Difference between revisions of "Wh-questions"

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[[Category: Questions]]
 
[[Category: Questions]]
 
[[Category: Syntax]]
 
[[Category: Syntax]]
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 +
Wh-question (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(12))
 +
 +
:{|
 +
|Cò
 +
|a
 +
|bha
 +
|sgith?
 +
|-
 +
|who
 +
|C.REL
 +
|be.PST
 +
|tired
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="2"| 'Who was tired?'
 +
|}
 +
 +
Equative wh-question when the subject is a wh-element ((Adger and Ramchand 2005:(15))
 +
 +
:{|
 +
|Cò
 +
|an
 +
|tidsear?
 +
|-
 +
|who
 +
|the
 +
|teacher
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="2"| 'Who is the teacher?'
 +
|}
 +
 +
Pied-piped wh-question (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(21))
 +
:{|
 +
|Dè
 +
|an
 +
|seòrsa
 +
|tidsear
 +
|a
 +
|tha
 +
|annad?
 +
|-
 +
|what
 +
|the
 +
|sort
 +
|teacher
 +
|C.REL
 +
|is
 +
|in + you
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="2"| 'What sort of teacher are you?'
 +
|}
 +
 +
Fronted wh-phrases are always nominative marked (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(31)).
 +
:{|
 +
|Dè
 +
|a'
 +
|chraobh
 +
|a
 +
|bha
 +
|thu
 +
|a'geàrradh?
 +
|-
 +
|which
 +
|the
 +
|tree.NOM
 +
|C.REL
 +
|be.PST
 +
|you
 +
|cutting
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="2"| 'Which tree were you cutting?'
 +
|}
 +
 +
The sentence becomes ungrammatical with genietive marking on the noun inside the wh-phrase (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(31)),
 +
:{|
 +
|Dè
 +
|a'
 +
|chraobhe
 +
|a
 +
|bha
 +
|thu
 +
|a'geàrradh?
 +
|-
 +
|which
 +
|the
 +
|tree.GEN
 +
|C.REL
 +
|be.PST
 +
|you
 +
|cutting
 +
|-
 +
|colspan="2"| 'Which tree were you cutting?'
 +
|}
 +
 +
although the object noun is marked with genitive in declaratives (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(30))
 +
:{|
 +
|Bha
 +
|thu
 +
|a'geàrradh
 +
|na
 +
|craoibhe.
 +
|-
 +
|be.PST
 +
|you
 +
|cutting
 +
|the
 +
|tree.GEN
 +
|-
 +
|coldspan="2"| 'You were cutting the tree.'

Latest revision as of 15:07, 6 September 2013


Wh-question (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(12))

Cò a bha sgith?
who C.REL be.PST tired
'Who was tired?'

Equative wh-question when the subject is a wh-element ((Adger and Ramchand 2005:(15))

Cò an tidsear?
who the teacher
'Who is the teacher?'

Pied-piped wh-question (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(21))

Dè an seòrsa tidsear a tha annad?
what the sort teacher C.REL is in + you
'What sort of teacher are you?'

Fronted wh-phrases are always nominative marked (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(31)).

Dè a' chraobh a bha thu a'geàrradh?
which the tree.NOM C.REL be.PST you cutting
'Which tree were you cutting?'

The sentence becomes ungrammatical with genietive marking on the noun inside the wh-phrase (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(31)),

Dè a' chraobhe a bha thu a'geàrradh?
which the tree.GEN C.REL be.PST you cutting
'Which tree were you cutting?'

although the object noun is marked with genitive in declaratives (Adger and Ramchand 2005:(30))

Bha thu a'geàrradh na craoibhe.
be.PST you cutting the tree.GEN
'You were cutting the tree.'
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