Wh-scope-marking in Tamil
This study shows that Tamil exhibits wh-scope-marking constructions that share general properties with those found in other languages such as German and Hindi. In the literature, wh-scope-marking has been analyzed such that the embedded question functions as a restriction on the matrix propositional...
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| Published in | Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 5956 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
01.06.2025
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| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 2473-8689 2473-8689 |
| DOI | 10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5956 |
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| Summary: | This study shows that Tamil exhibits wh-scope-marking constructions that share general properties with those found in other languages such as German and Hindi. In the literature, wh-scope-marking has been analyzed such that the embedded question functions as a restriction on the matrix propositional wh-phrase, with the two forming a constituent in the underlying structure. However, this constituent structure has been motivated solely on semantic grounds and lacks direct syntactic support. I argue that Tamil wh-scope-marking provides syntactic support for the constituency between the matrix wh-phrase and the embedded questoin, using a Proper Binding Condition (PBC) effect as a diagnostic. These findings thus provide empirical support for the constituent structure assumed in previous semantic analyses and help bridge the gap between syntax and semantics in the analysis of wh-scope-marking. |
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| ISSN: | 2473-8689 2473-8689 |
| DOI: | 10.3765/plsa.v10i1.5956 |