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Dive into the research topics where Fernanda Pratas is active.

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Featured researches published by Fernanda Pratas.


Journal of Linguistics | 2013

Embedded null subjects in Capeverdean 1

João Costa; Fernanda Pratas

The status of Capeverdean as a pro-drop language is controversial. Baptista (2002) contends that this Portuguese-based creole has null referential subjects with some types of predicates, while Pratas (2002, 2007) proposes that it has only expletive null subjects. She argues that the rare cases of root null subjects can be analyzed as instances of null expletives. The aim of this paper is to show that in Capeverdean there is an asymmetry in the distribution of null referential subjects. These are ruled out in root contexts, but allowed in some embedded contexts; this is the case when the null subject is bound by a wh-operator or a quantifier. Following Holmbergs (2005) and Holmberg, Nayudu & Sheehans (2009) analysis of null subjects, we offer an analysis of Capeverdean null subjects exploring the properties of T in the language (in particular, the lack of a rich inflectional system), the syntax of subjects, and the type of null category available. We claim that Capeverdean embedded null subjects are variables, licensed by an operator in the matrix clause. We show that these specific properties explain minimal differences between null subjects in Capeverdean and Brazilian Portuguese.


Probus | 2016

Clitic production by Portuguese and Capeverdean children: omission in bilingualism

João Costa; Maria Lobo; Fernanda Pratas

Abstract Omission of clitics is often considered a critical marker of language development in children. For this reason, clitic omission in language development has been studied crosslinguistically. Results on clitic production reveal that languages differ with respect to the rates at which clitics are omitted by children, as well as on the duration of the clitic omission stages. This paper compares clitic omission by monolingual and bilingual children acquiring European Portuguese – a language with both clitics and null objects – and Capeverdean Creole – a language with clitics in which null objects are ruled out. We show that omission is only found in monolingual Portuguese, and in bilingual Capeverdean. These results confirm earlier findings on the precocious sensitivity to the availability of null objects, and signal object drop as a critical distinguishing factor for differentiating bilinguals and monolinguals.


Archive | 2007

Tense features and argument structure in Capeverdean predicates

Fernanda Pratas; João Costa; Michel DeGraff; Clara Nunes Correia; Maria Lobo; Ana Madeira; Maria Francisca Xavier


Archive | 2008

States and temporal interpretation in Capeverdean

Fernanda Pratas


Archive | 2012

VP Ellipsis: New evidence from Capeverdean*

João Costa; Ana Maria Martins; Fernanda Pratas


Archive | 2012

‘I know the answer’: A Perfect State in Capeverdean*

Fernanda Pratas


Archive | 2007

6. Reflexivity in Capeverdean: Predicate properties and sentence structure

Maria Alexandra Fiéis; Fernanda Pratas


Archive | 2007

INTRODUCTION TO THE ACQUISITION OF FINITENESS IN CAPEVERDEAN

Fernanda Pratas; Nina Hyams


Archive | 2015

Null Subjects in Monolingual and Bilingual, Typical and Atypical Development: an exploratory study

João Costa; Fernanda Pratas


Natural Language and Linguistic Theory | 2014

The Perfective, the Progressive and the (dis)closure of situations: comment on the paper by María J. Arche

Fernanda Pratas

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João Costa

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

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Maria Lobo

Universidade Nova de Lisboa

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Nina Hyams

University of California

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