Subject: book review ( cheng ) : on the typology of wh - questions

cheng , lisa lai - shen . ( 1997 ) . on the typology of wh - questions . outstanding dissertations in linguistics series . garland publishing , new york & london . 210 pages . reviewed by kerstin hoge , university of oxford introduction this book ( originally written as the author 's 1991 ph . d . dissertation ) attempts to account for the full range of cross-linguistic variation found with single and multiple wh-questions . to this aim , cheng proposes the clausal typing hypothesis which postulates a parameter that identification ( or ' typing ' ) of a sentence as a wh-question is achieved either by a question particle or by overt wh-movement . the first part of the book ( chapters 2 and 3 ) discusses the clausal typing hypothesis and its predictions and implications for the analysis of wh-in - situ languages , single movement languages , optional movement languages and multiple fronting languages . data from multiple fronting languages lead cheng to an investigation of the interpretation and inherent properties of wh-words in a number of languages . this marks the transition to the second part of the book ( chapters 4 and 5 ) which shifts the focus to wh-words and quantificational phenomena in mandarin chinese . cheng 's book provides an extensive overview of the differences exhibited across languages with respect to wh-question formation and presents an interesting attempt to unify two previously separate approaches to wh-movement in arguing that both properties of c and of the wh-words themselves are responsible for the observed typological distinctions . synopsis chapter 1 presents the general aims and outline of the book and briefly introduces the phrase structure of mandarin chinese , which features prominently in the book as an example of a wh-in - situ language . chapter 2 introduces the clausal typing hypothesis . cheng observes that languages which allow for wh-in - situ in single questions invariably use overt markings ( such as particles ) in matrix yes-no questions . if a language has an overt yes-no question particle , it will also have a wh-question particle , which may but need not be overt . question particles and overt wh-movement , both of which identify a clause as an interrogative , are thus mutually exclusive . to account for this generalisation , cheng proposes that clauses are typed at s - structure either by a wh-particle or by overt wh-movement but crucially not by both in one language , cf . ( 1 ) . ( 1 ) clausal typing hypothesis every clause needs to be typed . in the case of typing a wh-question , either a wh-particle in c is used or else fronting of a wh-word to the spec of c is used , thereby typing a clause through c by spec - head agreement . ( = cheng 1997 : 22 , ( 9 ) ) the two available strategies are illustrated by mandarin chinese and english , respectively . mandarin chinese satisfies clausal typing by base-generating a wh-particle in c . consequently , all wh-phrases will stay in-situ . overt wh-movement is ruled out by the principle of economy of derivation ( chomsky 1989 ) , according to which movement is more costly than merge , a ' last resort ' operation and applicable only when clausal typing could not be achieved otherwise . at lf , wh-phrases move to speccp for scope , selection and absorption purposes . english uses overt wh-movement to satisfy clausal typing , i . e . c acquires the [ + wh ] - feature of the xp in its specifier . the clausal typing hypothesis further requires cheng to make the following assumptions with respect to english : ( i ) subject wh-phrases must undergo overt movement ( contra the vacuous movement hypothesis ) , ( ii ) no q - morpheme or [ + wh ] - feature is base-generated in c , and ( iii ) ' whether ' and ' if ' are not question particles . chapter 3 discusses optional and multiple wh-fronting languages which present a challenge to the clausal typing hypothesis . optional fronting languages appear to use both modes of clausal typing , i . e . they allow for wh-fronting although they have a wh-particle ( given the possibility of wh-in - situ ) . using egyptian arabic , bahasa indonesia and palauan as languages of investigation , cheng argues that questions with fronted wh-phrases in optional fronting languages do not instantiate overt wh-movement but display clear similarities to cleft and topicalisation structures . thus , a ' fronted ' wh-argument is base-generated as the subject of a reduced cleft construction , while a fronted wh-adjunct has undergone topicalisation . optional fronting languages are then straightforward in-situ languages which satisfy