Wh-agreement

Wh-agreement refers to morphological changes triggered by wh-movement, usually in verbs or complementisers.^[1] It occurs in a number of Bantu languages,^[2]^[3] Austronesian languages including Chamorro and Palauan, Algonquin languages such as Ojibwe,^[4] as well as Hausa, French, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish.^[5]

For example, in Chamorro, the infix ⟨um⟩ (labelled ⟨WH[nom]⟩) is attached to the verb to mark agreement with the nominative question phrase following subject extraction:^[6]

(1)

Ha

3sSA

fa'gåsi

wash

si

PND

Juan

i

the

kareta.

car

'Juan washed the car.'

(2)

Håyi

who?

f⟨um⟩a'gåsi

⟨WH[NOM]⟩wash

i

the

kareta?

car

'Who washed the car?'

Additionally, some languages have distinct agreement morphology depending on the case of element being moved.^[1] In the case of object extraction in Chamorro, the verb fa'gasi instead becomes fina’gasése (marked with ⟨WH[obj]⟩):

(3)

Håfa

what

i

the

f⟨in⟩a’gasésen-ña

⟨WH[OBJ]⟩wash.PROG-AGR

si Juan

Juan

para

for

hågu?

you

‘What is Juan washing for you?’

In French and Scottish Gaelic, special complementisers are used in cases of wh-movement:^[5]

(4)

Tu

you

as

have

dit

said

que

that

le

the

livre

book

était

had

tombé

fallen

‘You said that the book had fallen.’

(5)

Qu'est-ce

what-is-this

que

that

tu

you

as

have

dit

said

qui

that.AGR

était

was

tombé

fallen

‘Who did you say had fallen?’

References

^ ^a ^b A. Watanabe (6 December 2012). "WH-Agreement". Case Absorption and WH-Agreement. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. Vol. 37. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 170–1. doi:10.1007/978-94-015-8615-3_4. ISBN 978-94-015-8615-3.
^ McDaniel, Dana (29 August 2018). "Long-distance extraction attraction: A production-based account of an unexpected cross-linguistic structure". Glossa. 3 (1): 95. doi:10.5334/gjgl.712. ISSN 2397-1835.
^ Zentz, Jason. Kramer, Ruth (ed.). "Bantu Wh-agreement and the Case against Probe Impoverishment" (PDF). Selected Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: 290–301.
^ Lochbihler, B.; Mathieu, E. (2013). "Wh-agreement in Ojibwe relative clauses: Evidence for CP Structure". The Canadian Journal of Linguistics. 58 (2): 293–318. doi:10.1017/S0008413100003042. S2CID 55026147.
^ ^a ^b http://artsites.uottawa.ca/eajmathieu/doc/Lochbihler_Mathieu.pdf ^{[dead link]}
^ Sandra Chung (November 1998). The Design of Agreement: Evidence from Chamorro. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-10607-6.

[Watanabe2012-1] A. Watanabe (6 December 2012). "WH-Agreement". Case Absorption and WH-Agreement. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. Vol. 37. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 170–1. doi:10.1007/978-94-015-8615-3_4. ISBN 978-94-015-8615-3.

[2] McDaniel, Dana (29 August 2018). "Long-distance extraction attraction: A production-based account of an unexpected cross-linguistic structure". Glossa. 3 (1): 95. doi:10.5334/gjgl.712. ISSN 2397-1835.

[3] Zentz, Jason. Kramer, Ruth (ed.). "Bantu Wh-agreement and the Case against Probe Impoverishment" (PDF). Selected Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: 290–301.

[MUSE-4] Lochbihler, B.; Mathieu, E. (2013). "Wh-agreement in Ojibwe relative clauses: Evidence for CP Structure". The Canadian Journal of Linguistics. 58 (2): 293–318. doi:10.1017/S0008413100003042. S2CID 55026147.

[inheritance-5] ttp://artsites.uottawa.ca/eajmathieu/doc/Lochbihler_Mathieu.pdf ^{[dead link]}

[Chung1998-6] Sandra Chung (November 1998). The Design of Agreement: Evidence from Chamorro. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-10607-6.

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