@article {7200, title = {On the properties of null subjects in Sign Languages: the case of French Sign Language (LSF)}, journal = {The linguistic review}, year = {2022}, abstract = {

The typology of subject omission in simple declarative sentences ranges from languages

that simply do not allow it like English and French to languages that allow it as long as it

a minimum degree of topicality is guaranteed like Chinese and Japanese. In between there

are various languages in which subject omission is licensed, for example by rich agreement

like in Italian and Spanish, or by a particular set of grammatical features like first and

second person in Finnish, or tense like in Hebrew. In other languages subject omission is

only limited to expletive sentences like in German. This rich typology observed in spoken

languages is also attested across sign languages, with one important exception: there is no

known sign language disallowing subject omission categorically. The goals of this paper

are twofold: first, we apply syntactic and semantic tests to assess the boundaries of subject

omission in French Sign Language and characterize it within the typology; second, we

discuss in light of some particular aspects of grammars in the visual modality this apparent

anomaly of sign languages.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/tlr-2022-2100}, author = {Jaber, A. and Carlo Geraci and Donati; C.} }