K. V. Subbarao

Bound pronominals in Marathi, Telugu and Mizo

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to show that the inherent feature classification of nominals suggested in Chomsky (1981) is inadequate to capture cross-linguistic similarities between Marathi a:pan, Dravidian ta:n and Mizo ama:h. We shall show that they are not anaphors as they are not bound in the core local domain and they allow split antecedents. In view of their occurrence in the quantified and interrogative antecedent contexts and their inability to be coindexed freely, we argue that they are not regular pronouns. We propose that they be analysed as bound pronouns and point out that the binding conditions be stated differently. The fact that these bound pronominals, when used in the forbidden local domain, require reduplication or another anaphor or the presence of a verbal reflexive, provide further support to our claim that these be treated as bound pronominals.