Chapter 7 - Complementiser Phrases3.2 Wh-movement
Wh-elements come in a variety of forms and functions. All of them contain some
element that has an interrogative interpretation, which may be a pronoun, a determiner
or a degree adverb:
(26) a [DP what] do you think?
b [DP which present] did she get you?
c [PP to whom] am I talking?
d [AP how fast] did they run?
We might assume that all of these phrases share a common ‘interrogative feature’
which determines their interpretation as question elements. Typically this feature is
represented as [+wh] and is contrasted with [–wh] which has a declarative
interpretation.
The main issue to be discussed is why wh-elements move to the specifier of the
CP. We have seen that movement of DPs to the specifier of IP is motivated by the
need to circumvent the actions of the Case filter. But this cannot be the motivation for
wh-movements. This can be argued for from a number of perspectives. First note that
wh-movement does not always involve DPs, unlike movements to spec IP. As the Case
filter concerns only the distribution of DPs, it cannot be the motivation for all wh-
movements and there must be another reason for why non-DP wh-elements, at least,
undergo the process. Moreover, the Case filter cannot be the motivation for DP wh-
elements moving to spec CP. This is because DP wh-elements move to spec CP from
Case positions:
(27) a what 1 do you know t 1?
b who 1 did you speak to t 1?
c who 1 do you think [t 1 is the thief]?
The wh-element in (27a) moves from an object position, from the object of a
preposition in (27b) and from a finite clause subject position in (27c). All these are
Case positions, so the Case filter cannot explain why the movement took place.
There seem to be two interrelated motivations for wh-movement, one concerning
the interpretation of the clause, and one concerning the interpretation of the wh-
element itself. Let’s start with the clause. Obviously clauses are either interpreted as
questions or not. Moreover, in embedded contexts the distribution of a clause will
depend on its force as some verbs require an interrogative complement while others
require a declarative one:
(28) a Andrew asked [if/that the pears were ripe]
b they didn’t think [that/if the pears were ripe]
In the examples in (28) the force of the embedded clauses is obviously determined by
the complementiser, as would be expected. However, in the following, it seems that
the force of the clause is determined by the wh-element in specifier positions:
(29) Wendy wondered [when the pears would be ripe]
This is a little puzzling as phrases do not get their properties form their specifiers, but
from their heads.