A Study on the Null Subject in English Imperatives

• 영문명: A Study on the Null Subject in English Imperatives
• 발행기관: 한국영어학학회
• 저자명: Grace Ge-Soon Moon
• 간행물 정보: 『영어학연구』영어학연구 제19호, 179~199쪽, 전체 21쪽
• 주제분류: 어문학 > 영어와문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2005.06.01

영문 초록

One of the properties that distinguish the imperative from other clause types in English is that it can have a null subject. That is, the subject position of an imperative need not be filled with overt material. In this paper, I examine the syntactic status of the null imperative subject and explore the grammatical and discourse-pragmatic conditions that govern the occurence of the null subject. I argue that the null imperative subject is an instance of pro, which can occur as long as the licensing and recovery conditions on pro are satisfied and the Pecking Order of Deletion Principle is not violated. The arguments put forth in this paper show how discourse-pragmatic factors interface with syntax and semantics to provide a cogent explanation of a seeming idiosyncrasy of the imperative clause.

목차

Abstract

1. Introduction

2. The Syntactic Status of the Null Imperative Subject

3. The Use of the Null Imperative Subject

4. Conclusion

References