On reduced wh-questions in Dagara
-
Alain Noindonmon Hien
and
Daiko Takahashi
Abstract
This article provides novel data involving reduced wh-questions in Dagara. The language exhibits some important properties, among which are the availability of the movement and the in-situ option for wh-phrases in wh-questions and the obligatory presence of the focus marker accompanying remnant wh-phrases. We propose and argue for an analysis in terms of overt movement of wh-phrases and ellipsis of a clausal constituent à la what has been called sluicing. We also observe that reduced questions in Dagara exhibit island repair effects. As a theoretical consequence, we point out that they weaken one of the supporting arguments for the so-called in-situ analysis of sluiced clauses.
Acknowledgments
An earlier version of this article was read at the workshop on comparative syntax held at Nanzan University on March 5, 2022. We would like to thank the audience for their valuable comments and questions. We also are very grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive and helpful comments. The research reported here was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI JP21K00519 and JP24K03833 awarded to the second author. All the remaining inadequacies are ours.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Comparing syntactic and discourse accounts of islands and parasitic gaps: experimental evidence from acceptability judgments
- Clausal doubling produces phantom islands
- On reduced wh-questions in Dagara
- Passivization strategies under ECM: evidence from Spanish dialects
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Comparing syntactic and discourse accounts of islands and parasitic gaps: experimental evidence from acceptability judgments
- Clausal doubling produces phantom islands
- On reduced wh-questions in Dagara
- Passivization strategies under ECM: evidence from Spanish dialects
