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« Evidentials Group / Acquisition Lab | Main | SALT 17 Acceptances»
Talk by Roland Pfau
Roland Pfau (University of Amsterdam) gave a special lecture on Wednesday, March 7. The title of the talk was 'Wh-Questions without wh-words: evidence from signed and spoken languages'. The abstract is below.
[Thanks Kyle!]
Abstract
Traditionally, wh-questions are taken to require a wh-phrase, which expresses question and focus features [wh, focus] and moves at the relevant level, i.e. syntax vs. LF, to SpecCP to check these features. This generalization appears robust and empirically motivated. In this talk, I argue against the traditional view. I will first demonstrate that wh-phrases are not necessarily focused and that some languages (spoken and signed) make a distinction between focused and non-focused wh-questions. Secondly, I claim that the occurrence of a wh-phrase is not even a necessary condition for wh- questions. Instead, questions uniformly require a left peripheral (c) overt question particle or operator in the interrogative phrase (InterP). Empirical support for this view comes from Indian Sign Language (IndSL), Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), and Wari (spoken in Brazil). I conclude that, although (i) most languages do indeed make use of wh-elements in wh- questions and (ii) wh-elements may commonly be in focus, both these characteristics are by no means a prerequisite for wh-question formation.