Application of Chomsky’s X-Bar Theory to Pakistani Languages: A Syntactic Analysis of Urdu and Pashto with Reference to English

Abstract

The present study attempts to explore the applicability of Chomsky’s X-Bar theory, a key component of Universal Grammar, to the syntactic structures of two major Pakistani languages, Urdu and Pashto. While X-Bar theory proposes that all human languages share a common phrase structure, the linguistic diversity of non-European languages like Urdu and Pashto raises questions about its universality. Using comparative syntactic analysis as a research method, the current paper identifies the extent to which Urdu and Pashto conform to, or deviate from, the principles of X-Bar theory. The findings reveal that while certain syntactic structures in Urdu and Pashto align with the X-Bar framework, several unique and unusual features such as such as the use of post-nominal modifiers in Urdu and the use of unusual category of circumpositional phrase (CircumpP) with two Heads in Pashto, challenge its assumptions. The study concludes that the X-Bar model does require adaptation, modification and refinement in order to accommodate the syntactic variability and nuances of syntax such as Pashto’s CircumpP generally observed in non-European languages. These findings have broader implications for linguistic theory, multilingual education, and natural language processing systems. The SOV word order of Urdu and Pashto contrasts with the SVO assumptions of X-Bar theory and raises questions about the universality of X-Bar predictions for phrase structure. The analysis of the complex verbal morphology of Pashto verbs entails changes in the X-Bar projections. Urdu and Pashto’s tendency to right branching where the Complements are often post-head, i.e. Complements often follow the respective Head is quite unlike X-Bar theory which presupposes left branching (where the Head is followed by the Complement) poses a direct challenge to the X-Bar framework.