1. References
Syntax and semantics of constituent
interrogatives in Standard Avar: a
base-generation approach
Pavel Rudnev
University of Groningen
WoSS , CNRS/Paris , th –th November 
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

2. References
Outline
. Introduction
. Data and problem
. Analytic options
. Against a movement analysis
. Proposal
. Conclusions and open questions
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

3. References
Introduction
• A-dependencies can be established by movement and base
generation
• wh-dependencies in Avar, a Nakh-Daghestanian language spoken
in the Caucasus, do not involve wh-movement
• instead, they are base-generated with a relative clause as their
structural core
• this relative clause can either be directly selected by the question
operator or project a biclausal pseudocle-like structure with the
wh-phrase as the predicate
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

4. References
Avar
Avar is a Nakh-Daghestanian language belonging to the Avar-Andic
group within the Daghestanian branch. It is spoken natively by about
, people in southern Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Morphosyntactic properties
• morphological ergativity
• head- nality
• free word order (SOV and SVO the most frequent)
• extensive subject and object pro-drop
• relativisation with a gap
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

5. References
Data and problem
In wh-constructions the question word (boldfaced) can either be
fronted (a) or remain in situ (b)
() a. š:al he=ł r=ič′ ule=l?
what. =: =sell.:=
‘What (items) does she sell?’
b. he=ł š:al r=ič′ ule=l?
=: what. =sell.:=
‘What (items) does she sell?’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

6. References
Data and problem
() a. kina=b mac′ nužec:a b=uge=b
whi language. you.: =be.:=
b=icune=b?
say.:=
‘What language do you speak?’
b. nužec:a kina=b mac′ b=uge=b
you.: whi language. =be.:=
b=icune=b?
say.:=
‘What language do you speak?’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

7. References
Data and problem
e wh-phrase can also occur post-verbally:
() ha=z bicune=b š:i=b?
they. say.:= what
‘What do they say?’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

8. References
Data and problem
In summary, then, the data presented above raises the following issues:
• Empirical problems
. how to derive the different attested placement possibilities of
wh-elements in Standard Avar
 how to rule out the unattested word orders
.
• eoretical issues
. optionality
 movement vs. base-generation parameterisation of
.
A-dependencies
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

9. References
Analytic options 1
Movement
Monoclausal wh-movement-derived structure: in the course of the
derivation the wh-phrase is adjoined above C
() CP
.
.
wh-phrase C′
.
.
.C
. TP
.
… twh-phrase …
.
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

10. References
Analytic options 2
Base generation
Biclausal cle- or pseudocle-like construction (ignoring for now the
mechanism behind linearisation)
() .
IP
I.′ DP
.
. I. PredP
. .D. CP
.
wh-phrase
. relative. clause
.
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

11. References
Why can’t it be movement?
Diagnosing movement
e generalized structure of A-dependencies is represented in (),
where ⌜∅⌝ symbolizes a gap which is semantically interpreted as a
variable bound by the coïndexed operator in the speci er of C.
() CP
.
.
. OP C′
.
C[+op]
. TP
.
.
… ∅. …
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

12. References
Why can’t it be movement?
Diagnosing movement
It is oen tacitly assumed that as A-dependencies are (mostly)
established as a result of movement, and the following phenomena
have been used as diagnostics of A-movement:
• presence of gap
• crossover effects
• sensitivity to islands
• reconstruction
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

13. References
Why can’t it be movement?
Diagnosing movement: Adger & Ramchand ()
Some tests can’t be conclusive, as they also don’t rule out
base-generated structures
• presence of gap [t or pro – both Move and Merge]
• crossover effects [only Move]
• sensitivity to islands [both Move and Merge]
• reconstruction [only Move]
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

14. References
Reconstruction
Principle C effects
In Avar declarative sentences Principle C effects are very strong:
() a. rasulic:a žiwgo č′ wana.
Rasul. self.: kill.
‘Rasul killed himself ’
b. *žinc:ago/*hes: rasul č′ wana.
self./he. Rasul. kill.
(‘Rasul killed himself ’) [Condition C violation]
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

