Why is ‘Why’ Unique?: Its Syntactic and Semantic Properties

Published by De Gruyter Mouton 2021

Why is ‘Why’ Unique?

Its Syntactic and Semantic Properties

Edited by: Gabriela Soare

Volume 142 in the series Studies in Generative Grammar [SGG]

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110675160

Overview
Contents

About this book

Why is ‘Why’ Unique? Its Syntactic and Semantic Properties considers the behaviour of this peculiar wh-element across many different languages, including Ewe, Trevisan, Italian, Basque, German, Dutch, Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Hebrew. In ten original chapters, the authors explore various aspects of why-questions, such as the way why interacts with V2 constructions in Basque, with a subject clitic in Trevisan or how its morpho-syntactic make-up determines its merge position in Ewe, to mention but a few. Furthermore, a clear-cut distinction is established between high and low reason adverbials which are subsequently examined in why-stripping environments in Dutch.

Beyond why proper, the book explores a special class of wh-expressions in some in-situ languages which give rise to unexpected why-construals with a touch of whining force. The objective is to explain the unusual syntactic position of these wh-expressions as well as their association with peculiar pragmatics. The questions are addressed for Cantonese: are what-initial sentences genuine questions? To what extent are Cantonese what-initial sentences similar to how-initial sentences in Mandarin? Beside these what-as-why questions, a special class of rhetorical questions, the doubly-marked interrogatives in Hebrew, come under scrutiny.

Why is ‘why’ unique also concerns the interface with prosody and several experimental studies investigate precisely this aspect.

Author / Editor information

Gabriela Soare, Université de Genève, Switzerland.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Introduction Gabriela Soare Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part 1: Why in a Gbe language
Reason questions as a complementizer domain phenomenon: Evidence from Ewe Leston Chandler Buell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Part 2: Towards a cartography of high and low reason adverbials
On ‘why’ in situ in Northern Italian dialects: Evidence from Trevisan Caterina Bonan and Ur Shlonsky Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Why questions break the residual V2 restriction (in Basque and beyond) Aritz Irurtzun Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Is German warum so special after all? Nicholas Catasso Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Why in Dutch? On why-stripping and high and low adverbials Norbert Corver Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Part 3: Wh-in-Situ languages: Whys, hows, and whats
On applicative Why-questions in Chinese Wei-Tien Dylan Tsai Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
What-as-Why sentences in Cantonese Lisa Lai-Shen Cheng Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	219
Part 4: Some syntactic aspects of how come
How come questions and diary English Yoshio Endo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Part 5: A special class of why rhetorical questions: Semantics and pragmatics
Why rhetorical questions? Lavi Wolf and Edit Doron Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Part 6: Why and the syntax-prosody interface
On some special properties of why in syntax and prosody Giuliano Bocci, Silvio Cruschina and Luigi Rizzi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
Index of subjects Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	317

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
Audience: Researchers, Students in Linguistics (and Semiotics)
Pages
- Front matter: 6
- Main content: 318
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 40
- Tables: 1
Keywords: Why-questions; Merge Position; ‘What’ as Why-questions; High and Low Reasons Adjuncts

eBook

Published: September 7, 2021
ISBN: 9783110675160

Hardcover

Published: September 7, 2021
ISBN: 9783110675115

Paperback

Published: May 8, 2023
ISBN: 9783111258706