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10 - Interrogative and Wh-question Constructions

Jong-Bok Kim
Affiliation:
Kyung Hee University, Seoul
Laura A. Michaelis
Affiliation:
University of Colorado Boulder
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the syntax of wh-question patterns that have been referred to as long-distance or unbounded dependency constructions. Starting with core dependency properties of wh-constructions, this chapter reviews the main problems that movement approaches encounter when attempting to represent the link between the filler wh-phrase and its corresponding gap. It develops a declarative, feature-based analysis to capture the linkage between the filler and the gap, while resolving problems originating from movement analyses. The key mechanisms of analysis are the ARC (Argument Realization Constraint), which allows any argument to be realized as a GAP element, the HEAD-FILLER CONSTRUCTION, which licenses the combination of a filler and an incomplete sentence with a nonempty GAP value, and the NIP (Nonlocal Inheritance Principle), which regulates nonlocal features like GAP in relevant mother phrases. The interplay of these construction-based mechanisms allows us to license a wide variety of wh-constructions: main-clause nonsubject wh-questions, subject wh-questions, wh-indirect questions, non-wh indirect questions, infinitival indirect questions, and even adjunct wh-questions.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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