The argument Structure of WH-Operators

Linguistics 322

To understand the meaning of WH-operators, perhaps a look at the semantics or logic of WH-operators might be helpful. Let us start with the following sentence:

(1)    What did John buy?

This sentence implies that John bought something, but the speaker does not know what it is. He is eliciting the information. Putting tense aside for the moment, the basic lexical form of (1) is the following. (2) is old information:

(2)   [John buy something] = [VP BUY <theme: SOMETHING> <agent: JOHN>].

Since (1) is an information seeking question, let's add the [+Q] operator to this proposition; [+Q] is an operator:

(3)   [VP [C +Q] <[VP BUY <SOMETHING> <JOHN>]>]].

Unmodified, (3) underlies a yes/no question: the speaker would be trying to determine whether John bought something. Next, let's add [+WH] to (3):

(4)    [ +WH  [ +Q [John buy something]]].

The WH-operator is modifying (3). [+Q] is now associated with the elicitation of determining what 'something' is: what John bought. The WH-operator needs a target. The target must be something unidentified. The only possible target in (4) is something. +WH lowers to its target, and we now have the D-structure for (1):

(5)   [ [+ Q [John buy what ]]].

Suppose we label the outer bracket 'W' (for 'WH').

(6)   [WP [W] [CP [C + Q] [John buy what ]]].

Now let's include tense, which is [-Past] in (1):

(7)   [WP [W] [CP [C + Q] [TP T [-Past]] [John buy what ]]]]].

We now represent (7) in the more readable form of a tree-structure:

(8)   

In the logical structure, the subject, John, is closely associated with the verb (the basic proposition). In raising we propose that John raises (Raising) from VP and adjoins to TP. Hence, S is now TP:

(9)    

In the syntax Do-Support applies to function as a host for [+Past]. [+Q] raises to C-[+Q]. The function of an operator is to raise an operator to its propositional (logical) position for the purpose of interpretation. [+Q] must c-command TP in order to achieve the correct interpretation. This is a problem of pure semantics and we won't go into any further here. Sometimes this occurs in the syntax, sometime this occurs in post-syntax or what is more often called Logical Form. Similarly, the WH-operator must raise to W [+WH]:

In indirect questions it is the subject of the questioning verb who is seeking information. Let us start with the following sentence:

(10)   Mary asked what John bought.

There are two basic propositions here:

(11)    Mary ask X

(12)    X = John buy something.

In the first proportion, the speaker is not eliciting information. There is no WH-operator here. Let us mark C as [-Q]. [-Q] is a statement (a non-question). [-Q] is null in matrix sentences and optionally that in embedded sentences.

(14)  [CP [-Q] [TP [+Past] Mary ask X ]].

The speaker is trying to elicit information from the embedded clause. C contains [+Q] to mark the elicitation (question) and [+WH] to mark what, the speaker want to know what it is that John bought:

(15)   [WH [W +WH] [[C +Q] [TP [T +Past] [Mary buy something ]]]].

Now we replace X in (14) with (15):

1. [CP [-Q] [TP [+Past] Mary ask  [WH [W +WH] [[C +Q] [TP [T +Past] [Mary buy something ]]]]..

In tree form (15) is represented as:

(16)   

We have been lowering tense to the verb.

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