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Null or Nothing
Zero elements in Romance syntax and morphology
Zero elements are used by several theories in morphology and syntax as analytical tool, but the question of whether phonologically empty elements should be structurally present or not has been a controversial issue from the very beginning. In addition to analyses that work with zero, there are also a whole series of works that explicitly reject a description with zero or allow them only under restricted circumstances. This volume aims at getting a more complete picture of zero elements as a theoretic construct, its empirical necessity and its nature in different components of grammar by focusing on Romance languages. The volume presents multi-facetted viewpoints and methodologies, such as formal theoretic and data-based ones, addressing researchers, advanced students and everyone interested in linguistics. Furthermore, this volume deals with various Romance languages and varieties, such as Catalan, (Old and Modern) French, Italian and Sicilian, (Brazilian and European) Portuguese, and Spanish.
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 291] 2026. ix, 379 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 27 February 2026
Published online on 27 February 2026
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- Preface | pp. vii–x
- Part I. Zero in morphology and its interfaces
- Zero morphemes in the morphophonology of CatalanEulàlia Bonet | pp. 2–26
- Spanish VN compounds and the source of valued gender and number featuresAntonio Fábregas | pp. 27–56
- Exocentric compounding and implicit heads: Insights from Romance argumental and possessive compoundsVitor Augusto Nóbrega | pp. 57–87
- V-N compounds in French: An analysis without nullsPetra Sleeman | pp. 88–110
- Zero affixes in verbal derivation: Transcategorial prefixation or parasynthetic verb formation?Irene Fally and Eva-Maria Remberger | pp. 111–139
- Getting rid of zeroes: The morphosyntax of deadjectival ‘A-verbs’ in ItalianPamela Goryczka and Anne-Li Demonie | pp. 140–180
- The simple and the periphrastic past in spoken (Valencian) Catalan as evidence against zero in inflectional morphologyPeter Herbeck and Natascha Pomino | pp. 181–215
- Part II. Zero in syntax and its interfaces
- Indefinite object drop in SpanishCarlos Martínez-García | pp. 218–250
- Non-coordinated null objects in Medieval French: A diachronic studyPrudence de Pontbriand | pp. 251–282
- Comparing null subjects and null objects: The role of syntactic function, sentential domain and animacyNelli Kerezova | pp. 283–307
- The inverse vocative in Sicilian regional Italian: Evidence for a null Vocative headGabriele Ganau and Jan Casalicchio | pp. 308–333
- Spatial expressions with implicit (and overt) arguments: A comparative study of French and SpanishSteffen Heidinger and Michelle Troberg | pp. 334–367
- Author index | pp. 369–373
- Subject index | pp. 375–379