This paper analyzes the syntactic derivation of so-called ‘wh-doubling’, a single-constituent question-formation strategy that features the overt occurrence of two wh-phrases (e.g. kuza fa la ku’zε (lit.) ‘what does she do what?’) in North Italo-Romance. We argue that the wh-phrases involved in the construction are best treated as being generated independently by External Merge (EM), rather than being bona fide syntactic copies constructed by Internal Merge (IM). This raises the theoretical issue why IM to scope position cannot take place in wh-doubling, despite IM being more economical than EM. We propose that the wh-element merged in argumental position undergoes partial movement to the edge of the v-phase, where it becomes ‘frozen’ upon entering into a Focus configuration. This makes the derivation of wh-doubling identical to the derivation of wh-in situ up to the v-phase as recently proposed for different wh-in situ languages. The derivation of wh-doubling then proceeds by EM of an additional wh-phrase that gives phonological content to the scope Q position in the left periphery. The single-constituent reading is obtained at Conceptual-Intentional (C-I) via the operation FormCopy (FC), which connects the independently generated wh-elements in the syntactic workspace. We moreover discuss issues pertaining to parametric variation.

Partial Wh-Movement in North Italo-Romance and the FormCopy Analysis of Wh-Doubling / Giuseppe Rugna; Maria Rita Manzini. - In: QUADERNI DI LINGUISTICA E STUDI ORIENTALI. - ISSN 2421-7220. - ELETTRONICO. - 9:(2023), pp. 161-176.

Partial Wh-Movement in North Italo-Romance and the FormCopy Analysis of Wh-Doubling

Giuseppe Rugna;Maria Rita Manzini
2023

Abstract

This paper analyzes the syntactic derivation of so-called ‘wh-doubling’, a single-constituent question-formation strategy that features the overt occurrence of two wh-phrases (e.g. kuza fa la ku’zε (lit.) ‘what does she do what?’) in North Italo-Romance. We argue that the wh-phrases involved in the construction are best treated as being generated independently by External Merge (EM), rather than being bona fide syntactic copies constructed by Internal Merge (IM). This raises the theoretical issue why IM to scope position cannot take place in wh-doubling, despite IM being more economical than EM. We propose that the wh-element merged in argumental position undergoes partial movement to the edge of the v-phase, where it becomes ‘frozen’ upon entering into a Focus configuration. This makes the derivation of wh-doubling identical to the derivation of wh-in situ up to the v-phase as recently proposed for different wh-in situ languages. The derivation of wh-doubling then proceeds by EM of an additional wh-phrase that gives phonological content to the scope Q position in the left periphery. The single-constituent reading is obtained at Conceptual-Intentional (C-I) via the operation FormCopy (FC), which connects the independently generated wh-elements in the syntactic workspace. We moreover discuss issues pertaining to parametric variation.
2023
9
161
176
Giuseppe Rugna; Maria Rita Manzini
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
10_Rugna_Manzini_seconda_bozza (2).pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Pdf editoriale (Version of record)
Licenza: Open Access
Dimensione 404.6 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
404.6 kB Adobe PDF

I documenti in FLORE sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/1347814
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact