French wh in-situ

This paper investigates the acceptability of wh in-situ expressions in embedded contexts in French. We report on two experiments that tested the acceptability of wh in-situ and ex-situ in embedded clauses of biclausal direct wh-questions and in indirect questions, and how their acceptability is mod...

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Main Authors: Lena Baunaz, Giuliano Bocci, Ur Shlonsky
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona 2024-12-01
Series:Isogloss
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/421
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author Lena Baunaz
Giuliano Bocci
Ur Shlonsky
author_facet Lena Baunaz
Giuliano Bocci
Ur Shlonsky
author_sort Lena Baunaz
collection DOAJ
description This paper investigates the acceptability of wh in-situ expressions in embedded contexts in French. We report on two experiments that tested the acceptability of wh in-situ and ex-situ in embedded clauses of biclausal direct wh-questions and in indirect questions, and how their acceptability is modulated by the presence of the negation in the embedded clause. In Experiment 1, the contexts favored a D-linked interpretation of the wh-element (in the sense of Pesetsky 1987), while the contexts in Experiment 2 disfavored it. Our results show that the in-situ strategy is generally more acceptable (or at least equally acceptable) than the ex-situ strategy in direct questions with long construal, regardless of D-linking and negation. By contrast, the in-situ strategy is significantly less acceptable than the ex-situ one in indirect questions, regardless of D-linking and negation. Our findings indicate that in long construal direct wh-questions, negation fails to selectively block wh in-situ. In this respect, French differs from many other languages (see e.g., Beck & Kim 1997, a.o.). We show that D-linking is not a necessary condition for in-situ in French. We discuss how our findings relate to the current debate between alternative formal analyses of wh in-situ in French.
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spelling doaj-art-60412070a2544d43a557e0285a172bbd2025-01-28T03:01:56ZengUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaIsogloss2385-41382024-12-0110710.5565/rev/isogloss.421French wh in-situLena Baunaz0Giuliano BocciUr ShlonskyUniversité Côte d’Azur This paper investigates the acceptability of wh in-situ expressions in embedded contexts in French. We report on two experiments that tested the acceptability of wh in-situ and ex-situ in embedded clauses of biclausal direct wh-questions and in indirect questions, and how their acceptability is modulated by the presence of the negation in the embedded clause. In Experiment 1, the contexts favored a D-linked interpretation of the wh-element (in the sense of Pesetsky 1987), while the contexts in Experiment 2 disfavored it. Our results show that the in-situ strategy is generally more acceptable (or at least equally acceptable) than the ex-situ strategy in direct questions with long construal, regardless of D-linking and negation. By contrast, the in-situ strategy is significantly less acceptable than the ex-situ one in indirect questions, regardless of D-linking and negation. Our findings indicate that in long construal direct wh-questions, negation fails to selectively block wh in-situ. In this respect, French differs from many other languages (see e.g., Beck & Kim 1997, a.o.). We show that D-linking is not a necessary condition for in-situ in French. We discuss how our findings relate to the current debate between alternative formal analyses of wh in-situ in French. https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/421Frenchwh in-situinterventionexperimental syntaxD-linking
spellingShingle Lena Baunaz
Giuliano Bocci
Ur Shlonsky
French wh in-situ
Isogloss
French
wh in-situ
intervention
experimental syntax
D-linking
title French wh in-situ
title_full French wh in-situ
title_fullStr French wh in-situ
title_full_unstemmed French wh in-situ
title_short French wh in-situ
title_sort french wh in situ
topic French
wh in-situ
intervention
experimental syntax
D-linking
url https://revistes.uab.cat/isogloss/article/view/421
work_keys_str_mv AT lenabaunaz frenchwhinsitu
AT giulianobocci frenchwhinsitu
AT urshlonsky frenchwhinsitu