clausal typing by base-generating a wh-particle in ( matrix ) c . multiple fronting languages appear to violate the principle of economy of derivation in that all wh-phrases must move at s - structure although clausal typing is satisfied by single wh-movement . extending nishigauchi 's ( 1990 ) analysis of japanese wh-words , cheng suggests that bare wh-words in multiple fronting languages are similar to indefinites , i . e . they lack inherent quantificational force and simply introduce variables into the semantic representation which must be bound by other elements in the sentence . it is thus not surprising that the interpretation of a wh-word in a multiple fronting language can vary with its context . for example , polish wh-words are interpreted as interrogatives when fronted , receive a d ( iscourse ) - linked reading when in-situ , are used as polarity items in yes-no questions and conditional sentences , and form the morphological base of indefinites , filling out the whole paradigms of person , place and time . cheng now argues that the four different readings arise because there are four different binders which determine the quantificational force of the bare wh-word ( wh ) in these contexts , as schematised in ( 2 ) . ( 2 ) binders ( and readings ) of polish wh - words : a . wh is bound by an overt d ( eterminer ) ( existential reading ) b . wh is bound by a null d with interrogative force ( interrogative reading ) c . wh is bound by existential closure ( polarity reading ) d . wh is bound by a [ + wh ] c ( d - linked reading ) null determiners which contribute interrogative quantificational force need to be licensed and identified by feature matching with a [ + wh ] c at s - structure . it is thus to satisfy the licensing requirement of the null determiner that all wh-phrases in multiple fronting languages move to a position governed by c . the chapter also contains a discussion of rudin 's ( 1988 ) proposal to distinguish between multiple fronting languages which allow for multiply filled speccp ( e . g . bulgarian , romanian ) and those where speccp can host only one wh-phrase and all other wh-phrases are ip - adjoined ( e . g . polish , czech ) . here , cheng proposes to replace rudin 's ecp - style account of superiority effects with an analysis that derives them from the 's hortest movement ' condition , so as to account for the observed [ subject + adjunct ] and [ object + adjunct ] orderings of wh-phrases in the bulgarian - type languages . moreover , she suggests analysing ip - adjunction as q ( uantifier ) r ( aising ) and thus as clausebound , thereby ruling out multiple wh-extraction from embedded clauses in polish - type languages . in chapter 4 cheng examines wh-words in mandarin chinese and analyses them as polarity items which require both a trigger and a binder for interpretation , cf . ( 3 ) . ( 3 ) wh - words in mandarin chinese reading trigger binder - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - interrogative wh-particle wh-particle ( unselective binder ) polarity yes-no particle / existential closure negation ( unselective binder ) universal dou ' all ' dou ' all ' ( selective binder ) thus , when a wh-word is interpreted as an interrogative , it is licensed by a wh-particle which will also bind it and contribute interrogative force to it . the polarity reading is triggered by a yes-no particle or negation , and the binder of the wh-word is introduced by existential closure which will apply to the elements inside vp . it follows that wh-words in affective contexts cannot occur in subject position ( specaspp ) as this position is external to vp and therefore not in the scope of existential closure . cheng further argues that all indefinites in mandarin chinese lack inherent quantificational force and must be bound by existential closure . this has the consequence that indefinites cannot occur in subject position unless the aspp is the complement of a modal ( you ' have ' ) which can act as a binder for the indefinite subject . the second half of chapter 4 is taken up with a discussion of the universal quantifier dou ' all ' , which cheng analyses as a quantificational adverb which is base-generated as an asp ' - or v ' - adjunct . at lf , the distributor dou adjoins to its associate . this movement is clause-bound and leaves a trace which must be antecedent-governed . dou is a selective binder and can only license one np at a time , moving to the closest element which can use a trigger . chapter 5 deals with multiple quantification and interactions between wh - and quantifier phrases in mandarin chinese and english . in mandarin chinese scope relations between