Chapter 7 - Complementiser PhrasesIf the wh-element is moved to the specifier of CP then the result is a wh-
interrogative interpretation. If not then the sentence is interpreted as an echo question.
We might think of this in terms of the interpretation of the wh-element itself. A wh-
element interpreted in an echo question simply has the role of a pointer to the missing
information. In a sense it is a ‘place filler’ that does little more than indicate what
needs to be repeated. A wh-element that is moved into a the specifier of the CP is a
little more complex in terms of its interpretation. The semantics of a moved wh-
element is similar to that of a quantifier such as everyone or someone. These are called
operators as they indicate a process that is needed to work out the meaning of the
sentence that contains them. For example, consider the difference between the following:
(33) a Tim is tall
b someone is tall
The truth of (33) is fairly easy to establish. First we find the individual that the name
Tim refers to and then we see if they have the property of being tall. The truth of the
second statement is not quite so easy. For a start, there is no individual to whom the
word someone refers and so it isn’t just a matter of checking to see if the person has
the property of being tall. Instead we must go to the set of things that someone could
potentially refer to (the set of people relevant to a conversation, perhaps) and go
through each of them individually to see if they are tall. If at least one of them is tall,
then the sentence in (33) is true. If none of them are tall then the sentence is false.
Consider what who means in (32a). Like the quantifier someone the interrogative
pronoun does not refer to a known individual. Instead, the hearer is asked to perform a
process of going to the set of potential referents and finding those that if substituted for
the wh-element would produce a true sentence:
(34) a who did you talk to?
b I talked to Tom – false = not the answer
I talked to Dick – false = not the answer
I talked to Harry – true = answer
Thus, a fronted wh-element is interpreted as an operator. Given that the difference
between a wh-element that is interpreted as an operator and one that is simply used as
an echoic device is that the former is moved to specifier of CP while the latter is not it
seems that the movement plays a role in determining the interpretation of the wh-
element as well as the interpretation of the clause that contains it. Let us assume the
following interpretative principle:
(35) interpret a wh-element as an operator if it is in spec CP
There is one exception to the above principle however. Consider the following:(36) who does Thelma think likes what
This is known as a multiple wh-question as it is a single question that asks for more
than one piece of information. Note that both of the wh-elements may be interpreted as
operators (the second one may be interpreted as an echo given the right intonation), in
which case the answer to the question has to be a list of pairs ranging over likers and
likees. The interesting point is that the second wh-element, although it may be