1At long last,11a. Wh-movement(9.1-9.3)CAS LX 522Syntax IWh-questions! Wh-questions are “information-seeking”questions, involving a wh-word.! Who, what, when, where, why, HoW, which! What will they bake?! Observe that what is basically the object ofbake. And look how far away it is from bake,the thing that assigns it a !-role.! Cf also. “echo questions”: I drank WHAT?! Also, notice that T has moved to C here too(like it does in yes-no questions).[wh]! Wh-words are a little bit like pronouns,standing in for whatever category of thingwe’d like information about.! These interrogative expressions are differentfrom non-interrogative pronouns anddemonstratives.! *That will they bake.! What, where, when are differentiated fromthat, there, then in being interrogative. This isa feature of the wh-word: [wh].[wh]! A wh-word has the same category as itsnon-wh-counterpart—therefore, wh-wordscome in several different categories.! What [wh, D]! Who [wh, D, human]! When [wh, Adv, temporal]! Where [wh, Adv, locational]! How [wh, Adv, manner]! Why [wh, Adv, reason]! Which [wh, D, uN*]How are wh-questions formed?! What we have in English wh-questions is like alimited form of V2.! The analysis of wh-questions is the same:! The T head moves to C! The wh-expression moves to SpecCP! Let’s suppose that the reason/mechanismmoving T to C is the same as in yes-noquestions: We have an interrogative C, with[clause-type:Q]. When the [uclause-type:]feature of T is valued by [Q], it is strong.What will they bake?! To start out, we have a vP and TP as usual. Theonly unusual thing so far is that we have a wh-object what.VPv"T"vvVbakeTPDPtheyT[uclause-type:]<V> DPwhat[wh]<DP>vPMP<M>TMwill2What will they bake?! The complementizerC has theinformation aboutclause-type, and thisis a question. Asbefore with yes-noquestions, weassume that this Chas the feature[clause-type:Q] (or“[Q]” for short).! As with yes-noquestions, the[uclause-type:]feature of T is strongwhen valued by Q.C"C[Q]VPv"T"vvVbakeTPDPtheyT[uclause-type:]<V> DPwhat[wh]<DP>vPMP<M>TMwillWhat will they bake?! As for how whatwinds up at thebeginning of thesentence, we willtreat this essentiallylike we treatedGerman V2.! In a wh-question, Chas a [uwh*] feature.! This forces what tomove into SpecCPto check thefeature.C"C[Q, uwh*]VPv"T"vvVbakeTPDPtheyT[uclause-type:]<V> DPwhat[wh]<DP>vPMP<M>TMwillWhat will they bake?! What moves toSpecCP andchecks the [uwh*]feature of C.! T moves to checkthe (now strong)[uclause-type:Q*]feature.! (Not pictured here)C"C[Q, uwh*]CPDPwhat[wh]VPv"T"vvVbakeTPDPtheyT[uclause-type:]<V> <DP><DP>vPMP<M>TMwillInterrogative Q vs. Declarative Q! Looking at wh-questions as compared to yes-no questions, it looks as if there are two kinds ofinterrogative C:! “yes-no” C: [C, clause-type:Q]! wh-question C: [C, clause-type:Q, uwh*]! This is in fact often supposed in the syntaxliterature— and many languages seem tohave a special particle reserved for yes-noquestions (e.g., English if, Mandarin ma)! Adger notes a problem, however:Nothing in our system so far prevents us from using ayes-no C with a wh-word, predicting:! Will they bake what?Op! Accordingly, Adger proposes that there’s awh-word even in “yes-no questions”.! There are actually other reasons to think this as well,but we’ll get to them later.! That is Will they bake cookies? is actuallysomething pretty close to:Whether will they bake cookies?except with a “silent” whether, called Op.Will they bake pie?! Op appears inyes-noquestions inthe sameplace thatwh-words doin wh-questions(and weassume it hasa [wh] featureas well).! Op isprobably likea “silent”whether(wh+either).VPv"T"vvVbakeTPC"DPtheyC[Q,uwh*]Twill[uclause-type:]<V>DPpie<DP>vPCPDPOp[wh]3Summary so far! In wh-questions such as What did they bake?! What is like a pronoun, standing in for the theme.! Wh-words are differentiated by having a [wh] feature.! The structure of a wh-question is like a V2 clause:! T moves to C:! The [uclause-type:] feature of T is strong when valued as Q.! The wh-word moves to SpecCP:! The interrogative C has a strong uninterpretable [uwh*] feature.Subject wh-questions! This works nicely for all kinds of wh-questions.! What did Toby sign?! How did Toby sign the press release?! Why did Toby sign the press release?! When did Toby sign the press release?! Where did Toby sign the press release?! But subject wh-questions pose something ofa puzzle:! Who signed the press release?Who signed the press release?! If this is thestructure,what is theproblem?VPv"T"TPC"<DP>C[Q,uwh*]<T><V>DPthe pressrelease<DP>vPCPDPwho[wh]CT[past,[uclause-type:Q*]vv[uInfl:past]VsignTwo ways to go! There is a decision to make here as wemove our analysis forward to handle Whosigned the press release?.! Option one: All wh-questions work the sameway. In main clauses, T moves to C, the wh-wordmoves to SpecCP. Nice, tidy, elegant. But we needto re-evaluate PTR and do-support.! Option two: Subject wh-questions are different.PTR works the same way everywhere, T moves to Cin most wh-questions, but in subject wh-questions, T stays where it is.Option two! We’ll pursue option two. T doesn’t move insubject wh-questions. How might that work?! Why does T move to C in other questions?! [uclause-type:] on T is strong when valued as[uclause-type:Q*].! Adger’s proposal:[uclause-type:] can be valued as [wh].! Ancillary assumption[uclause-type:] can only be valued “from above”(the only wh-word that can value [uclause-type:] onT is one that c-commands T, a subject wh-word).Who signed the press release?! Merging upto T"…VPv"T"C[Q,uwh*]<V>DPthe pressreleasevPDPwho[wh]T[past,[uclause-type:]vv[uInfl:past]Vsign4Who signed the press release?! Move who toSpecTP (EPP).! Now [wh] c-commands[uclause-type:]and can value it.VPv"T"TPC[Q,uwh*]<V>DPthe pressrelease<DP>vPDPwho[wh]T[past,[uclause-type:wh]vv[uInfl:past]VsignWho signed the press release?! Now the headof T’s sister is v,so tense ispronounced onthe verb.VPv"T"TPC"<DP>C[Q,uwh*]<V>DPthe pressrelease<DP>vPCPDPwho[wh]T[past,[uclause-type:wh]vv[uInfl:past]VsignMultiple wh-questions! Although less common, it is possible to ask aquestion with more than one wh-word:! (What I want to know is:)What will Dan give to whom?! Casey knows who moved where.! Notice what happens:! [TP Dan will [vP <Dan> v+give [VP what <give> [PP to whom]]! [CP what C+will [TP Dan <will>[vP <Dan> v+give [VP <what> <give> [PP to whom]]Wh-in-situ! In English wh-questions, a wh-word moves up
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