Wh- questions

Abstract

Abstract This chapter discusses wh- questions in Ikpana. Although Ikpana is a wh- in situ language, it employs three surface-distinct peripheral wh- constructions: “bare wh- movement constructions,” in which a moved interrogative expression is unaccompanied by a particle in the left periphery; “wh- focus movement constructions,” in which a moved wh- item is followed by a focus marker; and “wh- cleft constructions,” in which a clause-initial wh- element serves as the subject of a null-headed specificational copular clause whose predicate complement is a potentially null-headed relative clause. A number of theoretically relevant wh- structures are documented, including long-distance wh- in situ; partial wh- movement/clefting; and multiple wh- questions. Several other significant theoretical issues are discussed, including: formation of ‘why’ wh- clefts on non-restrictive relative clauses; mapping of the clausal left periphery with respect to wh- items ‘how’ and ‘why’; immunity of wh- movement to superiority effects; intervention effects; and absence of adjunct islands.