elliptical subject
[/ɪˈlɪptɪkəl ˈsʌbdʒɪkt/]
nounpl: elliptical subjects
sujeito elíptico
1. A grammatical subject that is omitted or implied in a sentence but understood from context, particularly common in languages with null subject parameters or in coordinate structures
In 'She arrived early and [she] left late,' the second 'she' is an elliptical subject.
Em 'Ela chegou cedo e [ela] saiu tarde,' o segundo 'ela' é um sujeito elíptico.
2. A syntactic construction where the subject is deleted because it is recoverable from the linguistic or discourse context
Portuguese allows elliptical subjects: '[Eu] Gosto de café' means 'I like coffee' with an implied first-person subject.
O português permite sujeitos elípticos: '[Eu] Gosto de café' significa 'Eu gosto de café' com o sujeito implícito.
Both Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese are pro-drop languages, meaning they naturally allow and frequently use elliptical subjects, particularly in spoken language. This is a significant linguistic feature distinguishing Portuguese from English, which typically requires explicit subjects. The term is primarily used in linguistic and grammatical discourse rather than in everyday conversation.
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