quantified phrases always reflect their surface order . cheng explains this lack of scope ambiguities as resulting from the fact that neither indefinites nor universally quantified phrases undergo qr . the interpretation of questions which contain universally quantified phrases ( mei - nps ) appears to be sensitive to the presence of the quantificational adverb dou ' all ' . whereas questions which contain a mei - np without dou only have an individual reading , questions with a mei - np which is licensed by dou allow for both an individual and a pair-list reading , cf . ( 4 ) . ( 4 ) mei-ge - ren dou mai-le shenme every - cl - person all buy-asp what ' what did everyone buy ? ' a . what is the thing such that everyone bought ? b . for every x , what is the thing that x bought ? ( = cheng 1997 : 161 , ( 31 ) ) the ambiguity does , however , not result from different scope relations . rather , cheng argues , the pair-list reading is due to a distributive reading of mei - np which is created by its association with the distributor dou . scope reconstruction ( frampton 1990 ) of the wh-phrase to the site of its intermediate ( vp - adjoined ) trace ( which cheng adopts in her analysis of english wh-quantifier interactions ) is not possible in ( 4 ) because dou creates a barrier and the intermediate trace therefore deletes at lf . cheng 's analysis of wh-quantifier interactions in mandarin chinese rests on the assumption that wh-phrases move at lf . she discusses both arguments in favour of lf - movement and aoun and li 's ( 1993 ) claim that in-situ wh-phrases do not move at lf since they can be modified by ' only ' which needs to be associated with an overt element in its c-command domain . cheng argues that wh-phrases which are modified by ' only ' must have a d - linked interpretation and do therefore not constitute evidence against lf - movement . she further notes reinhart 's ( 1990 ) observation that d - linked wh-phrases have to move to be properly interpreted and suggests that such movement takes place at a post - lf level . the chapter concludes with a discussion of the landing site of lf - movement which cheng identifies as speccp ( contra mahajan 1990 ) . comments cheng 's book occupies a place which marks the onset of the minimalist approach to syntactic theory . while she assumes the barriers framework of chomsky ( 1986 ) and uses a disjunctive ecp to derive locality conditions on dou and the lack of scope reconstruction in wh-quantifier interactions , the principle of economy of derivation is central to her argumentation . not only does it prohibit a language from using both strategies for clausal typing , it also accounts for superiority effects in bulgarian ( by forcing movement of the closest wh-phrase to occur first ) , and precludes lf - lowering of indefinite subjects in mandarin chinese ( since there is an alternative derivation which generates a structure with a modal binder ) . moreover , it rules out multiple wh-movement for clausal typing and thus requires cheng to account for multiple fronting languages as resulting from a licensing requirement of the wh-words . as seen earlier , multiple fronting is shown to correlate with the ability of the wh-words to form the morphological base of indefinite nps . however , it appears that not all languages that have indefinites which are derived from wh-words display multiple fronting . german prefixes a wh-word with irgend - 's ome ' to form an indefinite , filling out the whole paradigms of person , place and time , as seen in ( 5 ) . ( 5 ) german wer ' who ' irgendwer 's omeone ' wo ' where ' irgendwo 's omewhere ' wann ' when ' irgendwann 's ometime ' was ' what ' irgendwas 's omething ' moreover , a bare wh-expression can be used as a polarity item in yes-no questions and conditionals , e . g . ( 6 ) - ( 7 ) . ( 6 ) hast du wen angerufen ? have you whom called ' did you call anybody ? ' ( 7 ) wenn du wen anrufen willst , musst du mir bescheid sagen . if you whom call want , must you me let-know ' if you want to call anybody , you must let me know . ' the morphological forms and possible readings of german wh-words thus mirror the situation found with polish wh-words , as described by cheng . german and polish also have in common that neither language has a question particle ( under cheng 's analysis ) and that they must therefore use overt wh-movement for clausal typing . however , whereas polish fulfils cheng 's prediction and fronts all wh-phrases in multiple questions , german can only move one wh-word to clause-initial position , cf ( 8 ) . ( 8 ) a . wer hat wen angerufen ? who has whom called ' who called whom ? ' b . * wer wen