Unique focus: languages without multiple wh-questions

by Stoyanova, Marina

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Title Statements

Full title :Unique focus : languages without multiple wh-questions / Marina Stoyanova.

Summary

"This monograph focuses on an interesting typological property shared by four languages: the ungrammaticality of multiple wh-questions in Irish, Berber, Italian, and Somali. It contains a broad discussion of data related to the grammar of wh-questions, a comparative analysis of wh-constructions in the four languages, and a theoretical account for the observed phenomenon. The analysis is based on the minimalist syntax theory as developed by Chomsky since 1995. It takes up the standard assumption that wh-phrases are typical representatives of elements bearing new information, in theoretical terms referred to as information focus. Most importantly, in the languages without multiple wh-questions the information focus is licensed in a unique syntactic position. The basic claim is that languages with unique focus are languages without multiple who-questions. The analysis makes possible the classification of the languages without multiple wh-questions into the crosslinguistic typology of wh-constructions. Furthermore, this book is a contribution to the better understanding of information structure in natural languages, especially of focusing phenomena."--BOOK JACKET.

Edition Statements

Publication Date:©2008.

Publication Statements

Publisher(s):John Benjamins Pub. Co
Place of Publication:Amsterdam
Language:eng
Publication Date:©2008.

The Physical Object

Description:vii, 184 pages : : illustrations ; : 25 cm.

Edition Identifiers

ISBN:9789027255068, 9027255067
oclc:ocn191809551
LC Classification:P299.I57
Dewey Decimal:415

Machine derived contents note: v -- Table Of Contents -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS viii -- ABBREVIATIONS ix -- CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 -- 1.1 The Central Problem: The Languages without Multiple -- Wh-Questions 1 -- 1.2 Chapter Outline 6 -- 1.3 Theoretical Preliminaries 6 -- 1.3.1 The Framework 6 -- 1.3.2 The Theory of Multiple Wh-Questions 7 -- 1.3.3 The Theory of Focus 11 -- CHAPTER 2 Previous Analyses of the Ungrammaticality of Multiple -- Wh-Questions 15 -- 2.1 The Condition on COMP Adjunction 15 -- 2.2 Wh-Questions as Instances of Unique Information Focus 22 -- 2.3 Wh-Questions in a Clitic Polysynthetic Language 29 -- CHAPTER 3 The Overview: What is Possible in Which Language? 33 -- 3.1 Italian 33 -- 3.1.1 Wh-questions and Focus Constructions 33 -- 3.1.1.1 Wh-Questions and Contrastive Focus 34 -- 3.1.1.2 Wh-Questions and Information Focus 36 -- 3.1.1.3 How many Focus and Wh-Positions? 39 -- 3.1.1.4 Towards a Unification of Focus 43 -- 3.1.1.5 The Syntax of Main and Embedded Focus and -- Wh-Constructions 50 -- 3.1.1.6 Ideolectal Variation and Multiple Wh-Questions 53 -- 3.1.2 Defining the Structural Properties of the Wh-Position 55 -- 3.1.2.1 The Finite Verb in Wh-questions and -- Focu…