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The book explores Adjunct Control in Assamese, an Indo-Aryan language
spoken in North India by about 15 million people. The author works within
the Minimalist Program of syntactic theory. Adjunct Control is a relation
of co-referentiality between two subjects, one in the matrix clause and one
in the adjunct clause of the same structure. The relevant adjuncts in
Assamese are non-finite clauses commonly known as Conjunctive Participle
(CNP) clauses.
Four types of Adjunct Control are examined: (i) Forward Control, in which
only the matrix subject is pronounced; (ii) Backward Control, in which only
the subordinate subject is pronounced; (iii) Copy Control, in which both
subjects are pronounced; and (iv) Expletive Control, in which case the two
control elements are expletives. While Forward Control is a
cross-linguistically common control pattern, Assamese also allows the other
three less common structures.
The author analyzes Adjunct Control as movement and provides a detailed
account of the conditions that drive and constrain each of the four types
of control. The theoretical implications are highlighted.
The book is unique both empirically and theoretically. It is the first
monograph which deals with Assamese generative syntax. It is also the first
book to explore control structures in a single understudied language in
such detail. In addition to Assamese, the book provides data from Telugu,
Bengali, Konkani, Marathi, Tamil, and Hindi.
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