WH-Movement and the Position of SPEC-CP: Evidence from American Sign Language

Karen Petronio · Diane Lillo‐Martin

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Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation Language Development and Disorders Hearing Impairment and Communication

Abstract

Some researchers have claimed that wh-movement in ASL is rightward, contrary to the apparent universality of leftward wh-movement. In contrast to this claim, we argue that wh-movement in ASL is to a leftward specifier of CP. We account for the occurrence of rightward wh-elements by independently motivated syntactic and discourse factors which lead to the appearance of wh-elements in sentence- or discourse-final positions-not by rightward wh-movement. Our analysis provides an account for a variety of ASL direct and indirect wh-questions and is in accord with cross-linguistic generalizations.

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References

1967Constraints on variables in syntax 1994The antisymmetry of syntax 1984On the distribution and reference of empty pronouns 1980The signs of language . By Edward S. Klima and Ursula Bellugi Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979. Pp. xii, 417. $25.00.1978Lexical Borrowing in American Sign Language 1989Logical form, its structure and derivation 1986Focus in Generative Grammar 1987What the Hands Reveal about the Brain

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2004Interrogative Constructions in Signed Languages: Crosslinguistic Perspectives 2009Visual Intonation in the Prosody of a Sign Language 2006Modality-independent and modality-specific aspects of grammaticalization in sign languages 2005Grammatical processing in American Sign Language: Age of first-language acquisition effects in relation to syntactic structure 1999Prosody in Israeli Sign Language 2010Prosody and syntax in sign languages

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