Wh-Scoping in Syntactic Wh-Fronting Languages

Abstract

This paper examines various types of syntactic wh-fronting languages in order to offer a non-derivational account of wh-scoping in these languages. While English is commonly regarded as a typical wh-fronting language, it also exhibits an in-situ type of non-reprise wh-questions, which we analyze as a subtype of interrogative clause that does not involve an unmotivated unary branching structure. The subtype in-situ-wh-int-cl that we posit for English is also useful for the account of in-situ questions in 'optional wh-fronting languages' like French and Iraqi Arabic. While both fronting and in-situ patterns are available in these languages, they exhibit different restrictions on in-situ wh-question formation. This paper discusses what constraints are responsible for the language-particular differences on the distributions of in-situ wh-phrases. It also provides a comparison with the wh-scoping patterns in multiple wh-fronting languages, with the discussion of some typological implications.