This document discusses wh-clauses, including wh-questions, subordinate wh-clauses, and relative clauses. It explains that wh-words can appear in main or subordinate clauses and form questions or relative clauses. Relative clauses can be restrictive or non-restrictive, and the wh-word can sometimes be omitted from restrictive relative clauses. The document provides numerous examples to illustrate these concepts.

1. INSTRUCTOR: LE NGUYEN NHU ANH
LINGUISTICS 2
M1 LESSON 5.2

2. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Contents:
– Wh-questions
– Subordinate wh-clauses
• Subordinate wh-interrogative clauses
• Relative clauses
– Omission of the wh-phrase
– That again
– Restrictive vs non-restrictive

3. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
– Clauses that include a wh-word are called WH-
CLAUSED
– Wh-words can appear in main or subordinate
clauses
– Wh-word in a MAIN clause => QUESTION => WH-
QUESTION
• Yes/No question asks whether something is the case
or note.
• A Wh-question questions some constituents (the
subject, direct object, etc.) => constituent questions.

4. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
Vince is taking what to Athens?
=> Unfronted Question => Echo-question: they are used to echo
– and ask about – something said earlier
What is Vince taking to Athens?
=> Wh-question

5. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
Vince is taking what to Athens?
What is Vince taking to Athens?
– The formation of Wh-questions include:
• The fronting of the wh-phrase
• The fronting of the tensed auxiliary
• Wh-phrase moves above-and-beyond the C position
of tensed auxiliary => a second higher C position =>
introduce S” (S-double-bar)

6. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
Vince is taking what to Athens? What is Vince taking to Athens?

7. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– C1 (lower): Daughter of S-bar (S′) and sister of S
• Filled, in subordinate clauses, by that, whether, and
subordinating conjunctions.
• Filled, in main clauses, by fronted tensed auxiliaries.
– C2 (higher): Daughter of S-double-bar (S″) and
sister of S-bar (S′)
• Filled, in both main and subordinate clauses, by
fronted wh-expressions.
– THAT/WHETHER: simply complimentisers
– WH-expressions in C2 are always fronted from
within the clauses => have functions within the
clauses (indicated by the gap)

8. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– Which books are you giving • to Bill? (• = NP)
– (i) Who will Julia give the pen to • ? (• = NP)
– (ii) To whom will Julia give the pen • ? (• = PP)
– How quickly did he drink that beer • ? (• = AdvP)
– How tall is Max • ? (• = AP)

9. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– Which books are you giving • to Bill? (• = NP)

10. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– (i) Who will Julia give the pen to • ? (• = NP)

11. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– (ii) To whom will Julia give the pen • ? (• = PP)

12. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– How quickly did he drink that beer • ? (• = AdvP)

13. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– How tall is Max • ? (• = AP)

14. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– Consider this case:
Who is taking Violetta’s icon to Athens?
– Should a Wh-SUBJECT be represented as
actually being in the subject position or
represented as fronted to the C2 position?
• YES
– Should there be auxiliary-fronting in this case?
• YES

15. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
Who is taking Violetta’s icon to Athens?

16. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
– For where, when, how, and why, decide on the
most likely category of the gap it has left behind:
• AdvP
• PP
• AP
How are you? => (Possible answer: well/good.)
Where did Lisa put it? => (Possible answer: under
the bed.)

17. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
How are you? => (Possible answer: well/good.)

18. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Wh-questions (MAIN Wh-clauses)
Where did Lisa put it? => (Possible answer: under the bed.)

19. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
How about…
– Whose poem did Stevens suggest would be ideal
for the lecture?
– Who did Leopold think Haydn admired?

20. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
– Whose poem did Stevens suggest would be ideal
for the lecture?
⚫ would be ideal for the lecture
Stevens suggest S2
did S1
Whose poem S1’
S1”

21. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES

22. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
– Who did Leopold think Haydn admired?
Haydn admired ⚫
Leopold think S2
did S1
Who S1’
S1”

23. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Subordinate wh-interrogative clauses
• Martha enquired why he wore it on his foot.
• How he would fare on the trapeze preoccupied him.
• It is my affair what I wear at night.
• Marcel wasn’t certain who he sent the flowers to.
• The immediate problem was where they could hide
those fritters.
• The little matter of who is going to pay for all this has
yet to be resolved.

24. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Subordinate wh-interrogative clauses

25. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
Marcel wasn’t certain who he sent the flowers to.

26. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
Martha enquired why he wore it on his foot.

27. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
It is my affair what I wear at night.

28. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• Non-interrogative wh-clauses
• Function as MODIFIERS

29. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses

30. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• The conclusion [that Mars was inhabited].
• The conclusion [which Gomez disputes].
• The thought [that he should have done the washing up].
• The thought [which occurred to him].
• The claim [that syntax is good for the brain].
• The claim [with which he ended his lecture].
noun complement clauses
relative clauses
noun complement clauses
relative clauses
noun complement clauses
relative clauses

31. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• The NOUN-COMPLEMENT CLAUSES in [a] give us
central information about the head noun (the ACTUAL
CONTENT)
• The RELATIVE CLAUSES tell something else about the
head noun (PERIPHERAL CONTENT)

32. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• As complements, NOUN-COMPLEMENT CLAUSES are
sisters to the head N within NOM.

33. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• As modifiers, RELATIVE CLAUSES are represented, not as
sisters-of-N, but as sisters-of-NOM within a higher NOM.
• Relative clauses can be thought of as ADJUNCTS in NP.

34. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• *The one that Mars is inhabited.
• The one which Gomez disputes.
• *The one that he should have done the washing up.
• The one which occurred to him.
• *The one that syntax is good for the brain.
• The one with which he ended his lecture
One is a pro-NOM: it stands in place of NOMs, not Ns.
[One + relative clause]: grammatical
[One + complement clause]: ungrammatical

35. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
the claim with which he ended his lecture

36. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• Omission of the wh-phrase:
– In many cases, the wh-form in a relative clause can be
omitted (by ellipsis)
The trampolines ^ they bought yesterday were dangerous.
– The fronted wh-form cannot be ellipted:
» when it functions as subject
» when other material has been fronted with it
*The fool ^ lent you all that money lent me some, too.
*A friend ^ house we borrowed needs it back next week.
*The claim with ^ he ended his lecture.

37. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
The trampolines ^ they bought yesterday were dangerous.

38. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• That again:
– Compare:
This is a proposal that we should support (•).
This is a proposal that we should support the strike.
The news that she had given John (•) shocked them all.
The news that she had given John a good kick shocked them all.
=> Relative clauses always include a gap
=> In that-clause (not Relative clauses), that is not fronted so
the clause itself is complete.

39. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
a proposal that we should support (⚫)

40. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
a proposal that we should support the strike

41. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• That again:
– An alternative analysis would insist that that is not a relative
word (in C2) but the familiar C1 complementiser, which is
permitted to make an overt appearance in (the C1 position of)
a relative clause only when the wh-phrase in C2 has been
ellipted.

42. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• Restrictive vs. non-restrictive:
– The books which John has consulted are out of date.
– The books, which John has consulted, are out of date.
– The dogs which have rabies are dangerous.
– The dogs, which have rabies, are dangerous.
RESTRICTIVE relative clauses specify more exactly which of the things
picked out by the head noun are being mentioned.
NON-RESTRICTIVE relative clauses serve to add extra – parenthetical –
information, without restricting the set of things (triangles, dogs, books,
etc.) being mentioned.
– The dogs, which are mammals, are dangerous.
restrictive
restrictive
non-restrictive
non-restrictive

43. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• Restrictive vs. non-restrictive:
As the modifier of a complete NP, the non-restrictive relative clause
must be represented as the sister of that NP within a higher NP

44. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• SUBORDINATE Wh-clauses
– Relative clauses
• Restrictive vs. non-restrictive:
– the wh-phrase/word in non-restrictives can’t be ellipted and
it can’t be replaced by that.

45. 5.2 WH-CLAUSES
• Summary:
– 3 kinds of clauses that can appear within NP:
– Noun-complement clause: sister of N (within
NOM).
– Restrictive relative clause: sister of NOM (within
NOM).
– Non-restrictive relative clause: sister of NP
(within NP).