hat angerufen ? who whom has called yiddish presents the reverse problem in that it allows for multiple wh-movement but does not derive its indefinites from the wh-words in a morphologically transparent way , cf . ( 9 ) . ( 9 ) ver ' who ' emetser 's omeone ' vu ' where ' ergets ( vu ) 's omewhere ' ven ' when ' a mol 's ometime ' vos ' what ' epes 's omething ' to make things worse , multiple fronting is optional in yiddish . wh - phrases can stay in-situ without necessarily having a d - linked reading , cf . ( 10 ) . ( 10 ) a . ver vemen hot ongeklungen ? who whom has called ' who called whom ? ' b . ver hot ongeklungen vemen ? who has called whom ' who called whom ? ' german and yiddish thus appear to be direct counterexamples to cheng 's analysis of multiple fronting languages . note also in this context that french , often cited as an example of an optional movement language , falls outside cheng 's analysis . as acknowledged in the book ( 1997 : 39 , fn 4 ) , french does not have a question particle and is therefore not an in-situ language . nevertheless it allows for wh-words to remain in-situ in single matrix questions . it might be possible to account for optional wh-movement in french by postulating that french possesses both a non-overt yes-no particle and a non-overt wh-particle . french would then satisfy clausal typing by base-generating a wh-particle in c and all wh-phrases could stay in-situ . movement of a wh-phrase to clause-initial position could be due to another attractor , such as focus , which is not obligatorily present . whatever appeal such an analysis might hold , it points to the problem of allowing for non-overt question particles . while we do not expect to find overt wh-particles in languages without yes-no particles , what will stop us from assuming that a language which allows a wh-word to stay in-situ has a question particle even when there is no ( phonologically ) overt evidence for such a claim ? cheng 's proposal to relate wh-in - situ to the availability of non-overt wh-particles may thus ultimately turn out to be too permissive a theory . another problem arises with cheng 's approach to superiority effects in bulgarian - type languages . as noted , cheng explains superiority effects as violations of the principle of economy of derivation . given that " adverbs are in the most embedded positions " ( 1997 : 81 ) , [ adjunct + argument ] orderings are ruled out because movement of the argument is a shorter movement and must therefore take place before the adjunct moves to speccp . however , as observed by boskovic ( 1997 ) , bulgarian questions containing more than two fronted wh-phrases display superiority effects only with respect to the topmost wh-phrase , the others are freely ordered , contrary to the prediction made by cheng 's approach . these comments aside , cheng 's book is to be commended . it is an extremely well written and clearly presented work which should be fully comprehensible even to readers who are not familiar with the literature on mandarin chinese syntax or heim 's ( 1982 ) theory of indefinites . the book is ambitious in its scope , discussing a wide range of languages , and has undoubtedly made an important contribution to the study of wh-movement . references aoun , j . and a . li . ( 1993 ) . wh - elements in situ : syntax of lf ? linguistic inquiry 24 . 199-238 . boskovic , z . ( 1997 ) . on certain violations of the superiority condition , agro , and economy of derivation . journal of linguistics 33 . 227-254 . chomsky , n . ( 1986 ) . barriers . cambridge , mass . : mit press . chomsky , n . ( 1989 ) . some notes on economy of derivation and representation . in mitwpl 10 : functional heads and clause structure ( reprinted in principles and parameters in comparative grammar , ed . by r . freidin , 417-454 . cambridge , mass . : mit press ) . frampton , j . ( 1990 ) . the fine structure of wh-movement and the proper formulation of the ecp . ms . , northeastern university . heim , i . ( 1982 ) . the semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases . ph . d . dissertation , university of massachusetts , amherst . mahajan , a . ( 1990 ) . the a / a - bar distinction and movement theory . ph . d . dissertation , mit . nishigauchi , t . ( 1990 ) . quantification in the theory of grammar . dordrecht : kluwer . reinhart , t . ( 1990 ) . interpreting wh-in - situ . ms . rudin , c . ( 1988 ) . on multiple questions and multiple wh fronting . natural language and linguistic theory 6 . 445-502 . kerstin hoge is a d . phil . student in linguistics at the university of oxford . her research interests include syntactic theory and yiddish .
