Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq

Ministry of Higher Education and

scientific research

University of Garmian

College of Education

English Department

Empty Categories ( Null Constituents ) in English : A

Generative Account

Prepared by:
Zainab Hashim Majeed
Supervised by;
Dr. Azad Fatah
July, 2017
 Table of Contents

Abstract ………………………………………………………………………….………………………… II

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
2. Main Types of empty categories (null constituents) …………………………….. 2
2.1. DP trace as anaphors…………………………………………………………………..2
2.2. Wh-trace as r-expressions……………………………………………………………2
2.3. Pro and PRO…………………………………………………………………………………3
3. Other types of null functional constituents……………………………………………..5
4. Empty Categories Principle ECP…………………………………………………………….. 7
5. Conclusion …………………………………………………….…………….……………………..... 9
References ………………………………………..…………………………….…………..………. 10

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 Abstract
An empty category is a nominal element that does not have any phonological
content and it is unpronounced. Empty categories are also being referred to as covert
nouns, in contrast to overt nouns which are pronounced. The phenomenon was first
introduced by Noam Chomsky in 1981.

The present paper deals with the notion of empty categories (null constituents) in detail.
It aims at classifying and defining the different types of these categories so as to bring the
reader into a closer understanding of it.

In order to achieve the aims of the present study and solve its problem, a rich
introduction has presented. It includes a number of comprehensive definitions of the
empty categories. Moreover, a classification and a detailed explanation of its types are also
presented.

The conclusion reveals that empty categories are nominal elements that do not have
any phonological content and are therefore unpronounced.

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1. Introduction
An empty category (EC) refers to a nominal element that is phonetically null (or
unpronounced).

For Radford, a constituent is empty/null , when it is silent and has no overt phonetic
form. Empty categories include null subject pronoun like PRO (caseless DP) and pro
(finite clause with case), null relative pronouns (like the null counterpart of who in
someone who I know well ), null determiners (like that in ' …. John is tired', and null trace
copies of moved constituents. (Radford, 2004)

Crystal introduces the term null as an application in generative grammar of its

mathematical use with the general meaning of empty or zero, as in 'null subject' ( a
phonologically empty constituent, PRO) or 'null element'. In some models of phonology, a
null segment is one carrying a full surface specification, but behaving as if it lacks feature
values. (Crystal, 2003)

Empty categories are connected with the notion of (trace). Trace of a moved
constituent, as Radford (2004) states, is a null copy left behind (as a result of movement)
in each position out of which a constituent moves.

While trace theory is a theory which posits that moved constituents leave behind a trace
copy in each position out of which they move. (Radford, 2004)

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2. Main Types of Empty Categories (null constituents)
There are three main types of empty categories: DP-trace, Wh-trace, PRO and pro. The
types are differentiated by their two binding features: the anaphoric feature [a] and the
pronominal feature [p]. There are other types of null constituents that will be dealt with in
the next chapter.

2.1. DP-trace as anaphors

DP-trace is an empty category that appears when a DP moves out of its underlying
position. In the 1970s, it was noted that the reference of certain pronouns and
movements were connected phenomena. Consider the following example:

a) Mary likes herself.

A reflexive pronoun in object position can take the subject of its own clause as its
antecedent. In contrast to this sentence:

b) *John believes Mary likes himself.

Which shows that it is impossible for a reflexive pronoun in object position to
refer to another subject in the sentence rather than its own.

According to principle A of the Binding Theory, a reflexive pronoun should be

bound to its governing category. (Cook & Newson, 2007)

DP-trace means that if a DP cannot be matched with a verb that has the same
case feature while it is still in the underlying position, it moves in order to be able to
solve this problem. For Example:
c) [ ] seems John to be happy.

The square brackets indicate the empty category. Here the DP will move to full the
empty place leaving behind a DP-trace.

d) John seems [tDP] to be happy.

2.2. Wh-trace as r-expressions

Wh-element can be moved out of a finite clause from either the subject or the object
position. The response of the questions that begin with <wh> (e.g. who/whom, what,
when, where, why, which, and how) cannot be yes or no; they must be answered using
informative phrases. Wh-phrases undergo Wh-movement to the specifier of CP,
leaving a Wh-trace (tWH) in its original position.
e) Who did John think [t] Mary liked [t]? (Cook & Newson, 2007)

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2.3. pro (little pro) or ( null finite subject) and PRO (big pro) or (non-finite null
subject)

"Little pro" occurs in a subject position of a finite clause and it has case. The DP is
‘dropped’ from a sentence if its reference can be recovered from the context. This is
found in pro-drop languages just like Spanish. This does not happen in English because
of its impoverished subject-verb morphology.

Although, sometimes, English is assumed to have three types of null subject:

2.3.1. Imperative null subject:

An imperative sentence in English can have either a second-person subject just

like you, or a third-person subject like anyone:
f) Don’t you dare shout!

But imperative null subjects are the silent counterpart of the second person you:

g) Don’t shout!

Here, you have a null spellout when it is the subject of an imperative sentence.

2.3.2. Truncated null subject:

In some colloquial spoken and written English, a sentence can be truncated
(shortened) by giving the subject pronoun like I/you/he/we/they a null spellout when
it is the first word in the sentence. So in sentences like:
h) I can’t write the letter.
The subject pronoun can be given a null spellout because it occurs at the beginning
of the sentence:
i) Can’t write the letter.
However, not all the subject pronouns can be truncated, the rules of truncation are
unclear.

