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V-movement and the licensing of argumental Wh-phrases in Spanish

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Abstract

Although verbs in Spanish obligatorily raise through the functional projections of IP, they do not continue to C0. Support is given for this idea based on sluicing, left-dislocated structures, the position of adverbs, and the constituent order in adjunct Wh-questions. The issue then is how to account for the mandatory Wh-V-subject order when the Wh-phrase is argumental. The proposal is that both argumental and adjunct Wh-phrases obey the universal licensing mechanism known as the Wh-Criterion, but that only the former subtype must also comply with a language specific condition: Argumental Agreement Licensing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Modern Languages and Linguistics Morrill Hall, Cornell University, 14853, Ithaca, NY

    Margarita Suner

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  1. Margarita Suner
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Additional information

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my colleagues and students who have helped me with comments and suggestions at different stages in the development of this paper: M. Diesing, R. Ehas-Cintr6n, W. Harbert, Y. Li, C. Lizardi, M. Montalbetti, M. Rivero, J. Toribio, J. Uriagereka, and K. Zagona. I also acknowledge the comments and pointed questions posed by the threeNLLT reviewers, and the editorial expertise of F. J. Newmeyer. The customary disclaimers apply.

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Suner, M. V-movement and the licensing of argumental Wh-phrases in Spanish. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 12, 335–372 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993148

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