Until fairly recently, word order variation was assigned to factors such as, \u27taste\u27, \u27idiolect\u27, and \u27style\u27 (Ross 1967: 44). The present study is an attempt to show that the use of word order in Hindi, a flexible word order language, is more than this. Word order variation can essentially perform the same functions as movement transformations. The two are similar in their function and operation in that they allow rearrangement of elements or constituents, and indicate semantic and pragmatic differences. So far, very little has been done in linguistics on the subject of word order in Hindi. I have shown that this is a much larger subject than might be supposed. An adequate grammar of Hindi ought to take this subject into account. In this study, I have touched upon the following areas of word order: basic word order, syntactic restrictions, and discourse functions of varying orders. Chapter 1, an introduction to the present study, argues that word order variation in flexible word order languages like Hindi is similar to movement transformations in languages with less flexible word orders. In chapter 2, I deal with the issue of basic word order in general theory and in Hindi. With the help of a few tests I support the general hypothesis that the basic word order in Hindi is SOV. In chapter 3, I look at the syntactic restrictions on the movement of elements or constituents in simple and complex sentences. I show that there are very few constraints on the movement of major constituents but that there are severe constraints on the movement of elements or constituents when they move into other constituents or phrases. In chapter 4, I focus on one particular movement, Topicalization. I show that in Hindi, a formal constraint cannot explain all the data concerning topicalization but that these can be explained with the functional notion \u27topicality\u27. In chapter 5, I demonstrate that difference in Hindi word order mainly serve to achieve different discourse functions, including suspense, emphasis, de-emphasis, and announcement of topic. The use of word order variation for expressing grammatical relations and semantic reasons is limited. The sixth and last chapter contains a summary and conclusions of the present study
