Unique focus : languages without multiple wh-questions
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Unique focus : languages without multiple wh-questions
（Linguistik aktuell, v. 123）
J. Benjamins, c2008
- : hb
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Note
Revision of the author's thesis--University of Frankfurt
Includes bibliographical references (p. [169]-177) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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 wh-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.
Table of Contents
- 1. Acknowledgements
- 2. Abbreviations
- 3. Chapter 1. Introduction
- 4. Chapter 2. Previous analyses of the ungrammaticality of multiple wh-questions
- 5. Chapter 3. The overview: What is possible in which language?
- 6. Chapter 4. Analysis
- 7. Chapter 5. Conclusion
- 8. Bibliography
- 9. Index
by "Nielsen BookData"
