NULL-SUBJECT PARAMETER IN ENGLISH AND PASHTO: A CROSS-LINGUISTIC SYNTACTIC STUDY

Abstract

The paper explores whether Pashto qualifies as a null-subject (pro-drop) language within the framework of Universal Grammar (UG) Specifically, it examines the operation of the null-subject parameter in Pashto and compared it with English, where subject pronouns must be overtly expressed. The study applies qualitative research design. The data sample consisted of naturally occurring conversations collected from everyday discourse in contexts including family discussions, school interactions, and workplace exchanges within Pashtun society. The study uses these contexts to ensure authentic language use and to capture a broad range of syntactic environments. The analysis employes principles and parameters theory as the guiding framework, focusing on syntactic structures in finite clauses. The examples in the study examines to determine whether subject pronouns could be omitted without loss of clarity or grammaticality. The study finding shows that Pashto consistently allows the omission of subject pronouns in finite clauses, demonstrating pro-drop behavior enabled by its rich agreement morphology and reliance on contextual cues. In contrast, English does not permit such omissions, as its verb morphology lacks sufficient agreement to identify the subject, resulting in ungrammatical sentences when subjects are omitted. These findings confirm that Pashto sets the null-subject parameter to allow pro-drop, while English does not, thereby highlighting a clear parametric difference between the two languages. The results confirm the refinement of UG parameters, with Pashto conforming as a null‑subject (pro‑drop) language through its rich agreement morphology and consistent pro‑drop behavior. Further studies may be carried out in the future to examine the limits and restrictions of pro-drop within Pashto and the way in which both the null subjects are acquired and processed within these languages.