Impersonal constructions in northern Occitan

Abstract

In generative grammar, the typology introduced by the null subject or pro-drop parameter shows a clear distinction between null subject languages and languages with obligatory subjects. As a consequence, in non-null subject languages the presence of a subject pronoun is always obligatory, even in impersonal constructions, while this is not the case in null subject languages. In this perspective, it seems that the status of a language with respect to the null subject parameter is determined by the presence of expletive pronouns. However, some Romance dialects that are classified a priori as null subject languages show apparent subject pronouns with impersonal verbs, especially with meteorological verbs. This is the case for dialects spoken at the border areas of Occitan, in particular in the north of Occitania. On the basis of a corpus we have recently set up, we examine the distribution and the morphosyntactic behaviour of these elements, which challenge the general dichotomy between null subject and non-null subject languages and discuss the ensuing theoretical implications. In particular, we inquire whether these elements are indicators for a change in progress concerning the status of the dialects under investigation with respect to the null subject property.