Editing Pro-drop language (section)

=== Romance languages ===

Like their parent [[Latin language|Latin]], most [[Romance language]]s (with the notable exception of [[French language|French]]) are categorised as pro-drop as well, though generally only in the case of subject pronouns. Unlike in Japanese, however, the missing subject pronoun is not inferred strictly from pragmatics, but partially indicated by the [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] of the verb, which inflects for person and number of the subject. [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Occitan language|Occitan]] can [[elision|elide]] subject pronouns only ([[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] sometimes elides object pronouns as well), and they often do so even when the referent has not been mentioned. This is helped by person/number [[inflection]] on the verb. The 3rd person singular and plural subject pronouns are often kept to denote and differentiate male and female subjects/genders.

====Spanish====
In Spanish, the verb is inflected for both person and number, thus expression of the pronoun is unnecessary because it is grammatically redundant.<ref name=":0" /> In the following example, the inflection on the verb ''ver,'' 'see', signals informal 2nd person singular, thus the pronoun is dropped. Similarly, from both the context and verbal morphology, the listener can infer that the second two utterances are referring to the log, so the speaker omits the pronoun that would appear in English as "it." 
 
{{interlinear|indent=3
|¿Ves este tronco? Sería bueno para la fogata. Está completamente seco.
|See this log? {Would be} good for the campfire. Is completely dry
|(Do) ('''you''') see this log? ('''It''') would be good for the campfire. ('''It''') is completely dry.}}

Although Spanish is a predominantly pro-drop language, not all grammatical contexts allow for a null pronoun. There are some environments that require an overt pronoun. In contrast, there are also grammatical environments that require a null pronoun. According to the ''Real Academia Española'', the expression or elision of the subject pronoun is not random. Rather there are contexts in which an overt pronoun is abnormal, but in other cases, the overt pronoun is possible or even required.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://buscon.rae.es/dpd/srv/search?id=seEVswKc5D6y2K5WFZ|title=Pronombre Personales Tónicos|date=2005|website=Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas|publisher=Real Academia Española}}</ref> Further, the examples below illustrate how overt pronouns in Spanish are not constrained by inflectional morphology. The pronoun ''nosotros'' can be either present or absent, depending on certain discourse conditions:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Camacho|first=Jose A.|url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ref/id/CBO9781139524407|title=Null Subjects|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-52440-7|location=Cambridge|doi=10.1017/cbo9781139524407}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Salimos
|left
|“We left.”}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Nosotros salimos.
|We       left
|“We left.”}}

The third person pronouns (''él, ella, ellos'', ''ellas'') in most contexts can only refer to persons. Therefore, when referring to things (that are not people) an explicit pronoun is usually disallowed.<ref name=":1" />

Subject pronouns can be made explicit when used for a contrastive function or when the subject is the focus of the sentence. In the following example, the first person explicit pronoun is used to emphasize the subject. In the next sentence the explicit ''yo'', stressed that the opinion is from the speaker and not from the second person or another person.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Yo creo que eso estuvo mal.
|I think that that was wrong.
|}}
  
Subject pronouns can also be made explicit in order to clarify ambiguities that arise due to verb forms that are homophonous in the first person and third person. For example, in the past imperfect, conditional, and subjunctive, the verb forms are the same for first person singular and third person singular. In these situations, using the explicit pronoun ''yo'' (1st person singular) or ''él, ella'' (3rd person singular) clarifies who the subject is, since the verbal morphology is ambiguous.<ref name=":1" />

====Italian====

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Vedi questo tronchetto? Andrebbe bene per il fuoco. È completamente secco.
|See this log? {Would go} well for the campfire. Is completely dry.
|Do ('''you''') see this log? ('''It''') would be fit for the campfire. ('''It''') is completely dry.}}

Italian further demonstrates full pro-drop by allowing for the possibility of a salient, referential, definite subject of finite clauses. With respect to the [[Null subject parameter]] (NSP), this will be analyzed using the phrase 'S/he speaks Italian.'<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sessarego |first1=Sandro |last2=Gutierrez-Rexach |first2=Javier |title=Revisiting the Null Subject Parameter: New Insights from Afro-Peruvian Spanish |journal=Open Journal of Romance Linguistics |date=2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=43–68 |doi=10.5565/rev/isogloss.26 |url=https://raco.cat/index.php/isogloss/article/view/v3-n1-sessarego-gutierrez |access-date=12 December 2021|doi-access=free |hdl=10256/15298 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Italian has a [+] value:
:''Parla italiano''. (Italian, +NSP)

A non pro-drop language, such as English, has a [-] value for NSP and thus does not allow for that possibility:
: *Speaks Italian. (English, -NSP)

====Portuguese====
Portuguese displays full pro-drop by allowing subjects of finite clauses to be phonetically null:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barbosa |first1=Pilar P. |title=Pro-drop and theories of pro in the minimalist program part 1: Consistent null subject languages and the pronominal-agr hypothesis |journal=Language and Linguistics Compass |date=2011 |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=551–570 |doi=10.1111/j.1749-818X.2011.00293.x}}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Chegaram.
|arrived-3PL
|‘They have arrived.’}}

