Wh-questions and SOV languages in Hawkins' (2004) theory: Evidence from Basque
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Gontzal Aldai
Abstract
In this article I test Hawkins' (Efficiency and complexity in grammars, Oxford University Press, 2004) theory on wh-questions against Basque data from the 16th to 20th centuries. I focus on wh-fronting.
Basque has experienced a noticeable word-order change in wh-questions; namely, a restricting conventionalization (fixation) of relative orders out of a situation with freer word-order possibilities. What has been fixed is the adjacent position of the verb relative to the fronted wh-phrase.
The result of the present testing is that the predictions and principles proposed by Hawkins are well supported by the data. Yet, it seems that other principles may also account for some of the factors that play a role in the evolution of historical Basque.
© 2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Vowel prothesis in Walliser German
- Recursion introduces a left-branching bias (where possible)
- So as a focus marker in German
- The expression of caused motion events in Chinese and in English: Some typological issues
- Wh-questions and SOV languages in Hawkins' (2004) theory: Evidence from Basque
- Articulatory constraints on stop insertion and elision in consonant clusters
- The grammatical expression of focus in West Chadic: Variation and uniformity in and across languages
- Publications received between 02/06/2010 and 01/06/2011
Articles in the same Issue
- Vowel prothesis in Walliser German
- Recursion introduces a left-branching bias (where possible)
- So as a focus marker in German
- The expression of caused motion events in Chinese and in English: Some typological issues
- Wh-questions and SOV languages in Hawkins' (2004) theory: Evidence from Basque
- Articulatory constraints on stop insertion and elision in consonant clusters
- The grammatical expression of focus in West Chadic: Variation and uniformity in and across languages
- Publications received between 02/06/2010 and 01/06/2011
