a t a ll s e n t e n c e s m u s t h a v e s u b j e c t s . T h e s e l an . g u ag e s h a v e t o p i c -c o m m e n t s t r u c tu r e s w h i c h d o n ' t s e e m t o b e d e r i v e d f ro m a n y o t h e r k i n do f u n d e r l y i n g s tr u c t u r e s , a n d t h e y h a v e n o o v e r t p l e o n a s t i c e l e m e n t s .F u r t h e r m o r e , i n d i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e s t h e r e a r e a n a p h o r s w h i c ha r e b o u n d i n t h e d i s c o u r s e r a t h e r t h a n a t t h e s e n t e n c e l e v e l ( a s w e l l a ss e n t e n c e - b o u n d a n a p h 0 r s ) .

T h i s r a n g e o f f a c t s, t h e n , s e e m s t o i n d i c a t e a s y s t e m a t i c d i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e n d i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d a n d s e n t e n c e - o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e s . H u a n gu s es th is ' in d e p e n d e n t l y m o t i v a t e d ' p a r a m e t e r t o a c c o u n t f o r th e a p -p e a r a n c e o f n u l l a r g u m e n t s i n C h i n e s e . H e a r g u e s t h a t t h e s e e m p t yc a t e g o r ie s a r e n o t p r o n o m i n a ls , b u t v a r i ab l e s l ef t b y t h e m o v e m e n t o f a ne m p t y t o p i c w h i c h is t h e n c o i n d e x e d w i t h an a p p r o p r i a te p r e c e d i n g t o pi cb y t h e d i s c o u r s e r u l e d e s c r i b e d a b o v e .

H u a n g g i v e s a l is t o f e x a m p l e s ( h i s ( 6 5 ), r e p e a t e d h e r e a s (2 8 ) ) s h o w i n gp o s i t i o n s i n w h i c h e m p t y c a t e g o r i e s m i g h t b e f o u n d , a n d h e e x p l a i n sw h i c h o f t h e s e c o u l d b e i n t e r p r e t e d a s n u l l p r o n o u n s i n C h i n e s e a n dw h i c h n u l l t o p i c s . A s w i ll b e s e e n , t h e s a m e d i s t r i b u t i o n is f o u n d f o r A S L .

(28 )a . e c a m e .b . J o h n s a w e .c . e saw e .d . J o h n s a id t h a t e s a w B i ll .e . J o h n s a i d t h a t B i ll s a w e .f . J o h n t r ie d e t o c o m e .

H u a n g c l a i m s t h a t t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f n u l l a r g u m e n t s i n a l l l a n g u a g e s( i ll u s tr a t ed i n (2 8 )) c a n b e a c c o u n t e d f o r " a s t h e r e s u l t o f t h e i n t e r a c t i o no f a n u m b e r o f in d e p e n d e n t l y m o t i v a t e d a n d g e n e r a l iz e d p r i nc i p le s o fU . G . [ U n i v e r s a l G r a m m a r ] " T h e s e p r i n c i p l e s a r e : " ( a ) t h e p r i n c i p l e o f


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430 DIANE LILLO-MARTINrecoverability, (b) the assumption that a zero pronoun is a pronoun, (c)the assumption that the agreement-marking AGR on a verb qualifies as apotential 'antecedent' of a zero pronoun, (d) the binding theory ofChomsky (1981), in particular the condition of disjoint reference (D JR)or Condition (B), and (e) the Generalized Control Rule (GCR)." Theprinciple of recoverability "says that every empty pronoun must beidentified" (this identification is how the reference of the pronoun isdetermined). The condition of Disjoint Reference is given in Huang's(59), and repeated here as (29a), and the Generalized Control Rule(Huang's (61)) is repeated here as (29b).

(29)a.

b.

Disjoint Re[erence (D JR)A pronoun must be free in its governing category.Generalized Control Rule (GCR)Coindex an empty pronominal with the closest nominal ele-ment.

By the interaction of these principles and language-particular factors,the availability of each of the null elements (e) in (28) can be determined.For languages such as Chinese, which have the discourse coindexationrule, and for ASL sentences with plain verbs, if these are subject to a similardiscourse rule or some other mechanism permitting empty topics, thefollowing pattern emerges.

The empty category in each of (28a,b,c), and (28e) can be an emptyvariable, bound to a zero topic, but not an empty pronoun. It cannot bean empty pronoun in (28a or c) because there is no agreement or othernominal element for the empty pronominal to be coindexed with. Itcannot be an empty pronoun in (28b or e) because (i) there is no AGRfor it to be coindexed with, and (ii) it cannot be coindexed with thesubject (John in (b) or Bill in (e)) because this would violate the D JR.(An empty pronominal in (e) cannot be coindexed with the matrixsubject, although this would not violate the D JR, because this is not the'closest' nominal element.)

In (28d), the empty category can be an empty topic, or it can be anempty pronoun coreferentiai to John. Since there is no AGR in thecomplement clause, the empty element is free to look in the matrix clausefor its closest nominal element, and coindexation with the matrix Johnwould not violate the D JR. In (28f) the empty category can only be anempty pronoun coreferential to John. The empty variable reading isruled out by an independent principle of grammar, the Empty CategoryPrinciple.


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N U L L A RG U M E N T S I N A M E RI CA N SI G N L A N G U A G E 431

T h e a b o v e d i s t r ib u t i o n is v a l i d o n l y f o r n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s . F o ra g r e e i n g v e r b s , t h e A G R w i l l b e p r e s e n t a n d a v a i l a b l e a s a n a n t e c e d e n tf o r a n e m p t y c a t e g o r y , a s s t a t e d i n a s s u m p t i o n ( c ) a b o v e . H u a n g g i v e st h e f o ll o w in g p a t t e rn f o r la n g u a g e s w h i c h h a v e s u b j e c t - v e r b a g r e e m e n t ,such as I t a l i an .

