Control structures in Kokborok: A case of syntactic convergence

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a descriptive study of the control structures in Kokborok, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Tripura (one of the North-Eastern states in India) and demonstrates the contact-induced changes in the phenomenon of control in Kokborok which resulted due to the long-term contact with Bangla (Indo-Aryan), a genetically different language spoken in the state. The instances of genitive subject and the phenomenon of overt controllee in the embedded subject position in Kokborok are the cases in point. The instance of overt controllee described in this paper points to the deviation from the classic concept of PRO thereby demonstrating a property unique to the study of South Asian languages.