Home Linguistics & Semiotics Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian

  • Vahideh Rasekhi
View more publications by John Benjamins Publishing Company
Search
Advances in Iranian Linguistics II
This chapter is in the book Advances in Iranian Linguistics II

Abstract

I provide an account of why-stripping in Persian, in which there is a wh-phrase remnant cherā why and a non-wh-phrase remnant. This structure looks similar to sluicing with why, in which there is only a wh-phrase remnant cherā why. I argue that even though both structures involve clausal ellipsis, they have different characteristics and the mechanism of deriving them is different. I propose that unlike why in sluicing, which arrives at its surface position via focus fronting (Toosarvandani 2008), why in why-stripping functions as “how come” and is base-generated in the Spec of Int(errogative)P (Rizzi 2001) in the left periphery. In addition, I propose that the non-wh-phrase remnant, which carries a contrastive focus interpretation, moves to the Spec of FocP, before the rest of the clause is elided.

Abstract

I provide an account of why-stripping in Persian, in which there is a wh-phrase remnant cherā why and a non-wh-phrase remnant. This structure looks similar to sluicing with why, in which there is only a wh-phrase remnant cherā why. I argue that even though both structures involve clausal ellipsis, they have different characteristics and the mechanism of deriving them is different. I propose that unlike why in sluicing, which arrives at its surface position via focus fronting (Toosarvandani 2008), why in why-stripping functions as “how come” and is base-generated in the Spec of Int(errogative)P (Rizzi 2001) in the left periphery. In addition, I propose that the non-wh-phrase remnant, which carries a contrastive focus interpretation, moves to the Spec of FocP, before the rest of the clause is elided.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Anaphoric potential of pseudo-incorporated bare objects in Persian 12
  5. Chapter 2. Persian quantifiers and their scope 44
  6. Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian 81
  7. Chapter 4. Middle Persian Ezafe 100
  8. Chapter 5. Ezafe and the article 130
  9. Chapter 6. Ezafe as a linking feature within DP 154
  10. Chapter 7. Mood selection in complement clauses in Persian 180
  11. Chapter 8. Three types of verb stem levelling in Tat 210
  12. Chapter 9. A null stem analysis of Persian copular verbs 231
  13. Chapter 10. Semi-anticausatives 263
  14. Chapter 11. The nature and licensing of hi:tʃ elements in Persian 282
  15. Language index 307
  16. Name index 309
  17. Subject index 313
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.361.03ras

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 1. Anaphoric potential of pseudo-incorporated bare objects in Persian 12
  5. Chapter 2. Persian quantifiers and their scope 44
  6. Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian 81
  7. Chapter 4. Middle Persian Ezafe 100
  8. Chapter 5. Ezafe and the article 130
  9. Chapter 6. Ezafe as a linking feature within DP 154
  10. Chapter 7. Mood selection in complement clauses in Persian 180
  11. Chapter 8. Three types of verb stem levelling in Tat 210
  12. Chapter 9. A null stem analysis of Persian copular verbs 231
  13. Chapter 10. Semi-anticausatives 263
  14. Chapter 11. The nature and licensing of hi:tʃ elements in Persian 282
  15. Language index 307
  16. Name index 309
  17. Subject index 313
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 16.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/cilt.361.03ras/html
Scroll to top button