A Descriptive Note on Malagasy Verbal Complementation and the Binding Hierarchy

With Special Reference to the Occurrence of the Complementizer fa

Abstract

'the aim of the present paper is to describe verbal complementation in Malagasy and to consider how the Malagasy data reflect the binding hierarchy proposed by Givon (1980). It will be shown that the Malagasy data provide support for the hierarchy and that the occurrence of the complementizer fa can be accounted for in terms of the strength of binding of the main-clause verb.