More concealed pseudoclefts in Malagasy and the Clausal Typing Hypothesis [An article from: Lingua]

This digital document is a journal article from Lingua, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Cheng's Clausal Typing Hypothesis (Cheng, L., 1997. On the Typology of Wh-Questions. Garland, New York) predicts that no language should have constituent questions using both wh-in-situ and wh-movement strategies. Malagasy (Austronesian, Madagascar) is a prima facie counterexample to this claim in seemingly allowing both options. In keeping with the Clausal Typing Hypothesis, however, this paper argues that Malagasy, a predicate-initial language, has only wh-in-situ. Apparent examples of wh-movement are pseudoclefts in which the initial wh-phrase is a predicate and the following material is a headless relative clause in subject position. Evidence comes from the predicate status of the wh-phrase, parallels with a similar focus construction, and discontinuous wh-phrases.