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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Omri,</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">My WALS chapter on Expression of Pronominal Subjects contains 32 languages of a mixed type, some though not all of which seem to fit what you are looking for. From my WALS chapter (<a href="https://wals.info/chapter/101">https://wals.info/chapter/101</a>):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">The final value shown on the map is for languages which involve a mixture of the first five types. This includes languages in which </span><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">certain
types of simple clauses require a pronoun in subject position, while other types of simple clauses do not</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt">. For example, in <a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_jak" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Jakaltek</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/family/mayan" title="Mayan"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Mayan</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">; </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/country/GT" title="view languages for country"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Guatemala</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">),
third person pronouns (which code noun class) are normally obligatory, while first and second person pronouns are normally absent (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Craig-1977" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Craig
1977</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">). </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_ken" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Kenga</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (Central
Sudanic; </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/country/TD" title="view languages for country"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Chad</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">)
and </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_fin" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Finnish</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> are
similar to </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_jak" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Jakaltek</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Vandame-1968" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Vandame
1968</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">: 35; </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Sulkala-and-Karjalainen-1992" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Sulkala
and Karjalainen 1992</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">: 120, 272). </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_din" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Dinka</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/family/nilosaharan#nilotic" title="Nilotic"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Nilotic</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">; </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/country/SD" title="view languages for country"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Sudan</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">)
and </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_lmn" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Lamani</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/family/indoeuropean#indic" title="Indic"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Indic</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">)
appear to be the opposite of these languages: third person pronouns can be left out, but first and second person pronouns are normally employed (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Nebel-1948" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Nebel
1948</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">: 53; </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Trail-1970" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Trail
1970</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">). In </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_nia" title="view language details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Nias</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white"> (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/languoid/family/austronesian" title="Austronesian"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Austronesian</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">;
western </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/country/ID" title="view languages for country"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Indonesia</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">),
obligatoriness depends on whether the clause is transitive and on mood. In intransitive realis clauses, independent pronouns are normally required in subject position unless the subject is third person inanimate; in transitive clauses and in all irrealis clauses,
pronouns are not required (</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="https://wals.info/refdb/record/Brown-2001" title="view reference details"><span style="font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#782A07;background:white">Brown 2001</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica Neue";color:#333333;background:white">).
This distribution is clearly related to the fact that the language has pronominal prefixes on the verb for transitive subjects in realis clauses and for all subjects in irrealis clauses.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Matthew<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org> on behalf of Omri Amiraz via Lingtyp <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org><br>
<b>Date: </b>Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 12:38</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">PM<br>
<b>To: </b>lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org><br>
<b>Subject: </b>[Lingtyp] Partial pro-drop<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Dear colleagues,<br>
<br>
We are conducting a study on the inverse correlation between the frequency of pro-drop (omission of the subject argument) and syncretism in verbal subject-marking paradigms.<br>
<br>
We are particularly interested in partial pro-drop languages, where subject omission is restricted to certain persons or other grammatical conditions. For example, in Hebrew, pro-drop is fairly common in the past tense for first and second person, but relatively
rare for third person. This is puzzling, since the past-tense paradigm in Hebrew shows no syncretism, so it is unclear why the third-person pronoun cannot generally be omitted as well.<br>
<br>
We would greatly appreciate your input on the following points:<br>
<br>
1. Are you aware of other languages that exhibit partial pro-drop?<br>
We are currently aware of Hebrew, Finnish, Yiddish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian. This might point to an areal phenomenon, so examples from other areas would be especially valuable.<br>
<br>
2. In the languages you are familiar with, does third person indeed tend to be the least likely to allow pro-drop?<br>
If so, are you aware of any proposed explanations for this asymmetry?<br>
<br>
Many thanks in advance for your insights,<br>
Yiming and Omri<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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