Why-questions in L2 Acquisition

Abstract

It has been observed that children learning English as their Ll or 12 apply subject-auxiliary inversion or do insertion (S-Aux inversion) gradually in wh-questions beginning with argumental wh-questions and spreading to adjunct wh-questions. The application of S-Aux inversion was found to appear last in why-questions. This paper attempts to account for the delayed S-Aux inversion in why-questions. The analysis will show that morphological characteristics of why are responsible for the late S-Aux inversion found in developing grammars of English as an L1 and L2.