The Nonuniform Syntax of Postverbal Elements in SOV Languages: Hindi, Bangla, and the Rightward Scrambling Debate

Abstract

Much debate in recent years has focused on whether postverbal elements (PVEs) in SOV Hindi are derived via leftward movement compatible with the Linear Correspondence Axiom ( Mahajan 1997a , b , 2003 ) or whether they must be assumed to result from some kind of rightward non-antisymmetric movement ( Bhatt and Dayal 2007 , Manetta 2012 ). A second phenomenon, scope restrictions on wh-in- situ elements in postverbal CPs, is often linked to the syntactic analysis of PVEs. Comparing Hindi with Bangla, this article shows that PVEs in Indic languages are not derived in a uniform way and that the wh-scope restriction needs to be considered independently of the syntax of nonclausal PVEs.