I n l a n g u a g e s l ik e I ta l ia n , w h i c h a r e n o t d i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d , n o n e o f th ee m p t y c a t e g o r i e s i n ( 2 8 a - f ) c a n b e v a r i a b l e s . I n ( 2 8 a ) , h o w e v e r , t h ee m p t y c a t e g o r y c a n b e a n e m p t y p r o n o u n , c o i n d e x e d w i th t h e a g r e e m e n te l e m e n t . T h e s a m e i s t r u e f o r ( 2 8 d ) , w h i c h i s c o i n d e x e d w i t h t h ea g r e e m e n t e l e m e n t o f th e e m b e d d e d c l a u se . H o w e v e r , ( 2 8 b , c , a nd e ) a rei l l- fo rme d i n l an g u a g es l ik e I t a li an . 12 T h e ag r eem en t e l em en t i n It a l ian i sc o i n d e x e d w i t h t h e s u b j e c t ( t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e s u b j e c t a n d t h e s u b j e c ta g r e e m e n t s h a r e p e r s o n , n u m b e r , a n d g e n d e r f e a t u r e s ) ; if t h e e m p t yc a t e g o r y i n o b j e c t p o s i t i o n w e r e c o i n d e x e d w i t h t h e A G R o r t h e s u b j e c ti t w o u l d v io l a t e t h e D J R . T h e r e is n o a g r e e m e n t i n t h e e m b e d d e d c l a u s ef o r t h e e m p t y c a t e g o r y i n ( 2 8 f ) t o b e c o i n d e x e d w i t h , b u t i t c a n b ec o i n d e x e d w i th e it h e r t h e A G R o r t h e m a tr ix s u b j e c t J o h n , mak i n g i t ane m p t y p r o n o m i n a l w h o s e r e f e r e n c e i s d e t e r m i n e d b y t h e m a tr ix s u b j e c t( i . e . , PRO ) .

4 .2 . A N u l l T o p ic A c c o u n t o f A S L N u l l A r g u m e n t s o f P l a in V e rb sT h e a b o v e a c c o u n t w i ll w o r k e q u a ll y w e ll f o r A S L . A S L h a s b e e n c a ll edd i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d a n d t o p i c p r o m i n e n t , f o r m u c h t h e s a m e r e a s o n s a sC h i n e s e . 13 I t h a s t o p i c - c o m m e n t s t r u c tu r e s , d i s c o u r s e - b o u n d a n a p h o r s ,a n d n o o v e r t p l e o n a s t i c e l e m e n t s s u c h a s i t o r there . E x a m p l e s a r e g i v e ni n ( 3 0 ) . ( C o m p a r e ( 3 0 a , b ) t o ( 3 1 a , b ) , w h i c h a r e f r o m H u a n g . )

t(3 0)a . M E A T , 1 I N D E X L I K E L A M B .A s f o r m e a t , I l i k e l a m b . ( P a d d e n , 1 9 8 3 )ynq

b . A . a J O H N ~ F O R C E b b M A R Y b G O c?D i d J o h n fo r ce M a r y to g o ?n e g

B . N O , a S E L F aG O c .N o , h i m s e l [ w e n t .

12 However, see Rizzi (1986) for discussion of arbitrary pro in ob jec t position in Italian.13 Several authors have claimed that ASL word order can only be described in terms oftopi c-co mment at the senten ce level, which is no t what I am claiming here. (One suchauthor is Ingrain (1978); see Coulter (1979) for a review.) This section , rather is claiming atopic pro imnen ce structure at the discourse level, following Huang's discussion.


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c. a J O H N S A Y S E L F , ,G O t .John~ said hei was going ( n o n - e m p h a t i c ) . 14

d . Y E S T E R D A Y , R A I N.Yesterday it rained.

( 3 1 )a . n e i c h a n g h u o ,that firex i n g k u i x i a o f a n g d u i l ai d e z a o .fortunately f ire-brigade come COMP earlyT h a t f i r e , f o r t u n a t e l y t h e f i r e b r i g a d e c a m e e a r l y . ( H u a n g ,1984 [561)

b . A . J o h n - i s a l a m - i l p o n a e - a s s - n i ? KoreanJ o h n - N O M m a n - A C C s e n d - P A S T - QD i d J o h n s e n d t h e m a n ?

B . a n i, c a k i - k a c i k c a p o - a s s -t a .no se l f -NO M in -person co m e -P AS T- D E CLN o , s e lf c a m e i n p e r s o n . ( H u a n g , 1 9 8 4 [ 57 ] )

G i v e n t h e c r i t e r i a H u a n g u s e s , A S L w o u l d q u a l i f y a s a d i s c o u r s e -o r i e n t e d l a n g u a g e , a n d t h e r e f o r e it s h o u l d n o t b e s u r p r is i n g f o r i t t o h a v et h e d i s c o u r s e c o i n d e x a t i o n r u l e w h i c h a l l o w s n u l l t o p i c s t o a p p e a r , t h u sa c c o u n t i n g f o r e x a m p l e s l i k e ( 2 7 ) . G i v e n t h i s r u l e , n u l l p r o n o u n s s h o u l dt h e n b e a b l e t o o c c u r i n A S L w i t h n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s i n j u s t t h e s a m ep l a c e s i n w h i c h n u l l p r o n o u n s o c c u r i n C h i n e s e . T h i s s e e m s t o b e t h ecase .

E x a m p l e s i n A S L o f ( 2 8 a - f ) , w i t h p l a i n v e r b s , a r e g i v e n i n ( 3 2 a - f ) ,T h e y d i s p l a y t h e s a m e r a n g e o f a c c e p t a b i l i t y f o r e m p t y v a r i a b l e s a n de m p t y p r o n o m i n a l s a s d i s c u s s e d a b o v e f o r C h i n e s e ( i n d i c a t e d b y +m a r k e r s u n d e r t h e c a t e g o r i e s V a r i a b l e a n d P r o n o m i n a l ) .

