The development of Hebrew zero and pronominal subject realization in the context of first and second person.

The study investigates the acquisition of Hebrew zero and pronominal subjects in the
context of first and second person. We provide distributional evidence relative to verb tense,
number, person, and conversational utterance type, in a peer-talk corpus (2;0-8;0 years).
Findings show that acquisition starts early on, that verb inflectional morphology is crucial
for the development of pronominal subjects, and that communicative contexts affect subject
realization. Zero and pronominal subjects are not evenly distributed relative to the study
variables, and cannot be treated as an alternation. A cluster analysis shows that each
realization is linked to a distinguishable usage pattern, corresponding with particular
discursive and communicative functions. These are defined as three Discourse Profile
Constructions: (A) “calling for action” by 1st.Pl.Fut zero subjects (3;0 year olds);
(B) “commenting on the interlocutor’s actions” by 2nd.Sg.Past zero subjects (ages 4;0-
6;0); and (C) “planning one’s own actions” by 1st.Sg.Fut pronominal subjects (7;0-8;0 year
olds).