Wh-Scope Marking

This volume is the first comprehensive overview of the syntax and semantics of wh-scope marking. Wh-scope marking constructions have recently received a lot of attention; their very existence and their intricate properties have important consequences for syntax, semantics, and the syntax–semantics interface (e.g., with respect to the wh-criterion, the wh-movement parameter, feature checking, the theory of locality, the interpretation of wh-phrases and why-chains, and the nature of LF). The fifteen contributions share the basic assumptions of the Chomskyan approach to syntax and the model-theoretic approach to semantics; they address a variety of languages (among them German, Hindi, Hungarian, English, Frisian, Kikuyu, and Malay). A recurrent theme in all articles is whether wh-scope marking should be analyzed in terms of a direct, indirect, or mixed dependency. The wealth of cross-linguistic empirical evidence and the theory-independent relevance of the conclusions should make this book the ultimate source of information on wh-scope marking for years to come.

Claudia Felser (University of Essex) in Journal of Germanic Linguistics 13:3, 2001:
The present volume is unique in that it represents the most thorough and systematic crosslinguistic investigation of wh-scope marking constructions available to date. The book has been carefully edited and contains a useful index, and the articles are well cross-referenced. Both the extent of empirical coverage and the depth of analysis provided by this volume are impressive.