V a r i a b l e P r o n o m i n a l( 32 )a . e T H I N K . + -

b . J O H N L I K E e . + -c . e L I K E e . + -d . J O H N S A Y e L I K E B I L L . + +e . J O H N S A Y B I L L L I K E e . + -f. J O H N T R Y e T H I N K . - +

14 See footnot e 6 above regarding the ASL sign glossed SELF.

Chinese


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NULL ARGUMENTS IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE 433

T h u s , i n ev e ry ca se t h a t n u l l t o p i c s a r e a l l o w ed t h eo re t i c a l l y , n u l la r g u m e n t s o f n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s a r e a l l o w e d i n A S L , a n d w h e n n u l lt o p i c s a r e n o t a l l o w e d t h e o r e ti c a ll y , n u ll a r g u m e n t s o f n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b sa r e a l s o n o t a ll o w e d , e x c e p t i n th e c a s e o f ( 32 f ), w h i c h a l lo w s P R O . T h i sa u t o m a t i c a l ly f o l l o w s i f t h e n u l l a r g u m e n t s o f n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s a r ei n d eed t h e r e su l t o f n u l l t o p i c s .

In A SL , fo r ag ree i n g v e rb s , t h e an a l y s i s g i v en fo r ( 2 8 a ,d , f ) i n I t a l i an -t y p e l a n g u a g e s w i l l h o l d . H o w e v e r , A S L d i f f e r s f r o m I t a l i a n i n h a v i n go b j e c t a g r e e m e n t a s w e l l a s s u b j e c t a g r e e m e n t . I f t h e o b j e c t a g r e e m e n tc a n i d e n ti f y ( b e c o i n d e x e d w i th ) a n e m p t y c a t e g o r y i n o b j e c t p o s i ti o n j u s ta s t h e s u b j e c t a g r e e m e n t c a n i d e n t i f y a n e m p t y c a t e g o r y i n s u b j e c tp o s i t i o n , t h e n t h e e m p t y e l e m e n t s i n o b j e c t p o s i t i o n i n ( 2 8 b , c , e ) s h o u l db e i n t e rp r e t ab l e a s v a l i d n u l l p ro n o mi n a l s . I n A SL , i t i s t r u e t h a t su chn u ll p ro n o m i n a l s c a n a p p e a r , a n d t h e ir r e f e r e n c e is d e t e r m i n e d b y th eo b j e c t a g r e e m e n t . T h u s , f o r a g r e e i n g v e r b s i n A S L , a l l o f ( 2 8 a - f ) a r eg r a m m a t i c a l . A S L s e n t e n c e s e x e m p l i f y i n g e a c h o f t h e s e s e n t e n c e - t y p e sa r e g i v en i n (3 3 a - f ) .

(3 3)a . e a C A T C H B A L L .b. ` 'JOHN a H I T b e .c . e`'HITb e.d . ` ' J O H N S A Y e ` 'H I T b b B I L L .e . , ,J O H N S A Y b B IL L b H I T o e .f. ` 'J O H N T R Y e ` 'C A T C H B A L L .

5 . 'GEN UIN E' NULL OBJECT PRONOUNSI n t h e t e x t o f h i s p a p e r , H u a n g c l a i m s t h a t n o n e o f t h e l a n g u a g e s h ed i s c u s s e s h a s n u l l a r g u m e n t s o f t h e p r 6 ' n o m i n a l c a t e g o r y i n o b j e c tp o s i t io n - w h a t h e c a ll s ' g e n u i n e ' n u ll o b j e c t p r o n o u n s . R a t h e r , h e c l ai m st h a t t h e o n l y k i n d o f n u l l o b j e c t s a l l o w e d a r e t h o s e d e r i v e d b y t h e n u l lt o p i c d e v i c e , i . e . , t h o s e o f t h e v a r i a b l e c a t e g o r y . H u a n g m e n t i o n s o n el a n g u a g e w i t h o b j e c t a g r e e m e n t , P a s h t o , a n d i n d i c a t e s i n a f o o t n o t e t h a th e i s n o t i n c l u d i n g su ch l an g u ag es i n h i s d i scu ss i o n o f t h e p o s i t i o n sa v a i l a b l e f o r n u l l p r o n o u n s . I c l a i m t h a t w h e n o n e d o e s i n c l u d e t h e s el a n g u a g e s , o n e c a n f i n d n u l l o b j e c t a r g u m e n t s o f t h e p r o n o m i n a l t y p e .

H u a n g c l a im s t h a t t h e o n ly e m p t y c a t e g o r y w h i c h c a n a p p e a r i n ( 3 0 e )i n th e o b j e c t p o s i t io n i s a nu ll t o p ic . H o w e v e r , a s I s u g g e s t e d a b o v e , i f al a n g u a g e w i t h o b j e c t a g r e e m e n t c a n d o f o r n ull o b j e c t s w h a t s u b j e c ta g r e e m e n t c a n d o f o r n u ll s u b j e c t s (.i.e ., b e r i c h e n o u g h t o i d e n t if y t h e m ,\


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434 DIA NE LILLO-MARTINwithout violating the Disjoint Reference Rule or the Generalized Con-trol Rule), then languages like ASL could be accounted for. Thisrichness is found if the language has object agreement identifying a nullobject pronoun. (In section 6 1 will discuss how this might be done). Inthis case the empty category could be a pronominal, with the normalrange of interpretations possible. Thus it seems clear that there are realnull object pronouns, when there is verb-object agreement.

As further support for his topic-deletion analysis, Huang providessome data from additional syntactic constructions which show systematicdifferences between English and Chinese. In each of these constructions,the English data show no differences between subjects and objects. Inthe Chinese data, however, there are subject-object asymmetries. Huangproposes that these differences are due to the fact that Chinese allowsnull arguments, whereas English does not.