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2.3.3. non-finite null subject:
It is found in non-finite clauses which do not have an overt subject:
j) We would like [you to stay].
k) We would like [to stay].
In the first example, the non-finite clause has an overt subject, while the second one
appears to be subjectless, so it is has a null subject. In order to differentiate it from
the finite null-subject languages, it is referred to as (big pro) PRO. Its meaning can
be determined by its controller (the subject of the matrix clause) although it does not
have to be. PRO can either be controlled ("obligatory control") or uncontrolled
("optional control"). It can sometimes be bound, is sometimes co-referenced in the
sentence, and does not fit into binding theory.
Not only subjects can be null, there are other cases of null constituents that will
be introduced. Auxiliary verbs can also be null when the T constituent is repeated
twice in sentences like:
l) He could have helped her, or she have helped him.
Here, the T constituent could is abbreviated in the second clause.
Another kind of null T occurs when one word attaches itself in a leech-like
fashion to another (cliticisation). For instance, when have is unstressed, it can lose
its initial h and the vowel will turn to be schwa:
m) You’ve done your duty.
(Radford, 2004)

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3. Other types of null functional constituents
Null determiners and null complementizers are empty categories that are the result of
more recent research. Not only DPs can be empty; functional categories can be empty as
well. Both types are positions which end up being unpronounced at the surface level but
are not included in the anaphoric and pronominal features chart that accounts for other
types of empty categories. (Haegeman, 1994)
3.1.Null Determiners
It happens when the Theta assignment of a verb only allows only a DP as a
phrase category in the sentence (with no option for an NP). Proper nouns and
pronouns cannot be attached by a determiner, though determiner is still part of the
DP phrase as Chomsky stated in 1965. In this case, one needs to include a null
category to indicate the D of the phrase as its head. Since a DP phrase has a
determiner as its head, but one can end up with NPs that are not preceded by an
overt determiner, a null symbol is used to represent the null determiner at the
beginning of the DP.

n) [DPØ John]

Null determiners have specific grammatical, selectional and semantic properties of

their own.

- One of them is that null determiners carry person properties. They carry the
notion of third person.
o) Mike love himself more than usual.

So it takes a third-person reflexive pronoun.

- The other property of null determiners id selectional, it can be illustrated in the

following example:
p) I read poems
I read poetry
*I read poem

- Null determiners have the semantic property of being generic or partitive

quantifier so that bare nominal are interpreted as generic or partitive
expressions.

q) Eggs are fattening.

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3.2.Null Complementizers

Complementisers are omitted mainly in yes-or-no questions which involve

subject-auxiliary inversion. The null stands in the place where the auxiliary (will,
did, etc.) would have to be transferred to in order to ask a question.

q) He thinks (that) the man was rude.

He thinks Ø the man was rude.
(Radford, 2004)

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4. Empty Category principle (ECP)
It was proposed in Noam Chomsky's syntactic framework of government and
binding theory. The ECP is supposed to be a universal syntactic constraint that requires
certain types of empty categories, namely traces, to be properly governed. (Cook &
Newson, 2007)
According to ECP, traces should be visible, they must be identifiable similar to
deletion. In government and binding theory it is known as proper government. Proper
government occurs either if the empty position is governed by a lexical category
(especially if it is not a subject) (theta-government) or if it is co-indexed with a
maximal projection which governs it (antecedent-government). The ECP has been
revised many times and is now a central part of government and binding theory. (Cook
& Newson, 2007)
In spite of its name, the ECP applies to only two types of empty category. Formally
the ECP states that:

-Traces must be properly governed:

A governs B if and only if:

-A is a governor;

-A m-commands B;

-no barrier intervenes between A and B;

-minimality is respected.

Where governors are: heads and co-indexed XPs. (Haegeman, 1994)

Well-known examples of ECP-violations are extractions of an adjunct out of an island,

as in (r) (containing a wh-island) and configurations displaying the that-trace effect in
English, as in (s). In both cases, the trace cannot be properly antecedent-governed because
of the intervention of a barrier.

r) *Howi did John ask [ whether Bill fixed the car ti ]

s) *Whoi does John believe [ that ti will fix the car ]

In the case of object extraction (the trace is a complement of VP), theta-government

is the only possible option. In the case of subject extraction (the trace in Spec-IP),
antecedent-government is the only possible option.

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 If the trace is in Spec-IP and we have an overt complementizer (such as that), the
sentence is ungrammatical because the ECP is violated. The closest potential governor
would be the complementizer, which cannot antecedent-govern the trace because it is not
co-indexed with it (and theta-government is impossible since trace is in Spec-IP).

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5. Conclusion

After giving a full description of empty categories and classifying its different types,
we conclude that empty categories are nominal elements that do not have any
phonological content and are therefore unpronounced. Empty categories may also be
referred to as covert nouns, in contrast to overt nouns which are pronounced. The
phenomenon was named by Noam Chomsky in his 1981 LGB framework. Some empty
categories are governed by the empty category principle. When representing empty
categories in trees, linguists use a null symbol to depict the idea that there is a mental
category at the level being represented, even if the word(s) are being left out of overt
speech.
There are four main types of empty categories: NP-trace, Wh-trace, PRO and pro.
The types are differentiated by their two binding features: the anaphoric feature [a]
and the pronominal feature [p]. The four possible combinations of plus or minus
values for these features yield the four types of empty categories. Empty categories
are present in most of the world's languages, although different languages allow for
different categories to be empty.
There are other types of empty categories that are being discovered recently like
null determiners and null complementizers.

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 References

Cook, V. J., & Newson, M. (2007). Chomsky's Universal Grammar: an Introduction. USA:
.Blackwell

.Crystal, D. (2003). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. USA: Blackwell

Haegeman, L. (1994). Introduction to Government & Binding Theory (Second ed.). USA:
.Blachwell

. Poole, G. (2011). Syntactic Theory (Vol. 2). UK: Palgrave Macmillan

.Radford, A. (2004). English Syntax an introduction. UK: university press, Cambridge

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