Die Schnittstelle Syntax — Pragmatik: Subjektauslassungen bei bilingual deutsch-französisch aufwachsenden Kindern

Summary

Research in bilingual first language acquisition has shown that the two languages influence each other. One condition for cross-linguistic influence requires that the grammatical phenomenon in question be situated at the interface between two modules of grammar, the syntax-pragmatics interface in particular. One grammatical domain, which has been discussed extensively within syntactic theory, is the null-subject property of languages like Italian. The null-subject property is regulated in the syntactic component of grammar and the presence/absence of overt subjects is further restricted by discourse-pragmatic factors. French and German, although considered as non-null-subject-languages, both display a certain amount of null subjects. We will show that the presence/absence of overt subjects is not further restricted by pragmatics in these languages, contrary to Italian. Our prediction for bilingual first language acquisition is that we will find evidence for cross-linguistic influence in Italian-German, but not in French-German children. This prediction is borne out by the data. Our general conclusion is that only if syntax and pragmatics interact in such a way that pragmatics further restricts an option already made available by the syntactic component will cross-linguistic influence occur.