In the rest of this section I will present data from ASL, paralleling thatgiven by Huang, which shows subject-object asymmetries that reinforcehis analysis of topic deletion and the identification of null pronouns, aswell as the nonavailability of null object pronouns when there is not arich enough agreement. However, the ASL data will also show that whenthere is object agreement, the subject-object asymmetries again disap-pear, but this time in the opposite direction from English. This confirmsthat the distinction between agreeing verbs and nonagreeing verbs inASL is significant.

Huang cites Strong Crossover examples showing that "in Chinese,strong crossover involving an embedded object EC [empty category] isprohibited as in English, but strong crossover involving an embeddedsubject E C is permitted, contrary to the cases in ~nglish." '~n sentences(22) and (26) above, I showed that strong crossover-like sentencesinvolving object ECs are bad in ASL with nonagreeing verbs, althoughthey are grammatical with an agreeing verb. In (34), we see that evenwith a nonagreeing verb, this kind of sentence is grammatical in ASLwhen it involves a subject EC (compare (34) to Huang's [73a],reproduced as (35)).

I5 That both cases are ungrammatical in English can be seen in (i) and (ii) below . Sentence(i) shows strong crossover involving an embedded subject empty category, and sentence (i)shows it involving an embedded object empty category.

(i) *John,, hei said ti saw Bill.(ii) *John, he, said Bill saw t,.


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 3 5(3 4) , J O H N , , I N D E X T E L L 1 D I S L I K E b M A R Y .

John~, he i to ld ( -me) t~ doesn ' t l ike Mary .(Johr~ told m e he~ do esn ' t l ike M ary .)

(35) Zh ang san i , t a i shuo e~ m e i kan j i an L is i.Zh a n g sa n h e sa y n o see L i s iZha ngsan~ , he~ sa id th a t [he~] d id n ' t see Lisi .

H u a n g c la im s t h a t t h e r e a s o n t h e s e n t e n c e s i n v o lv i n g e m p t y s u b j e c tsa r e g r a m m a t i c a l is t h a t t h e e m p t y c a t e g o r i e s c a n b e r e a l n u l l p r o n o m i n a l s .i d e n t if i e d t h r o u g h t h e G e n e r a l i z e d C o n t r o l R u l e b y t h e m a t r ix s u b j e c t ta .H o w e v e r , t h e e m p t y o b j e c t s c a n n o t b e r e a l n u l l p r o n o m i n a l s . I f t h ee m p t y o b j e c t s w e r e p r o n o m i n a l s , t h e y w o u l d n e e d t o b e i d e n t i f i e d b ys o m e c - c o m m a n d i n g n o m i n a l . S i n c e t h e r e i s n o a g r e e m e n t , t h e c l o s e s ts u c h n o m i n a l is th e e m b e d d e d s u b je c t. T h e o b j e c t s c a n n o t , h o w e v e r , b ei d e n t if i e d w i t h t h e s u b j e c t b e c a u s e t h is w o u l d v i o la t e t h e c o n d i t i o n o fd i s jo i n t r e f e r e n c e . T h u s t h e d i f f e re n c e b o il s d o w n t o t h e d i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e n ( 3 0 d ) a n d ( 3 0 e ) a b o v e . F o r C h i n e s e , a n d f o r A S L n o n a g r e e i n gv e r b s , t h e e m p t y s u b j e c t i n ( 3 0 d ) c a n b e a p r o n o m i n a l , b u t i n ( 3 0 e ) , t h ee m p t y o b j e c t c a n n o t b e a p r o n o m i n a l .L i k e w i s e , H u a n g p r o v i d e s e x a m p l e s w h i c h s h o w t h a t e x t r a c t i o n o ft h e s u b j e c t o f a s e n t e n t i a l s u b j e c t is g r a m m a t i c a l , v i o l a ti n g t h e S e n t e n t ia lS u b j e c t C o n s t r a i n t . A l t h o u g h h e d o e s n o t s h o w t h is , e x t r a c t i o n o f t h eo b j e c t s h o u l d s t i l l b e b a d , b e c a u s e t h e c l o s e s t n o m i n a l t o t h e e m p t yo b j e c t c a t e g o r y w o u l d b e s u b j e c t, a n d c o i n d e x a t io n o f t h e e m p t y o b j e c tw i t h th e s u b j e c t b y t h e G e n e r a l i z e d C o n t r o l R u l e w o u l d a g a i n v i o l a te t h ec o n d i t i o n o f d i sj o in t r e f e r e n c e .

T h i s r a n g e o f f a c t s o b t a i n s i n A S L . I n ( 1 5 ) a b o v e , I s h o w e d t h a te x t r a c t io n o f t h e o b j e c t o f a n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b in a n e m b e d d e d s e n t en t ia ls u b j e c t w a s b a d . I n ( 3 6) , I s h o w t h a t e x t r a c t i o n o f t h e s u b j e c t , e v e n o f an o n a g r e e i n g v e r b , in a n e m b e d d e d s e n te n t ia l s u b j ec t is O K ( c o m p a r e(36) t o H ua ng ' s [ i ] o f h i s foo tno te 31 , r e p r od uc ed in (37)) . 16

(36) t br~ B I L L , K N O W b M A R Y , N O T ^ N E C E S S A R Y .A s fo r Bil li , that ~ kno w s M ary is not necessary.

16 Hu ang relegates the SSC data to a footnote in the published version of his paper becauseof an alternative analysis of SSC violations which relates them to the Condition onExtraction Domain rather than subjacency.


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4 3 6 D I A N E L I L L O - M A R T I N( 3 7 ) Z h a n g s a n ~ , [ [ ei k a n z h e b u d i a n y i n g ] b u h e s h i ].

Zhangsan see this movie not appropriateZ h a n g s a n i , t h a t [ he i ] s e e s t hi s m o v i e i s n o t a p p r o p r i a t e .

