Verb Movement And The Syntax Of Kashmiri (studies In Natural Language And Linguistic Theory)

This book investigates the phenomenon of verb-second in a language outside the Germanic family, a relatively unknown and unanalyzed Indo-Aryan language called Kashmiri. Kashmiri is unique in that it exhibits both the German/Dutch type of verb-second as well as the Yiddish/Icelandic type. The comparative theoretical treatment adopted in this book serves three functions. First, it provides an opportunity to examine and ascertain the limitations of the current models of verb-second grammar in light of new, typologically different data. Second, it presents a parametric account of verb-second and explores its consequences for a general theory of verb movement, mainly in terms of triggers, landing sites, and clause structure. Third, it proposes a theory of Case and Checking that locates the structural positions where grammatical functions are licensed in verb-second clause-structure. The discussions also include a comprehensive account of most of the central and crucial syntactic processes of Kashmiri. 3. 1 Kashmiri is not'non-Configurational'45 3. 1. 1 Agreement 51 3. 1. 2 Binding Theory 52 3. 1. 3 Distribution of PRO 56 3. 1. 4 Additional Evidence 57 3. 1. 4. 1 Weak Crossover (WCO) 57 3. 1. 4. 2 Constituent Fronting 60 3. 1. 4. 3 Superiority-Like Effects 62 3. 2 Word Order Constraints: Kashmiri Phrase Structure 64 3. 2. 1 N-complements 65 3. 2. 2 Postpositions 67 3. 2. 3 Adjectives 67 3. 2. 4 The Structure ofVP 68 3. 3. The Functional Projections 71 3. 4 Complement ki clauses 74 3. 5 Summary 79 4 Verb-Second (V2) Phenomena 80 4. 0 Introduction 80 4. 1 Kashmiri Vo rfe ld 84 4. 1. 1 V2 Clauses 85 4. 1. 1. 1 Main Clauses 85 4. 1. 1. 2 ki-Clauses 98 4. 1. 2 V3 Clauses 102 4. 1. 2. 1 Declarative Clauses 102 4. 1. 2. 2 Interrogative Clauses 107 4. 2 Some Exceptional Orders 116 vm 4. 2. 1 VI Order 116 4. 2. 1. 1 Declaratives 116 4. 2. 1. 2 Yes/No Questions 120 V-Final Order 4. 2. 2 121 4. 2. 2. 1 Relative Clauses and Adverbial Clauses 121 4. 2. 2. 2 Nonfinite Clauses 126 4. 3 Summary 129 5 Motivating Verb Movement 131 5. 0 Introduction 131 5. 1 The'Standard'Account 131 5. 2 Yiddish and Icelandic 136 5. 2. 1 Diesing (1990) 138 5. 2. 2 Weerman (1989) 141 5. 2. 3 Vikner (1991) 146 5.