15. References
Reconstruction
Principle C effects
In wh-questions, there are no Principle C effects arising due to the
wh-phrase reconstructing to its base position (b), unlike in English
(a):
() a. *Which picture of John did he buy yesterday?
b. kina=b čupalas:-ul surat son
whi= Čupalaw- picture. yesterday
b=osara=b?
=buy.:=
‘Which picture of Čupalaw did he buy yesterday?’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

16. References
Crossover Effects
SCO
Strong Crossover effects are absent in questions (b) and focus
sentences (d):
() a. łic:a žiwgo č′ waraw?
who. self.: kill..:
‘Who killed himself?’
b. š:iw žinc:ago č′ waraw?
who.: self. kill..:
‘Who killed himself?’
c. rasulic:a žiwgo č′ wana.
Rasul. self.: kill.
‘Rasul killed himself.’
d. žinc:ago-χa rasul č′ waraw.
self. Rasul. kill..:
‘Rasul killed .’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

17. References
WCO
WCO
Weak Crossover effects in relative clauses are also absent (to exclude
the possibility of CO effects arising due to null operator movement):
() a. [ CP žindirgo ebel j=ixara=w] was
self. mother. =see.:= boy.
‘a/the boy that saw his mother’
b. [ CP žindirgo ebelal-da w=ixara=w] was
self. mother. =see.:= boy
‘a/the boy whom his mother saw’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

18. References
Movement across subject
Jayaseelan ()
e other line of analysis would assume that wh-phrases are uniformly
extracted but then the subject DP undergoes optional movement to the le
periphery across the moved wh-element.
ZP
.
. we.
. CP
.
DP
. TP
.
which language. . twe
. . T
.
.
twhich language speak.: be.:
.
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

19. References
Movement across the subject
Problem
Wh-in situ, does not obey locality constraints, which can be seen by the
ungrammaticality of extraction of the focused constituent out of adjunct
islands and the acceptability of focusing of the very same constituent in situ
() a. dir wac:as:a w=ex-dala=w w=uga=w ki=w=e
my brother. =see-:= =be.:= where
w=aʁ-ana=w či?
=go.= man.
‘Where is the man going whom my brother sees?’ (lit.: My brother sees
a where going man?)
b. *ki=w=e dir wac:as:a w=ex-dala=w w=uga=w
where my brother. =see-:= =be.:=
w=aʁ-ana=w či?
=go.= man.
(‘Where is the man going whom my brother sees?’)
[Andalal dialect, Testelec (b)]
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

20. References
Biclausality
Word order
Avar being a discourse con gurational language, the order of arguments and
adjuncts is extremely exible (), but only so in root clauses.
() a. ins:u-c:a mina b=ale=b b=ugo.
father- house. =build.:= =be.
b. mina ins:u-c:a b=ale=b b=ugo.
house. father- =build.:= =be.
c. b=ale=b b=ugo ruqχ:′ ins:u-c:a.
=build.:= =be. house. father-
‘Father is building a house’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

21. References
Word order
Avar relative clauses are strictly verb- nal (Testelec a,b).
() a. narkotikal r=ičule=w či
drugs. =sell.:= man.
‘drug dealer’
b. *r=ičule=w narkotikal či
=sell.:= drugs man.
(‘drug dealer’)
As are wh-questions:
() *r=ičule=l š:al hes?
=sell.:= what. he.
(‘What does he sell?’)
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

22. References
Relative clause core
Moreover, the presuppositional part of a question/focus sentence can
in certain cases be realised as a full-on relative clause headed by a
semantically bleached noun žo ‘thing’:
() a. [due ługara=b žo] š:ib?
you: happen.:= thing. what
‘What happened to you?’ (lit.: ‘What’s the thing that
happened to you?’)
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

