Your task is to use the data below to answer questions about how relative clauses (RCs) are formed in Bangla. Bangla is an SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) language. The basic structure of a simple clause in Bangla is given in (7). (8) is also relevant (note that Bangla, unlike English, does not use a copula like ’is/are’ in such sentences).
(7) oi bacca-ra film-gulo dheke.
those kid-plural movie-plural watch
‘Those kids watch films.’
(8) film-gulo bhalo.
film-plural good
‘The films are good.’
Now consider the following sentences. (9) is a grammatical sentence that contains an RC. (10) is an ungrammatical sentence that cannot be used in Bangla.
(9) film-gulo je-gulo oi bacca-ra dekhe bhalo.
‘The films that the kids watch are good.’
(10) *film-gulo je-gulo oi bacca-ra film-gulo dekhe bhalo.
Based on the sentences above, answer this question:
A. Which words make up the RC in (9)?
B. Does the RC contain a relative pronoun? If so, what is it?
It is argued that in order to build a relative clauses in English, one has to move a relative pronoun/operator from a base position inside TP to the specifier of CP. Is a similar analysis required for Bangla? Consider the two following hypotheses about relative clauses in Bangla (only one of which is correct):
• Hypothesis A: RCs in Bangla require movement of an operator/relative pronoun.
• Hypothesis B: RCs in Bangla DO NOT require movement of an operator/relative pronoun.
Now answer these questions. Your answers should be complete, but succinct. Your answers should also be precise and use terminology correctly. Remember: your answers should discuss the Bangla examples (Bangla words, Bangla morphemes, Bangla word order), NOT their English translations!
C. Does Hypothesis A predict that Bangla RCs should contain a gap? Why or why not?
D. Does Hypothesis B predict that Bangla RCs should contain a gap? Why or why not?
E. Is there a gap in (9)? Describe what evidence you think that there IS for a gap, or why you think there IS NOT a gap. That is, which sentences above give evidence for a gap? What part of the sentence(s) are evidence for the gap? (HINT: You will want to consider word order in (7)).
F. (10) is ungrammatical. Does Hypothesis A predict that? Explain why or why not.
G. (10) is ungrammatical. Does Hypothesis B predict that? Explain why or why not.
H. Based on your answers above, state which hypothesis you think is correct.
The sentences below give you more information about relative clauses and sentence structure in Bangla. The following sentence is ungrammatical in Bangla:
(11) *film-gulo oi bacca-ra dekhe bhalo.
Answer this question:
I. We saw that English has zero-relatives. Does Bangla? State how the sentence in (11) tells you one way or another.
Finally, consider the sentences below. (b) gives you one extra piece of information that you didn’t know from above: Instead of prepositions, Bangla has post-positions. This means that the Bangla equivalent of words like for, with, from ... come after their complements. (13) shows you an acceptable RC. Note that instead of je, we see the word jar. (14) is an unacceptable RC. Careful: Do not rely on the English translations to figure out the structure of the Bangla sentences!
(12) a. maa-er shaathe
mom with
‘With mom.’
b. oi bacca-ra shobshomoy maa-er shaathe film dekhe.
those kid-plural always mom with film watch
‘Those kids always watch movies with mom.
(13) mohila jar sathe oi bacca-ra shobshomoy film dekhe khub shundor.
woman REL with those kids always film watch very beautiful
‘The woman that the kids always watch films with is very beautiful.’
(14) *mohila jar oi bacca-ra shobshomoy sathe film dekhe khub shundor.
woman REL those kids always with film watch very beautiful
Answer these questions with the sentences above in mind:
J. Is jar a relative pronoun (like who/which in English) or a complementizer (like that in English)? How can you tell?
K. Does Bangla allow post-position-stranding? How can you tell?