T h e d a t a s h ow i n g s u b j e c t - o b j e c t a s y m m e t r i e s f o r n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s inA S L s u p p o r t s H u a n g ' s a n a ly s is f o r t h e s e c a s es , a n d t h e f a c t t h a t n u llp r o n o m i n a l a r g u m e n t s c a n b e i d e n t if i ed b y N P s a s w e l l as b ya g r e e m e n t . 17 H o w e v e r , t h e p a r a l l e l s e n t e n c e s s h o w i n g n o a s y m m e t r i e sf o r a g r e e i n g v e r b s io A S L , b o t h e x a m p l e s b e i n g g r a m m a t i c a l , s u p p o r t sm y c l a i m t h a t t h e r e a r e t w o t y p e s o f nu l l a r g u m e n t s i n A S L : t h o s e t h a ta p p e a r w i th n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b s , a n d t h o s e th a t a p p e a r w i th v e r ba g r e e m e n t . B y H u a n g ' s o w n k in d s o f a r g u m e n t s , b o t h k i n ds o f e m p t yc a t e g o r y m u s t b e r e l i e d o n t o a c c o u n t f o r a l l o f t h e d a t a i n A S L .

6 . W H A T I s T H E N U L L S U B J E C T P A R A M E T E R ?V a r i o u s p r o p o s a l s h a v e b e e n m a d e a s t o h ow t h e N u l l S u b j e c t P a r a m e t e rs h o u l d b e s t a t e d . F r o m t h e e v i d e n c e t h a t I h a v e p r e s e n t e d h e r e , it is c l e a rt h a t t h is is n o t s i m p l y o n e p a r a m e t e r w i t h tw o d i s c r e t e s e t ti n gs . T h e r e a r ea t le a s t t w o t y p e s o f N u l l S u b j e c t s ( A r g u m e n t s ) : t h o s e p r e s e n t i n l a n -g u a g e s l i k e I t a l i a n a n d I r i s h , a n d t h o s e p r e s e n t i n l a n g u a g e s l i k e C h i n e s e .A S L m a n i f e s t s b o t h t y p e s , a n d t h e y p a t t e r n i n d is t in c t w a y s w i t h i n th i so n e l a n g u a g e .

T h e d a t a f r o m A S L s u p p o r t s t h e v i ew t h a t o n e t y p e of nu ll a r g u m e n ta r i s e s f r o m t o p i c d e l e t i o n , a n d t h a t t h i s p o s s i b i l i t y i s t i e d t o t h e i n -d e p e n d e n t l y m o t i v a t e d D i s c o u r s e - O r i e n t e d v e rs u s S e n t e n c e - O r i e n t e dp a r a m e t e r . T h o s e l a n g u a g e s w h i c h a r e s e t a s d i s c o u r s e - o r i e n t e d w il l h a v et h e d i s c o m s e c o i n d e x a t i o n r u l e d i s c u ss e d i n s e c t i o n 4. 1 , a n d t h e n u l la r g u m e n t s w i l l f a l l o u t a s a r e s u l t o f t h a t . 18

W h a t a b o u t t h e s e c o n d t y p e of n ul l a r g u m e n t ? M o s t p r o p o s a ls r e g a r d -

~7 Huang also c i tes data from the Complex NP Constraint and the L eft Branch Condition,showi ng similar kinds of subject-object asymmetries. However, these constructions aremore com plicated in ASL , and more w ork on them is needed before it wo uld be clearwhether they would also support Huang's analysis for topic deletion.Is Recent w orks on Chinese and Japanese null arguments have challenged various aspectsof Huang's analys i s ( for example , Hasegawa, 1986; Hoji and Sai to, 1986; Li 1985; Xuand Lang endo en 1985; W hitman, 1985) . M any of these authors have sugg ested that at l eastsome of the nul l arguments ( inc luding objects) that Huang analyzed as variables areactually pronominal. Th e ASL data indicate that so m e distinction between null argumentsof agree ing and nonagreeing verbs m ust be m aintained.


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 3 7i n g t h e s e n u l l a r g u m e n t s h a v e b e g u n w i t h t h e i d e a t h a t n u l l a r g u m e n t sa r e a l l o w e d o n l y w h e n t h e r e i s s u lt ic i en t ly r ic h a g r e e m e n t t h a t t h ec o n t e n t o f t h e e m p t y c a t e g o r y c a n b e r e c o v e r e d . T h i s i s k n o w n a sT a ra l d se n ' s G en e ra l i z a t i o n ( a f t e r T a ra l d sen , 1 9 7 8 ) , an d is a l so ca l l ed th eId en t i f i c a ti o n H y p o t h es i s b y Ch u n g (1 9 8 4 ) an d Jae g g l i ( 1 9 8 2 ) . I t i s i nf a c t o f t e n t h e c a s e t h a t n u l l a r g u m e n t s o f t e n c o - o c c u r w i t h r i c hi n f l e c t i o n . H o w e v e r t h e r e a r e b o t h i n s t a n c e s o f l a n g u a g e s w i t h r i c ha g r e e m e n t w h i c h d o n o t a ll o w n u ll a r g u m e n t s ( e . g ., G e r m a n , D u t c h ) , a n dl a n g u a g e s w h i c h d o a l l o w n u l l p r o n o m i n a l a r g u m e n t s e v e n w i t h o u t r i c ha g r e e m e n t . F o r e x a m p l e , C h a m o r r o h a s nu ll o b j e c t s e v e n w i th o u t o b j e c ta g r e e m e n t ; C h u n g ( 1 9 8 4 ) a r g u e s t h a t t h e s e a r e n u l l p r o n o u n s a n d n o tv a r i a b l e s f r o m W h - t o p i c m o v e m e n t . N e v e r t h e l e s s , i n A S L , a t l e a s t , s o m er e f e r e n c e t o v e r b a g r e e m e n t m u s t b e m a d e , s i n c e t h e n u l l p r o n o m i n a la r g u m e n t s c r u c ia l ly d e p e n d o n t h e p r e s e n c e o f a r g r e e m e n t . I w i ll s u g g e s th o w t h i s m i g h t b e d o n e i n s e c t i o n s 6 . 2 a n d 6 . 3 .

