The Grammar of Q: Q-Particles, Wh-Movement, and Pied-Piping

The Grammar of Q puts forth a novel syntactic and semantic analysis of wh-questions, one that is based upon in-depth study of the Tlingit language, an endangered and under-documented language of North America. A major consequence of this new approach is that the phenomenon classically dubbed
pied-piping does not actually exist.

Cable begins by arguing that wh-fronting in Tlingit does not involve a syntactic relationship between interrogative C and the wh-word. Rather, it involves a probe/Agree relation between C and an overt Q-particle (or Q) c-commanding the wh-word. Fronting of the wh-word in Tlingit is a mere
by-product of fronting the QP projected by this Q. From this core observation, he develops a syntax and semantics for Tlingit wh-questions.

Given the strong similarity between the wh-constructions of Tlingit and those of more widely studied languages, Cable applies his analysis to a range of other languages and finds that such a Q-based theory holds a number of interesting consequences in syntax and semantics.


Author: Seth Cable
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 09/03/2010
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780195392265

About the Author

Seth Cable is Assistant Professor of LinguisticsUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst

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