INVITED SPEAKERS

Backward Control

Karumuri V. Subbarao

University of Delhi

Backward control is a phenomenon that has hitherto gone unnoticed in the study of the syntax of South Asian languages in particular and several languages in general. This phenomenon explains several case alternations in language. It also provides a clue as to why a specific construction is not permitted in a language while it is in another. We show that the finite nature of the embedded verb plays a crucial role in permitting backward control. Backward control is a parametric choice that UG permits as an alternate structure or as the only structure in some specific cases. Evidence from South Asian languages is presented in the paper.