A n o t h e r p o i n t w h i c h m o s t p r o p o s a l s h a v e a d d r e s s e d ( d i r e c t l y o r i n -d i r e c t l y ) i s w h e t h e r t h e e m p t y N P i n s u b j e c t p o s i t i o n i s s u b j e c t t o t h eE m p t y C a t e g o r y P r i n c i p l e ( E C P ) , a n d h e n c e m u s t b e p r o p e r l y g o v e r -n e d . 19 A l t h o u g h s o m e a c c o u n t s h a v e a s s u m e d s o , o t h e r s h a v e c l a i m e d( i n c l u d i n g H u a n g ' s a c c o u n t a b o v e ) , f o l l o w i n g ~ h o m s k y ( 1 9 8 2 ) , t h a te m p t y p r o n o u n s n e e d o n l y t o b e i d e n t i f i e d , b u t n o t n e c e s s a r i l y p r o p e r l yg o v e r n e d . T h i s q u e s t i o n i s a d d r e s s e d i n s e c t i o n 6 .1 .

6 . 1 . P r o p e r G o v e r n m e n t v s . I d e n t i l la b i l i tyR i z z i ( 1 9 8 2 ) a s s u m e d t h a t t h e e m p t y c a t e g o r y i n s u b j e c t p o s i t i o n n e e d st o b e p r o p e r l y g o v e r n e d . T h i s i s b e c a u s e R i z z i c l a i m e d t h a t t h e n u l le l e m e n t i n s u b j e c t p o s i t i o n o f n u l l s u b j e c t l a n g u a g e s i s a n a n a p h o r( tr a c e ), b o u n d b y th e a g r e e m e n t i n I N F L . I n h is a c c o u n t , N u l l S u b j e c tL a n g u a g e s h a v e t h e o p ti o n o f m a r k i ng t h ei r I N F L n o d e [ + p r o n om i n a l ].W h e n t h i s o p t i o n i s c h o s e n , t h e I N F L s o m a r k e d h a s c l i t i c - l i k e p r o p e r -t i e s . I t c a n b e a p r o p e r g o v e r n o r o f a n e m p t y c a t e g o r y i n s u b j e c tp o s i t i o n , i t h a s a p ro n o mi n a l i n t e rp r e t a t i o n , an d i t mu s t ab so rb N o mi n a -t i v e C a s e . T h e r e f o r e , w h e n I N F L i s s o m a r k e d , a l e x i c a l s u b j e c t c a n n o t

~9 Empty categories must be properly governed, according to the ECP. A prop er gove rnorcan be a lexical category or an antecedent that meets certain structural conditions. This isi0 some senses a manifestation of the Identification Hypothesis as a principle of grammar.


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4 3 8 D I A N E L I L L O - M A R T I No c c u r b e c a u s e i t w o u l d n o t r e c e i v e N o m i n a t i v e C a s e a n d w o u l d t h u sviola te th e C ase Fi l ter . 2

J a e g g li ( 19 8 2) , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , p r o p o s e d t h a t t h e e m p t y c a t e g o r y ins u b j e c t p o s i t i o n o f a p r o - d r o p l a n g u a g e i s P R O , a n d h e n c e , m u s tn e c e s s a r i l y b e u n g o v e r n e d . C h o m s k y ( 1 9 8 2 ) p r o p o s e d t h a t t h i s e m p t yc a t e g o r y is pro, w h i c h , a l t h o u g h i t c a n b e g o v e r n e d ( u n l i k e P R O ) , n e e dn o t b e p r o p e r l y g o v e r n e d . H e c o n t e n d e d t h a t n u l l p r o n o u n s m u s t b e' r eco v er ab l e ' , ' i d en t i f i ed ' , o r ' d e t e r m i ned ' , b u t no t necessa r i l y p r o p er l yg o v e r n e d .

I s i t t r u e t ha t nu l l a r g u m ent s need t o b e p r o p er l y g o v er ned , o r i sident i f ica t ion cor rec t? The answer to th is ques t ion requires f i r s t a r ig iddef ini t ion of ' ident i fy ' . Chomsky (1982, p . 85) says , " the s imples t ap-p r o a c h i s t o u n d e r st a n d ' lo c a l d e t e r m in a t i o n ' a s ' g o v e r n m e n t b y A G R ' . "H e t h e n g o e s o n t o d e s c r i b e h o w t h i s m i g h t b e i m p l e m e n t e d u s i n g t h eC ase- ass i g n i ng p r o p er t y o f IN F L. H u ang ( 1 9 8 4 ) , a s d i scu ssed i n sec t i o n4 .1 ab o v e , t a l k s ab o u t t he p r i nc i p l e o f r eco v er ab i l i t y , and he d e f i nesi d en t i f i ca t i o n i n t e r m s o f t he G ener a l i zed C o n t r o l R u l e ( g i v en i n ( 2 9 b )ab o v e) i H u an g ex p l a ins t ha t ' t he c l o ses t no m i n a l e l em en t ' t o a g iv enc a t e g o r y C w ill b e a c - c o m m a n d i n g N P o r A G R s e p a r a t e d f ro m C b y t h ef ew es t nu m b er o f c l au se b o u nd ar i es ( hence no d i s t i nc t i o n i s m ad e b e-t w een su b j ec t s and o b j ec t s w it h i n t h e sam e c l au se ) .

In m o s t cases , s t r u c t u r es i n w hi ch nu l l a r g u m ent s a r e p r o p er l y g o v er -ned ( as b y an ag r eem en t i n IN F L) a r e a l so s t r u c t u r es i n w hi ch nu l la r g u m e n t s a r e id e n t if ie d b y a c - c o m m a n d i n g N P o r A G R . H o w e v e r , ani d en t i f i ab i l i t y r eq u i r em en t w i t ho u t p r o p er g o v er nm en t w o u l d a l so a l l o ws o m e a d di t io n a l s e n t e n c e s w h i c h t h e p r o p e r g o v e r n m e n t r e q u i re m e n tw o u l d ex c l ud e .

