The Grammar of Q: Q-Particles, Wh-Movement, and Pied-Piping

di Seth Cable (Autore)

Oxford University Press Inc, 2010

The Grammar of Q puts forth a novel syntactic and semantic analysis of wh-questions, one that is based upon in-depth study of the Tlingit language, an endangered and under-documented language of North America. A major consequence of this new approach is that the phenomenon classically dubbed "pied-piping" does not actually exist. Cable begins by arguing that wh-fronting in Tlingit does not involve a syntactic relationship between interrogative C and the wh-word. Rather, it involves a probe/Agree relation between C and an overt 'Q-particle' (or 'Q') c-commanding the wh-word. Fronting of the wh-word in Tlingit is a mere by-product of fronting the QP projected by this Q. From this core observation, he develops a syntax and semantics for Tlingit wh-questions. Given the strong similarity between the wh-constructions of Tlingit and those of more widely studied languages, Cable applies his analysis to a range of other languages and finds that such a 'Q-based' theory holds a number of interesting consequences in syntax and semantics.

• Autore: Seth Cable
• Editore: Oxford University Press Inc
• Collana: Oxford Studies in Comparative Syntax
• Anno: 2010
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Pagine: 272 p.
• Dimensioni: 156 x 234 mm
• Peso: 544 gr.
• EAN: 9780195392265

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