Stefan Keine on Hindi/Urdu crossover asymmetries ( joint work with Rajesh Bhatt)


We investigate and analyze a crossover asymmetry in Hindi/Urdu scrambling: such scrambling is not subject to (secondary) weak crossover but at the same time shows clear (secondary) strong crossover effects. This asymmetry provides empirical evidence that the two types of crossover must be analytically decoupled from each other, and it sheds new light on the factors that condition each type. We find that weak crossover is conditioned by the landing site of movement, while strong crossover is determined by properties of the launching site. More specifically, we propose that weak crossover follows from a syntactic restriction on the placement of an operator that is required for pronominal binding from the landing site. Strong crossover, on the other hand, is determined by the amount of structure present in the launching site, which can itself be derived from Late Merge and nominal licensing along the lines developed by Takahashi & Hulsey 2009. In addition to contributing to our understanding of crossover phenomena, our argument also has implications for the A/A’-nature of scrambling (e.g., Webelhuth 1989, Mahajan 1990, Dayal 1994) and movement-type asymmetries more generally.

Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92921507388?pwd=STc2d3UxN1FMOEgxOGswR0labXFwUT09
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