23. References
Summary
No wh-movement
Any monoclausal analysis which has the wh-phrase move out of its
base position seems problematic because of
. lack of reconstruction effects
. lack of crossover effects
. restrictions on word order
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

24. References
Proposal
Syntax of questions
Syntactically, questions are CPs, possibly because of the fact that the world
and time variables introduced in the layers above vP.
() Q [ CP [ … ]]
Semantics of questions: Johnson ()
Wh-items are hidden de nite descriptions with an extra variable inside them,
which is bound by the existential quanti er inside the question operator
() Q = λqλp∃x [p =  ∧ p = q] [à la Karttunen ()]
() a. who = ιz [human′ (z) ∧ z = x]
b. what = ιz [thing′ (z) ∧ z = x]
c. where = ιz [place′ (z) ∧ z = x]
d. … . . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

25. References
Proposal
Semantics of questions: Johnson ()
() Who came?
a. λp∃x [p = came′ (ιy[man′ (y) ∧ x = y])]
Presupposition: ∃z[P(wo )(z)]
b. e set of propositions p such that there exists some
individual x and the proposition is that some (actual)
man y came and x is that man.
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

26. References
Proposal
Avar wh-words
In Avar, the lexeme š:i= means both ‘who’ and ‘what’, depending on
the noun class marker with which it appears:
() a. š:i=w ‘who=’
b. š:i=j ‘who=’
c. š:i=b ‘what=’
d. š:a=l ‘who/what=’
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

27. References
Proposal
Wh-ex situ
e wh-question is a pseudocle with the wh-phrase in predicate
position. e question operator ⌜Q⌝ takes the whole biclausal
structure as its argument.
() kina=b mac′ nužec:a b=uge=b
whi language. you.: =be.:=
b=icune=b?
say.:=
‘What language do you speak?’
() [ QP Q [ CP [ TP [ T [ DP kinab mac′ ]  ] [  [ TP nužec:a [ T vP
T] ] C] ] ] ]
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

28. References
Proposal
Wh-in situ
Avar questions with in situ wh-words correspond to free relative
clauses which are directly selected by the question operator. is
makes them similar to concealed questions.
() nužec:a kina=b mac′ b=uge=b
you.: whi language. =be.:=
b=icune=b?
say.:=
‘What language do you speak?’
() Q [ CPREL … wh-word … ]
≈ the language x such that you speak x
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

29. References
Conclusions and open questions
• Conclusions
•  strategies of establishing A-dependencies exist
• Avar constituent questions do not involve a wh-phrase moving
out of its “base” position inside the relative clause
• the (free) relative clause is the core of Avar constituent
interrogatives
• Open questions
• how do you make the free relative denote a proposition?
• how does the predicate of the cle get its case?
• how do morphological agreement and concord work?
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

30. References
References
Adger, David & Gillian Ramchand. . Merge and Move: Wh-Dependencies Revisited. Linguistic Inquiry (). –.
doi:./.
Jayaseelan, K. A. . Questions and Question-word Incorporating Quanti ers in Malayalam. Syntax (). –.
doi:./-..
Johnson, Kyle. . Towards deriving differences in how Wh Movement and QR are pronounced. Lingua In Press, Corrected
Proof. doi:./j.lingua....
Karttunen, Lauri. . Syntax and semantics of questions. Linguistics and Philosophy . –. doi:./BF.
Testelec, Yakov G. a. Word order in Dagestanian languages. In Anna Siewierska (ed.), Constituent order in the languages of
Europe, –. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. doi:./..
Testelec, Yakov G. b. Word order variation in some SOV languages of Europe. In Anna Siewierska (ed.), Constituent Order
in the Languages of Europe, vol. / Empirical Approaches to Language Typology, –. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
doi:./..
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev

31. References
ank you!
. . . . . .
Syntax & Semantics of wh-questions in Avar Pavel Rudnev