Why is ‘Why’ Unique?

Its Syntactic and Semantic Properties

Gabriela Soare

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English

De Gruyter Mouton
08 May 2023

Semiotics & semiology

Series: Studies in Generative Grammar [SGG]

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.

Edited by: Gabriela Soare
Imprint: De Gruyter Mouton
Country of Publication: Germany
Dimensions: Height: 230mm, Width: 155mm,
Weight: 635g
ISBN: 9783111258706
ISBN 10: 311125870X
Series: Studies in Generative Grammar [SGG]
Pages: 324
Publication Date: 08 May 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Gabriela Soare, Université de Genève, Switzerland.