T h i s c o n s e q u e n c e c a n b e s e e n b y e x am i n in g t h e n u !l ar g u m e n t s o fn o n a g r e e i n g A S L v e r b s . R e c a l l t h a t m o s t o f t h e t i m e , s u c h n u l la r g u m en t s w ill b e n u ll t o p i cs . H o w ev er , i n ( 2 8 d) , i t w as p r o p o sed t ha t ane m b e d d e d n u l l s u b j e c t w i t h a n o n a g r e e i n g v e r b i n t h e e m b e d d e d c l a u s ec a n b e a pronominal co r e f e r en t i a l t o t he m a t r i x su b j ec t . The ana l y s i sgiven in sec t ion 4 , f rom an ident i f iabi l i ty s tandpoint , shows why th isin te rpre ta t ion i s possib le . Ho we ver , th is nul l pron omin al wi ll no t be

20 Th e C ase filter, referring to abstract C as e (n ot necessarily ov ert morphologicallyrealized case), can be formulated thus:*NP w here NP is phon etically realized.[-Case]

Su bject NPs usually receive their C ase (N ominative) from IN FL , and object NPs usuallyreceive the ir Case (Objective)from the verb.


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N U L L A R G U M E N T S I N A M E R I C A N S I G N L A N G U A G E 4 3 9p r o p e r l y g o v e r n e d . T h u s , u n d e r a p r o p e r g o v e r n m e n t a p p r o a c h , t h es t r u c t u r e w o u l d b e p r e d i c t e d t o b e u n g r a m m a t i c a l . T h e s e n t e n c e s a r e ,h o w e v e r , g o o d w i th t h a t i n te r p r e t at i o n , in b o t h C h i n e s e a n d A S L .

M o s t o f t h e t i m e , w i t h a n i d e n t i f i c a t i o n a c c o u n t s u c h a s H u a n g ' s , t h ei d e n t i f y i n g e l e m e n t o f a n u l l p r o n o u n w i l l b e t h e a g r e e m e n t w h i c hg o v e r n s i t, ju s t a s in t h e p r o p e r g o v e r n m e n t a c c o u n t . H o w e v e r , t h e r e is ac l a s s o f s e n t e n c e s w h i c h d i s p l a y n u l l p r o n o u n s t h a t a r e n o t p r o p e r l yg o v e r n e d . T h e s e n u ll p r o n o u n s a r e g r a m m a t i c a l, a n d c a n b e i d e n ti fi e d b ya c l o se c - c o m m a n d i n g N P . T h e r e f o r e , t h e i d en ti fi ab i li ty a c c o u n t m u s t b ep r e f e r r e d t o a p r o p e r g o v e r n m e n t a c c o u n t.

6 .2 . The Structure of A greementI f A G R is w h a t p e r m i ts s o m e I N F L s t o i d e n ti fy s u b j e c t n u ll a r g u m e n t s ,h o w c a n o t h e r n u ll a r g u m e n t s b e b e s t a c c o u n t e d f o r ? I n t h e i r d is c u ss io no f I ri sh n u l l a rg u m e n t s , M c C l o s k e y a n d H a l e ( 1 9 8 4) p r o p o s e t h e s t ru c -t u r e g i v e n i n ( 3 8) ( t h e i r [ 5 9 ]) f o r P o s s e s s o r A g r e e m e n t i n N P s .

"(38) NP

N N P

1st

m o t e a c h 0T h i s s t r u c t u r e i s n o t u n l i k e s o m e p r o p o s e d f o r v e r b a l o b j e c t c l i t i c s i n

Romance l anguages , such a s t ha t i n R izz i (1982 , p . 134) adap ted in (39) .(39) V P

/ ~ N P j

C L VI tl oj c o n c o s c o [ e ]


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4 4 0 D I A N E L I L L O - M A R T I NE x c e p t f o r o r d e r , t h e s e s t r u c t u r e s b o t h r e s e m b l e t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t e n

a s s u m e d f o r a g r e e m e n t w i t h n u l l s u b j e c t s , g i v e n i n ( 4 0 ) .(40) S ( = I P )

N P I N F L

A G R i T N S

pro i

V P

V N P

/ \m a n g i a u n a m e l aI th e r e f o r e p r o p o s e t h a t t h e s t r u c tu r e f o r o b j e c t v e r b a g r e e m e n t b e

l i k e t h a t i n ( 3 9 ) , t h e s t r u c t u r e f o r p o s s e s s o r a g r e e m e n t b e l i k e t h a t i n( 3 8 ), e t c . A b s t r a c t i n g a w a y f r o m c a t e g o r y a n d o r d e r , w e h a v e ( 4 1 ).

(41) X P

X a Y

XbI n t h e s t r u c t u r e ( 4 1 ) , A G R a n d Y a r e c o i n d e x e d . F o r d e s c r i p t i v e

p u r p o s e s , l e t u s c a l l [ X , X P ] ' X a ' , a n d [ X , X ] ' X d . I p r o p o s e t h a t t h ef - f e a tu r e s f ro m A G R p e r c o l a t e u p t o X ~ , w h i c h th e n g o v e r n s , c a n a s s ig nC a s e a n d / o r a t h e t a - r o l e t o , a n d m u s t a g r e e w i t h , Y . W h i c h o f t h e s et h i n g s w i l l h a p p e n d e p e n d s o n t h e n a t u r e o f t h e h e a d , X b . I f i t i s a v e r b ,X , , d o e s e v e r y t h i n g t h a t t h e v e r b i s l e x i c a l l y m a r k e d t o d o , i n c l u d i n gass i g n i n g O b j ec t i v e Case an d / o r t h e t a - ro l e s . I f X , , i s IN FL , i t w i l l a s s i g nN o m i n a t i v e C a s e i f X b is [ + t e n s e ] . T h u s , t h e n u l l s u b j e c t p a r a m e t e r ise x t e n d e d t o a l lo w m a n y k i n d s o f n u ll a r g u m e n t s , e a c h u s u a ll y id e n t if ie db y a c o i n d e x e d n o m i n a l c a t e g o r y .

