Getting the Identical Infinitives Filter in Bangla Under Control

Abstract

If structure A

• (A)

[…[…V₁ te] V₂ te], where V is a Verb and te is the infinitival ending, had been ill-formed in Bangla for all values of V, then it would become yet another double-item filter in the series launched by Doubl-Ing half a century ago, and there would be nothing to say. However, structure A is ill-formed only when V₁ = V₂. Thus, (1) is fine, but (2) is out, a contrast here described as the identical infinitives filter: Is the identical infinitives filter a processing effect along the lines of the ban on excessive center embedding? Or does it reflect principles of grammar? Bearing in view the fact that the template Vte Vte in Bangla, where the two verbs are identical, is the canonical form of the progressive adverbial participle, this study tries to situate the phenomenon on the map of familiar processes in grammar and in psycholinguistics.

This research was supported by the Indian Statistical Institute under the “biaxial syntax of inflected clauses in Assamese and Bangla” project. The help received from Gitanjali Bez mentioned in the text is to be understood in the context of this project. Input from an anonymous reviewer, from audiences at the University of Hyderabad and at Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland), and from Priyanka Biswas, Dustin Chaco, Noam Chomsky, and Devarati Jana is gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimers apply.