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In:Null or Nothing: Zero elements in Romance syntax and morphology
Edited by Peter Herbeck and Natascha Pomino
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 291] 2026
► pp. 283–307

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Comparing null subjects and null objects

The role of syntactic function, sentential domain and animacy

ORCiD logo with link | Goethe University Frankfurt
Published online: 27 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.291.10ker
Abstract
This paper presents a corpus-based analysis of the antecedent preferences of anaphoric null objects in European Portuguese. It suggests that the sentential domain, the syntactic function, and the animacy of the antecedent determine the selection of the referent of null objects, similar to what has been observed for null subjects. The corpus study findings reveal that null objects differ from null subjects by predominantly selecting object referents in both inter- and intrasentential contexts rather than subject referents. Additionally, null objects exhibit a clear preference for inanimate referents.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Distinguishing different types of null objects
  • 2.Factors influencing antecedent selection of null subjects
    • 2.1Syntactic function of the antecedent
    • 2.2Sentential domain of the antecedent
    • 2.3Animacy of the antecedent
  • 3.The current study: Antecedent preferences of null objects
    • 3.1Research questions and predictions
      • 3.1.1Syntactic function of the antecedent
      • 3.1.2Sentential domain of the antecedent
      • 3.1.3Animacy
    • 3.2Methodology
      • 3.2.1The corpus
      • 3.2.2Data coding
      • 3.2.3Corpus findings
      • 3.3.4Statistical analysis of the corpus findings
  • 4.Discussion of the findings
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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