On the Necessity of Overt and Covert Scrambling of Whs-in-situ

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to seek an answer to the long-standing query of why a wh-in-situ moves in wh-in-situ languages. I propose, primarily based on Korean, that a wh-in-situ moves overtly or covertly for its own interpretational need, utilizing the typical scrambling strategy available in wh-in-situ languages, which is in principle independent of the formal need of interrogative C. More specifically, it is argued, assuming that the wh-operator in Korean is a wh-C rather than a wh-phrase, that overt wh-scrambling is triggered by a wh-phrase’s need to receive emphatic focus interpretation via labeling at the left periphery of T/v, whereas covert wh-scrambling is triggered by a wh-phrase’s need to attain proper focus alternative computation which should be possible in situ otherwise. Evidence for the current claim will come from the interaction of different types of wh-constructions with focus criterial freezing effects, focus intervention effects, and focus degravitation effects.