On the Quebec French interrogative particle tu
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Annick Morin
Abstract
The Quebec French interrogative particle tu is phonologically identical to the second person singular subject clitic (disregarding stress) and shows a distribution similar to that of clitic doubling, which is optional in this dialect. More specifically, it is subject to a definiteness effect, previously unnoticed in the literature, in that only definite subjects are acceptable in questions with tu. In this paper I argue that the distribution of the question particle tu and that of clitic doubling are both due to the presence of one feature, namely a Definiteness feature.
Abstract
The Quebec French interrogative particle tu is phonologically identical to the second person singular subject clitic (disregarding stress) and shows a distribution similar to that of clitic doubling, which is optional in this dialect. More specifically, it is subject to a definiteness effect, previously unnoticed in the literature, in that only definite subjects are acceptable in questions with tu. In this paper I argue that the distribution of the question particle tu and that of clitic doubling are both due to the presence of one feature, namely a Definiteness feature.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Tense domains in BP and EP – vP, CP and phases 1
- Variable-behavior Ps and the location of PATH in Old French 25
- Hebrew and Arabic children going Romance 51
- Adjectives and deleted nominals in Spanish 67
- On the nature of covert operations 87
- Ellipsis and Restructuring in European Portuguese 109
- The early steps of modal and negation interactions 131
- Structural patterns blocking plural in Romance nominalizations 145
- On the distribution of adjectives in Romanian 161
- Subject doubling in European Portuguese dialects 179
- On the Quebec French interrogative particle tu 201
- Autonomous typological prosodic evolution versus the Germanic superstrate in diachronic French phonology 223
- Dummy prepositions and the licensing of null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese 243
- OV sequences in early child Catalan and English 267
- Index 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Tense domains in BP and EP – vP, CP and phases 1
- Variable-behavior Ps and the location of PATH in Old French 25
- Hebrew and Arabic children going Romance 51
- Adjectives and deleted nominals in Spanish 67
- On the nature of covert operations 87
- Ellipsis and Restructuring in European Portuguese 109
- The early steps of modal and negation interactions 131
- Structural patterns blocking plural in Romance nominalizations 145
- On the distribution of adjectives in Romanian 161
- Subject doubling in European Portuguese dialects 179
- On the Quebec French interrogative particle tu 201
- Autonomous typological prosodic evolution versus the Germanic superstrate in diachronic French phonology 223
- Dummy prepositions and the licensing of null subjects in Brazilian Portuguese 243
- OV sequences in early child Catalan and English 267
- Index 287
