Kokborok and the simple-complex reflexive distinction
This paper presents an in-depth investigation of the binding strategies in Kokborok and we will look more specifically how this sheds light on the theories of reflexivization. Kokborok, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Tripura, a state in the North-East of India, has two reflexives: sak sak ‘self self’ and sak baithaŋ ‘self self’. The form sak sak ‘self self’ conforms to Principle A of classic Binding Theory, blocking long-distance binding, but this does not hold true for sak baithaŋ allowing non-local binding. It is a well-established fact that some reflexives allow non-local binding, but it is generally assumed that this phenomenon is limited to a certain type of reflexive, morpho-syntactically ‘simple reflexives.’ The so-called ‘complex reflexives’ generally bar non-local binding, and the Kokborok reflexive sak baithaŋ seems an exception to that. This paper explores the uniqueness involved in the nature of anaphoric binding in Kokborok.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Reflexives in South Asian languages
- 2.1The two types of nominal reflexives
- 2.2Distribution of simple and complex reflexives in SALs
- 3.Initial observations on the morpho-syntactic properties of Kokborok reflexives
- 3.1Kokborok reflexives
- 3.2Kokborok reflexives functioning as emphatic forms
- 3.3Summary
- 4.Binding in Kokborok
- 4.1Local binding
- 4.2Non-local binding in Kokborok
- 4.3Binding in a Bodo-Garo perspective
- 4.4An account of non-local binding in Kokborok
- 4.5Non-local binding of the complex reflexive in Kokborok
- 5.Explorations
- 5.1
sak baithaŋ
- 5.2
sak sak
- 5.3An alternative
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
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References