Choose me! Optionality in wh-fronting and copy deletion: evidence for overt-covert movement in Valdôtain Patois
Luisa Seguin
July 2024 

In this paper, I discuss new data on wh-movement in the Francoprovençal language Valdôtain Patois (ValPa) in support of overt-covert movement: overt movement with pronunciation of a lower copy. Wh-phrases in ValPa can either be fronted or occur clause-internally. Based on empirical evidence from word order patterns and adverb placement, I argue that ValPa clause-internal wh-phrases do not appear in-situ, but rather are displaced to the Low Left Periphery at the edge of vP. Furthermore, using evidence from intervention effects, binding, inverse scope, and parasitic gaps, I argue that clause internal wh-phrases do not remain in the Low Left Periphery but overtly move to the position they take scope in. The different word-orders are then derived via a copy deletion mechanism, meaning that the optionality is not accounted for in narrow syntax

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/008674 (please use that when you cite this article)
Published in:	Glossa: a journal of general linguistics
keywords:	wh-movement; overt-covert movement, copy deletion, valdôtain patois; low left periphery, parasitic gaps, binding, chain realization, francoprovençal, syntax
previous versions:	v2 [July 2024] v1 [November 2024]
Downloaded:	418 times

 

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