This article explores the acceptability and interpretation of referential null subjects in several varieties of Spanish (both Peninsular and American varieties) in different syntactic contexts (matrix and embedded) and distinct clause types (under bridge verbs, under factive verbs, and in adverbial clauses). Based on the results of an original online survey, completed by almost 300 respondents all over the world, it is shown that, in contrast with a consistent‐pro‐drop language like Italian, some Spanish varieties exhibit partial‐pro‐drop properties; this contributes to a recent line of research dealing with partiality in consistent‐pro‐drop languages. We argue that such variation can be accounted for within an information‐structure approach, in which the Topic Criterion (Frascarelli 2007), the formation of topic chains, and the existence of silent topics play a crucial role. Degrees of partiality are attributed to an interface condition that combines information‐structure requirements with PF visibility of overt copies in topic chains. Partial‐pro‐drop properties can then be explained by reference to independent syntactic conditions, such as the preference for overt minimal links and the sensitivity to islands.

中文翻译：

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理解pro-Drop语言中的部分性：一种信息结构方法

本文探讨在不同句法语境（矩阵和嵌入式）和不同从句类型（在桥动词，在物动词和副词从句中）的几种西班牙语（半岛和美国两种）中指称空主题的可接受性和解释。基于原来的网上调查显示，几乎300受访者在世界各地完成的结果，它表明，与consistent-对比亲如意大利-drop语言，一些西班牙的品种表现出partial-亲-drop性能; 这有助于近期行研究交易的与consistent-偏袒亲语言。我们认为，这种变化可以用一种信息结构方法来解释，其中主题准则（Frascarelli 2007），主题链的形成以及无声主题的存在起着至关重要的作用。偏度归因于一种界面条件，该条件将信息结构要求与主题链中公开副本的PF可见性相结合。Partial-亲-drop属性然后可以通过参考来说明独立句法条件，如偏爱公开最小链路和岛屿的敏感性。