On prosodic variation and the distribution of wh- in-situ

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Kandybowicz
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Prosodic Mapping

Abstract Wh- in-situ is a pervasive feature of Tano interrogative syntax, yet the Tano languages differ from one another in subtle ways with respect to the distribution of in-situ interrogatives. Languages like Krachi and Bono allow wh- in-situ in both main and embedded complement clauses, whereas closely related languages like Wasa and Asante Twi only allow wh- in-situ in main clauses. In this article, I argue that the generalization underpinning this variation in Tano concerns a prohibition on wh- items phrasing with C0 at the level of Intonational Phrase (ιP). I show that the ability of a wh- item to appear in-situ correlates with the prosodic status of its immediately containing clause. Embedded complement clauses are parsed as independent ιP units in Krachi and Bono, but not in Wasa and Asante Twi. Thus, ιP boundaries divide C0 from embedded interrogatives in Krachi and Bono, preventing the items from forming a prosodic constituent at the level of ιP. Conversely, no such boundaries intervene between embedded C0 and wh- in Wasa and Asante Twi, yielding prosodic mappings in which the items phrase together. Consequently, embedded wh- in-situ is prosodically licit in Krachi and Bono, but not in Wasa and Asante Twi. In this way, the Tano pattern of wh- in-situ variation described above reduces to a difference in how syntactic structures are externalized via prosodic mapping.

Obligatory Overt Wh-Movement in a Wh-in-Situ Language

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Simpson ◽  
Tanmoy Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Simple Explanation ◽  
Complement Clauses

Bangla has commonly been assumed to be an SOV wh-in-situ language. Here it is suggested that both of these characterizations are incorrect and that Bangla actually has obligatory overt wh-movement from a basic SVO word order. This is disguised by a conspiracy of factors but revealed in restrictions on wh-scope and certain apparently optional word order possibilities with complement clauses. Adopting a different perspective on the SOV status of Bangla allows for a simple explanation of the patterns observed and raises the possibility that other “wh-in-situ” languages may also have (obligatory) overt wh-movement.

On Prosodic Vacuity and Verbal Resumption in Asante Twi

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Kandybowicz
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Copy ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Default Form ◽  
Prosodic Mapping ◽  
Match Theory

I argue that verbal resumption (the occurrence of an additional default verbal element yε meaning ‘do’) in Asante Twi is prosodically conditioned. Following the MATCH theory of syntactic-prosodic constituency correspondence ( Selkirk 2011 ), I propose that phonosyntactic constituency matching requires, at the minimum, avoidance of phonetically empty transferred syntactic structures (i.e., prosodic vacuity). I show that Twi verbal resumption is highly constrained and occurs precisely in those contexts where a prosodically vacuous domain would otherwise be mapped from a fully evacuated syntactic Spell- Out domain. As a measure of last resort, a late default-form insertion of the verb root (the yε-form) occurs to evade prosodic vacuity and ensure a matching correspondence between syntactic and prosodic constituents at PF. Because an additional higher copy of the verb root (i.e., the lexical verb) survives as well, Twi verbal resumption represents an instance of multiple copy Spell-Out. The article thus bears on several issues concerning the syntax-phonology interface, among them the nature of prosodic mapping and the conditions regulating multiple copy realization.

Prosodic Entanglement and the Anti-contiguity of Wh- and C

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-38
Author(s):  
Jason Kandybowicz
Keyword(s):  
Long Distance ◽  
Complement Clauses ◽  
Intonational Phrases ◽  
Embedded Contexts

This chapter focuses on the syntax and prosody of wh- in-situ in Krachi. In Krachi, wh- in-situ is available in both root and embedded contexts. Prosodically, embedded complement clauses in the language are parsed as independent Intonational Phrases. The distribution of wh- in-situ in the language is considered against the backdrop of Richards’s (2010, 2016) Contiguity Theory. Given the prosodic facts previously mentioned, Contiguity Theory is shown to be incapable of accounting for long-distance wh- in-situ in the language, motivating an “anti-contiguity” theory of the prosody of wh- and C at the syntax-phonology interface.

Wh-Inquiries into Modern Greek and Their Theoretical Import(ance)

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-247
Author(s):  
Christos Vlachos
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Formal System ◽  
Direct Interaction ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Modern Greek ◽  
Hypo Thesis ◽  
Standard Organization ◽  
The One ◽  
Theoretical Import

Within the framework of Generative Grammar, a standard (hypo)thesis has been that a (broad) wh-parameter may distinguish between two types of languages: those that front wh-elements (e.g., English) and those that realize them in situ (e.g., Chinese). Wh-fronting languages may also attest in situ arrangements, and a tacit (hypo)thesis, tied to the one above, is that in situ configurations translate to echo questions, while fronting configurations are genuine (information-seeking) questions. Neat as this taxonomy might look like, more recently it has been shown that, in Modern Greek, which is a typically wh-fronting language, each wh-configuration may map to either meaning. On the assumption that syntax mediates between form and meaning, mapping the former to the latter, the question that the Modern Greek evidence raises is to what extent syntax regulates the form-meaning associations under consideration. In other words, the question is “how much” of the relevant semantics is registered in the corresponding syntactic structures. Capitalizing on already documented evidence from distribution, interpretation, and intonation, the present paper argues that syntax encodes certain aspects of the relevant semantics, and pans out a formal system that attributes other aspects of this semantics to a direct interaction between PF and LF, thereby recognizing the existence of this interface area. The theoretical import(ance) of this analysis (part of which is prefigured elsewhere) is that it revisits the standard organization of the Grammar, as viewed from a Minimalist perspective.

Rendez vous with Saturn's rings

1984 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
pp. 743-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry T. Nock
Keyword(s):  
Solar Energy ◽  
Electric Propulsion ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Propulsion System ◽  
Low Thrust ◽  
Ring Plane ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Total Impulse ◽  
Saturn's Rings

ABSTRACTA mission to rendezvous with the rings of Saturn is studied with regard to science rationale and instrumentation and engineering feasibility and design. Future detailedin situexploration of the rings of Saturn will require spacecraft systems with enormous propulsive capability. NASA is currently studying the critical technologies for just such a system, called Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP). Electric propulsion is the only technology which can effectively provide the required total impulse for this demanding mission. Furthermore, the power source must be nuclear because the solar energy reaching Saturn is only 1% of that at the Earth. An important aspect of this mission is the ability of the low thrust propulsion system to continuously boost the spacecraft above the ring plane as it spirals in toward Saturn, thus enabling scientific measurements of ring particles from only a few kilometers.

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