Null Subjects in Brazilian Portuguese and Finnish: They are not Derived by Movement

Abstract

It is well known that some languages, despite permitting null subjects, do not display the full array of characteristics usually associated with the Null Subject Parameter as proposed by Rizzi (1982, 1986). In the 1980s, there was much debate about languages such as Chinese, which display no overt verbal agreement and still allow for the subject position to be null. More recently, languages like Brazilian Portuguese (BP) and (colloquial) Finnish have been discussed. In those languages, third person null referential subjects are not allowed in matrix contexts, which has been related to the fact that (at least in BP) verbal agreement is ‘poor’. However, third person null referential subjects are productive in embedded contexts in both languages, which is problematic for theories which try to explain the Null Subject Parameter.