6 .3 . Th e P lace o1: Morpholog ica l Ag ree m en t in the Nu l l Ar gu m en tPa ra me ter

T h e N u l l A r g u m e n t P a r a m e t e r c a p t u r e s t h e sp i ri t o f t h e I d e n ti f ic a t i o nH y p o t h e s i s g i v e n i n t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o s e c t i o n 6 b y a s s o c i a t i n g t h e


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NULL ARGUMENTS IN AMERICAN S IGN LANGUAGE 4 4 1a p p e a r a n c e o f N u l l A r g u m e n t s w i th a n i d e n t if y in g n o m i n a l c a t e g o r y .H o w e v e r , i t is w e l l - k n o w n t h a t th e a s s o c ia t io n b e t w e e n r ic h m o r -p h o l o g ic a l a g r e e m e n t a n d n u l l a r g u m e n t s is in m a n y c a s e s in c o m p l e t e .T h e t a s k th e c h i l d f a c e s w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e li c e n s i n g o f n u ll a r g u m e n t s i sn o t to n o t ic e w h e t h e r t h e r e is p e r s o n - n u m b e r a g r e e m e n t , b u t t o d e c i d ew h e t h e r t h e v a r i o u s A G R s ( in I N F L , in V , e tc ) in his l a n g u a g e a r e ' r ic he n o u g h ' t o b e i d e n t if i e rs . 21 S i n c e ' r i c h ' i s a m b i g u o u s b e t w e e n s y n t a c t i c -a l l y r i c h e n o u g h t o a ll o w n ul l a r g u m e n t s a n d o v e r t l y m o r p h o l o g i c a l l yr i c h , I w i l l u s e ' s t r o n g ' t o r e f e r t o s y n t a c t i c a g r e e m e n t s w h i c h c a n i d e n t i f yn u ll p r o n o u n s . T h u s F i n n i s h w il l h a v e ' s t r o n g ' a g r e e m e n t , a n d E s t o n i a nw ill h a v e ' w e a k ' a g r e e m e n t , e v e n t h o u g h m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y b o t h a r ea l m o s t e q u i v a l e n t i n ' r i c h n e s s ' ( M i l sa r k , 1 9 8 5 ) .

T h # s in S p an i s h , s u b j e c t a g r e e m e n t i n I N F L i s s t r o n g , a n d t h e r e f o r en u l l s u b j e c t p r o n o u n s a r e p o s s i b l e . F o r S p a n i s h , t h a t s e t t i n g w i l l b ec o n s i s te n t , s o t h a t a ll v e r b s w il l b e m a r k e d w i th a g r e e m e n t , a n d A G Rw i ll a l w a y s b e s t r o n g , a s lo n g a s t h e I N F L i s [ + t e n s e ] . I n S p a n i s h , w h e nt h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n s e c o n d a n d t h i r d p e r s o n a g r e e m e n t o n t h e v e r bh a s b e e n l o s t b y fi na l c o n s o n a n t d e l e t i o n ( a s i n d i a l e c t s o f C u b a nS p a n i s h ), n u l l a r g u m e n t s a r e s ti ll a l l o w e d . I n l a n g u a g e s l i k e S p a n i s h , al a ck o f o v e r t , u n a m b i g u o u s v e r b a g r e e m e n t in s o m e c a s e s d o e s n o t a f f e c tt h e p o s s i b i l i t y f o r p r o d r o p .

H o w e v e r , in A S L , w h e n a v e r b d o e s n o t ta k e v e r b a g r e e m e n t , i tc a n n o t h a v e t h e k i n d o f n u l l a r g u m e n t s t h a t v e r b a g r e e m e n t s a n c ti o ns .A s I h a v e s h o w n , t h e A S L g r a m m a r m u s t b e a b l e to r e f e r t o t h e p r e s e n c eo f o v e r t , d i st in c t i v e a g r e e m e n t m a r k i n g .

A p o s s i b le a n a ly s is is t h a t m o r p h o l o g i c a l a g r e e m e n t i s g e n e r a t e d in t hel e x i c o n a n d a g r e e m e n t - m a r k e d e l e m e n t s a r e fr e e ly i n s er te d a t D - s t r u c -t u r e . T h e r e w i l l t h e n b e f i l t e r s a t P F t o e l i m i n a t e a n y s e n t e n c e s i n w h i c ht h e m o r p h o l o g i c a l f e a t u r e s o f c o i n d e x e d i t e m s d o n o t m a t c h . T h o s ef o r m s w h i ch h a v e o v e r t m o r p h o l o g i c a l a g r e e m e n t w i ll a l s o h a v e ap h o n e t i c m a t r ix u n d e r A G R . I n t his w a y a n y r e f e r e n c e t h a t n e e d e d t o b em a d e t o f - f e a t u r e s d u r in g t h e s y n t a x c o u l d b e m a d e . A S L w o u l d t h e nh a v e a re s t r i c t io n t h a t o n l y A G R w i th p h o n e t i c m a t r i c e s c a n b e s t r o n g ,a l t h o u g h S p a n i s h w o u l d h a v e n o s u c h r e s t r i c t io n . 22

21 It is possib le that a markedness hierarchy w ill come into play here, so that theoccurrence of null pronominal objects implies a greater likelihood for the existence of nullsubjects in a given language, for exam ple. M uc h more cross-linguistic work w ould beneeded before suc h a generalization could be recognized and codified.22 Th is com plication in the licensing of null argum ents in AS L might then cau se them to beharder to learn for c hildre n learning A SL as their native language, than {o r childrenlearning a language like Spanish. In fa ct, deaf children learning A SL do seem to haveproblem s, using null argument structures relatively later than children learning Eng lish or


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8/3/2019 Lillo-martin-two Kinds of Null Argument

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Lillo-martin-two Kinds of Null Arguments in Asl