+wh] complementizers drive phonological phrasing in Fukuoka Japanese

Abstract

Evidence from the intonation of wh questions in the Fukuoka dialect of Japanese is used to explore a recent proposal by Richards that the syntax-prosody interface includes a requirement for wh elements and their associated complementizers to be contained in the same phonological phrase. An examination of multiple wh questions and nested wh questions determines that this phrasing requirement originates with the complementizer, not with the wh element.