SUBJECT ELLIPSIS IN EARLY CHILD LANGUAGE

Abstract This paper aims to discuss whether parametric analyses can account for missing subjects in child English. I review previous parametric analyses of missing subjects and present a new learning model built upon a more recent version of the Null Subject Parameter (Holmberg, 2010a). Parametric analyses of the phenomenon have the advantage of giving a simple answer to why children omit subjects and how they reach an adult grammar: the problem is reduced to a matter of parameter missetting and resetting. However, early parametric analyses of missing subjects (Hyams, 1986, 1991) were challeng...