Syntax of multiple questions in Tundra Nenets

The paper discusses the relative order and syntactic position of wh-phrases in Tundra Nenets multiple wh-questions. Contrary to previous proposals, it will be argued that the wh-phrases in multiple wh-questions are rigidly ordered and their order is constrained by the Specificity Filter. Evidence on...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mus, Nikolett
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: University of Szeged 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.bibl.u-szeged.hu/index.php/stualtaica/article/view/44321
Description
Summary:The paper discusses the relative order and syntactic position of wh-phrases in Tundra Nenets multiple wh-questions. Contrary to previous proposals, it will be argued that the wh-phrases in multiple wh-questions are rigidly ordered and their order is constrained by the Specificity Filter. Evidence on the application of the Specificity Filter comes from the ungrammaticality of certain relative orders, i.e. *how-any wh-phrase, and the answers that are given to the multiple wh-questions, i.e. the answer does not specify values for the first wh-phrase but it pairs X and Y in both cases. Thus, the first wh-phrase in the construction is interpreted as a distributive universal quantifier. This is supported by the fact that the first wh-phrase can trigger object agreement on verbs (that is otherwise not possible in the case of wh-objects). Additionally, the wh-sequence can be preceded by elements that normally cause Intervention effects in single wh-questions, but a focussed expression cannot precede them. So in Tundra Nenets multiple wh-questions at least the first wh-phrase undergoes movement and it supposedly appears in the topic position.