Decomposing Questions
Paul Hagstrom
1998
Ph.D dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology


The primary proposal of this thesis is that in questions, a "Q" morpheme
must undergo syntactic movement from a clause-internal position to a
clause-peripheral position. Throughout this thesis, we develop a syntactic
analysis and a semantic formalism for questions that accounts for the
facts observed in wh-in-situ languages (focusing mainly on Japanese,
Sinhala, Shuri Okinawan, and premodern Japanese). 

We contrast two unrelated languages, Japanese and Sinhala, which form
questions in a nearly identical way, but which differ in the placement of
Q. We hypothesize that in both languages Q moves from a clause-internal
position (corresponding to its overt po sition in Sinhala) to a
clause-peripheral position (corresponding to its overt position in
Japanese). We argue for this movement relation by examining the effects of
movement islands and other "intervenors" when placed in the path of the
hypothesized move ment. 

We also observe that in both languages, indefinites can be formed by
appending Q directly to a wh-word in a declarative sentence. Using this,
we develop a compositional semantic account under which wh-words like who
are represented as sets of individuals and Q is represented as an
existential quantifier over choice function variables. This, in
conjunction with the proposed syntax, allows us to derive the semantics
both of questions and of indefinites containing wh-words. 

More complex issues arise when considering questions with multiple
wh-words and with quantifiers. It is proposed that in multiple questions,
Q originates by the lowest wh-word. If Q moves to the clause periphery
from there, a "pair-list" reading will resu lt, while if Q first moves
above the wh-words, a "single-pair" reading results. Through the use of a
semantic mechanism called "flexible functional application", this
generalization is derived from the proposed semantics of pair-list
questions, which are semantically represented as a set of questions.
Questions with quantifiers with functional readings and with pair-list
readings are also discussed in detail. 

Arguments for several more theory-internal proposals are made as well,
including an argument for a "single cycle" syntax, and an argument for a
type of movement labeled "migration" which is crucially different from
"feature attraction." 

Thesis Supervisor: David Pesetsky
Title: Professor of Linguistics