A particular coordination structure of Indo-European flavour

Abstract

The article aims to account for the various, often unexpected positions of the conjunction in coordinated constructions of ancient Indo-European languages, among them Hittite, Ancient Greek, Latin and Vedic Sanskrit. The coordination possibilities of ancient Indo-European languages are derived from the binary branching hypotheses of Universal Grammar, with the result that not only seemingly idiosyncratic facts of a number of languages receive a principled explanation, but also a speculative hypothesis of Universal Grammar receives empirical support; ancient Indo-European languages realize possibilities that are derivable from the Munn-Kayne theory but have not been attested so far.