Word Order in Sanskrit and Universal GrammarThis monograph owes its existence to certain puzzles in universal grammar and the theory of language which led the author to an investigation of word order in Sanskrit and its possible analyses and descriptions. Not unexpectedly, the raw material was found to be too vast for a first-hand treatment even to be attempted. Rather surprisingly, however, its inter pretations by Indian and Western theorists and grammarians turned out to be so greatly at variance, that an analysis of these interpretations seemed rewarding. Accordingly, theoretical issues within the framework of generative grammar had to be faced anew, and alternative solutions suggested them selves. In this connexion the Sanskrit grammarians proved not only in spiring but positively helpful. This book may invite the accusation that it wilfully mixes disciplines. There were alternatives: one could try to write a history of the subject; or construct a merely formal edifice, leaving it to others to test its adequacy; or else one could make the notorious attempt to stick to the facts, which is not only unilluminating but also bound to fail. Any such self-imposed restrictions seemed to conflict with the original intent. And so it was decided not only to make available the results of the investigation into Sanskrit word order, but also to introduce a theory of universal grammar to account for these and other results. |
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Common terms and phrases
abhisambandha ācāryaḥ adopted adrākṣiḥ anaḍvāham apadāna applied arrangement of words bhagini Canedo Chomsky company-sensitive rules constituents context-sensitive rules Copula deep structure defined denotes derived sentences described discussion English example expressed Faddegon free word order Govinda grammatical relations harati Indian käraka kāraka relations karman karoti Kautsa Kielhorn kṛt Kumārila Bhaṭṭa kumbham linguistic Mahābhāṣya mantras Masc meaning Mīmāmsā Mīmāmsā philosophers N₂ Nirukta nominal compounds nominal sentences Noun noun-phrase NP NP NP VP NPOVP order in Sanskrit order of words ordered strings padapatha Pāṇini Patanjali permutations phrase Prep-Phrase quoted Rāma rāmo govindam reference regard Renou ritual sambandha samhitāpāṭha sandhi Sanskrit grammarians semantic interpretation similar specific Staal stratified sets structural linguistics surface structure sūtra symbol syntactic syntax terms of sets theory transformational rules transformationally trimmed trees universal grammar unordered upajivati utterances Vedic language Vedic ritualists Verb VP NP Western Sanskritists wild trees