Impersonal pronouns and subject ellipsis : a cartographic analysis

Even in the non pro drop languages like French, referential subjects such as il (‘he’) or nous (‘we’) may be omitted both in second conjuncts as well as in in special registers (diary writing, text messaging and the like). However, what has largely gone undiscussed is that in those contexts, the impersonal subject on cannot be omitted. This contribution focuses on the non-omissibility of the impersonal subject 'on'. The discussion first develops a discourse-based account for register-specific subject omission and the non-omissibility of impersonal on. Crucial to the argumentation is the observation that, while on can sustain clause-internal anaphora, it cannot constitute an antecedent for intra-clausal discourse anaphora. The hypothesis is that this observed anaphoric deficiency of on accounts for its incompatibility with register-specific subject omission. The analysis carries over to (and thus is confirmed by) Dutch impersonal men which, like on, cannot sustain discourse anaphoric relations. However, in terms of second-conjunct subject ellipsis, an asymmetry emerges between the patterning of French impersonal on and that of Dutch impersonal men. Deploying the cartographic approach to the subject field, the proposal is to explore De Crousaz and Shlonsky’s (2004) structural analysis of French and to postulate that the incapacity for on to undergo second-conjunct subject ellipsis derives from its syntactic position. The final part of the discussion returns to register-specific subject omission and speculates whether and how the cartographic account developed could also be made to capture the register-specific non-omissibility of on.

ISBN:9782374961552

Publication year:2021

Accessibility:Open