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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Sujeewa Hettiarachchi
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This paper provides an analysis of local object scrambling that generates the Object (O), Subject (S), and Verb (V) word order in Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan isolate spoken in Sri Lanka. Even though it has been generally assumed in limited generative literature on Sinhala that its OSV word order is derived through constituent scrambling, no prior study has systematically investigated the nature of the operation responsible for its derivation. This study reveals that local object scrambling (OSV) in Sinhala results from the syntactic merge, and it is uniformly an A-bar movement operation. The evidence comes from binding, reconstruction and parasitic gaps, the diagnostics standard in generative syntactic literature on scrambling. The analysis has implications for a generative theory on scrambling, a phenomenon that has remained a problem for the Minimalist Syntactic approach.
Author(s): Hettiarachchi S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies
Year: 2022
Volume: 9
Issue: 2
Pages: 20-33
Online publication date: 15/07/2022
Acceptance date: 18/06/2022
ISSN (electronic): 2362-079X
Publisher: Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
URL: http://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/ijms/article/view/6064