I read an article named "Source language influence without the effect of ‘shining through’: over-representation of generic person reference in translation" this morning, and was confused by an item: "pro drop language". Thanks owe to the wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pro-drop_language#Chinese

A pro-drop language (from "pronoun-dropping") is a language in which certain classes of pronouns may be omitted when they are in some sense pragmatically inferable (the precise conditions vary from language to language, and can be quite intricate). The phenomenon of "pronoun-dropping" is also commonly referred to in linguistics as zero or null anaphora.

In everyday speech there are often instances when who or what is being referred to can be inferred from context. Proponents of the term "pro-drop" take the view that pronouns which in other languages would have those referents can be omitted, or be phonologically null. Among major languages, one which might be called a pro-drop language is Japanese (featuring pronoun deletion not only for subjects, but for practically all grammatical contexts). Chinese, Slavic languages, and American Sign Language also exhibit frequent pro-drop features.

Some languages might be considered only partially pro-drop in that they allow deletion of the subject pronoun. These null subject languages include most Romance languages, with French being the most notable exception, as well as all the Balto-Slavic languages and to a limited extent Icelandic.

Examples
Japanese

Consider the following examples from Japanese:

このケーキは美味しい。誰が焼いたの？
Kono kēki wa oishii. Dare ga yaita no?
This cake TOPIC tasty-PRESENT. Who SUBJECT bake-PAST EXPLAIN.?
"This cake is tasty. Who baked it?

" 知らない。気に入った？
Shiranai. Ki ni itta?
know-NEGATIVE. like-PAST?
"I don't know. Do you like it?"

The pronouns in bold in the English translations (it in the first line, I, you, and it in the second) appear nowhere in the Japanese sentences, but are understood from context. If nouns or pronouns were supplied, the resulting sentences would be grammatically correct but unnatural. (Learners of Japanese as a second language, especially those whose first language is non-pro-drop like English or French, often make the mistake of supplying personal pronouns where pragmatically inferable. This is an example of language transfer.)

Chinese

The above-mentioned examples from Japanese are readily rendered into Chinese:

这块蛋糕很美味。是谁烤的?
zhè kuài dàn gāo hĕn mĕi wèi. shì shéi kăo de?
This piece cake very beautiful taste. Is who bake?
"This cake is very tasty. Who baked it?"
不知道。喜欢吗?
bù zhī dào. xĭ huān ma?
Not know. like [QUESTION MARKER]?
"I don't know. Do you like it?"


English

English is considered a non-pro-drop language. Nonetheless, subject pronouns are almost always dropped in commands (e.g., Come here); and in informal speech, pronouns and other words, especially copulas and auxiliaries, may sometimes be dropped, especially from the beginnings of sentences:

• [Have] you ever been there? or [Have you] ever been there?
• [I'm] going to the store. [[Do] you] want to come [with [me]]?
• Seen on signs: [I am/We are] out to lunch; [I/we will be] back at 1:00 [P.M.]
• What do you think [of it]? – I like [it]! (only in some dialects)

Relative pronouns are often dropped from restrictive clauses:

• The person [whom] I saw was older.

In speech, when pronouns are not completely dropped, they are more often elided than other words in an utterance.

Note that these elisions are generally restricted to very informal speech and certain fixed expressions, and the rules for their use are complex and vary among dialects.

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