Verb Movement and the Syntax of Kashmiri

This book investigates the phenomenon of verb-second in a language outside the Germanic family, a relatively unknown and unanalyzed Indo-Aryan language called Kashmiri. Kashmiri is unique in that it exhibits both the German/Dutch type of verb-second as well as the Yiddish/Icelandic type. The comparative theoretical treatment adopted in this book serves three functions. First, it provides an opportunity to examine and ascertain the limitations of the current models of verb-second grammar in light of new, typologically different data. Second, it presents a parametric account of verb-second and explores its consequences for a general theory of verb movement, mainly in terms of triggers, landing sites, and clause structure. Third, it proposes a theory of Case and Checking that locates the structural positions where grammatical functions are licensed in verb-second clause-structure. The discussions also include a comprehensive account of most of the central and crucial syntactic processes of Kashmiri.