Provided this example, it is important to note that variations of Portuguese can differ with respect to their pro-drop features. While European Portuguese (EP) is a full pro-drop language, Brazilian Portuguese (BP) exhibits partial pro-drop. The two are compared below, respectively:

Examples of omitted subject:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Estás a ver este tronco? Seria bom para a fogueira. Secou completamente.|c1=(European Portuguese)
|Are to see this log? {Would be} good for the campfire. Dried completely
|(Do) ('''you''') see this log? ('''It''') would be good for the campfire. ('''It''') has completely dried.}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Está(s) vendo esse tronco? Seria bom pra fogueira. Secou completamente.|c1=(Brazilian Portuguese)
|Are seeing this log? {Would be} good for-the campfire. Dried completely
|(Do) ('''you''') see this log? ('''It''') would be good for the campfire. ('''It''') has completely dried. }}

Omission of object pronouns is likewise possible when the referent is clear, especially in colloquial or informal language:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Acho que ele vai rejeitar a proposta, mas pode aceitar.
|Think that he goes (to-)reject the proposal, but may accept.
|('''I''') think he is going to turn down the proposal, but ('''he''') may accept ('''it''').}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Ainda tem macarrão? Não, papai comeu.
|Still {is there} pasta? No, daddy ate.
|Is there pasta left? No, daddy ate ('''it''').}}

The use of the object pronoun in these examples (''aceitá-la'', ''comeu-o'') is the default everywhere but Brazil.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Ela me procurou ontem e não achou.
|She me sought yesterday and not found.
|She looked for me yesterday and didn't find ('''me''').}}

Here ''não me achou'' would also be possible.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|A: Eu te amo; você também me ama? B: Amo, sim.
|{{no gloss|A}}: I you love; you too me love?  {{no gloss|B}}: Love-1sg, yes.
|A: I love you; do you love me too? B: I do.}}

Omission of the object pronoun is possible even when its referent has not been explicitly mentioned, so long as it can be inferred. The next example might be heard at a store; the referent (a dress) is clear to the interlocutor. In both Brazilian and European Portuguese the pronoun is omitted.

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Viu que bonito? Não gosta? Pode comprar?|c1= (BP)
|Saw how beautiful? Don't like? Can buy?|c2= (using polite 2nd person) (BP)
|}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|Viste que bonito? Não gostas? Podes comprar?|c1= (EP)
|Saw how beautiful? Don't like? Can buy?|c2= (using informal 2nd person) (EP)
|Have you seen how beautiful it is? Do you like it? Can you buy it?}}

==== Pro-drop with locative and partitive ====
''Modern'' Spanish and Portuguese are also notable amongst Romance languages because they have no specific pronouns for circumstantial [[Complement (linguistics)|complement]]s (arguments denoting circumstance, consequence, place or manner, modifying the verb but not directly involved in the action) or [[partitive]]s (words or phrases denoting a quantity of something).{{Clarify|date=March 2008}}<!-- I don't see what partitives have to do with anything. As for pronouns for circumstantial complements, you must be thinking of French and Italian (y, en, etc.), but as far as I know such pronouns are not common cross-linguistically. --> However, both languages had them during the Middle Ages: Portuguese ''hi'' and ''ende''.

Compare the following examples in which Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, and Romanian have null pronouns for place and partitives, but Catalan, French, Occitan, and Italian have overt pronouns for place and partitive. 
{| class="wikitable"
|+Pro-drop with locative and partitive: Romance
!language
! colspan="2" |locative
! colspan="2" |partitive
|-
|[[Spanish language|Spanish]]
|
|''¡Voy!''
|
|''Tengo cuatro.''
|-
|[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
|
|''Vou!''
|
|''Tenho quatro.''
|-
|[[Galician language|Galician]]
|
|''Vou!''
|
|''Teño catro.''
|-
|[[Romanian language|Romanian]]
|
|''Mă duc!''
|
|''Am patru.''
|-
|[[Catalan language|Catalan]] 
|'''''Hi''''' 
|''vaig!''
|'''''En'''''
|''tinc quatre.''
|-
|[[French language|French]]
|''J'<nowiki/>'''y''''' 
|''vais !''
|''J'<nowiki/>'''en'''''
|''ai quatre.''
|-
|[[Occitan language|Occitan]]
|'''''I''''' 
|''vau!''
|'''''N'<nowiki/>'''''
|''ai quatre.''
|-
|[[Italian language|Italian]]
|'''''Ci'''''
|''vado!''
|'''''Ne'''''
|''ho quattro.''
|-
|
| colspan="2" |'I'm going ['''there''']!'
| colspan="2" |'I have four ('''of them''').'
|}
[[Image:EuropeProDropLanguages.png|thumb|300px|Languages in Europe {{legend|darkblue|Non-pro-drop languages}} {{legend|blue|Pro-drop being displaced by a non-pro-drop language}}]]