Zero or null anaphora is another name for what phenomenon?

Zero or null anaphora is another name for what phenomenon?

• A. Pronoun-dropping
• B. Ellipsis
• C. Coreference
• D. Cataphora

Answer: (A)

Zero or null anaphora is about pronoun dropping: the pronoun is left out because the referent is recoverable from context or from the verb form itself. In languages with rich verb conjugations, the subject is indicated by the ending, so you can say just “hablo” in Spanish and know the speaker without saying “yo.” That omission of the pronoun is pronoun dropping.

Coreference would involve linking two expressions that refer to the same entity, which is a relationship, not the omission itself. Cataphora is a forward reference to a later expression, not an omitted pronoun. Ellipsis is a broader term for omitting material that can be recovered, but zero anaphora specifically concerns the missing pronoun and its recoverable reference, making pronoun dropping the best fit.