Speaker: Snejana Iovtcheva
Title: WH-questions in Bulgarian: Evidence for [focus]-movement in a Feature Based Syntactic Theory
Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov 22, 1-2p
Location: 32-D461
The presentation is based on my masters thesis from Syracuse University, in which I analyze the multiple wh-fronting (MWF) structure of Bulgarian under the Move-F(eature) approach to syntactic displacement (Chomsky 1995, 2004). I propose an alternative syntactic model that challenges Boškovič’s (1998) and Lambova’s (2001) move-to-SpecCP analyses by proposing that wh-phrases do not target SpecCP in Bulgarian. Instead wh-phrases move to a preverbal focus position, which is the SpecTP following Motapanyane’s (1997) proposal that [focus] is generated in T in Romanian. The proposed clausal structure ultimately allows us to: (1) propose a unified [focus]-driven discourse-oriented movement with a systematic featural distribution, (2) capture the distribution of focalized constituents not only in interrogative, but also in declarative clauses and in yes/no questions in both root and embedded contexts, and (3) provide an explanation for the different behavior of relative pronouns and wh-phrases in Bulgarian. In addition, my analysis provides an account of the previously discussed properties of the Bulgarian MWF, such as the V2-order, the Superiority effects, and the obligatory Pair-list interpretation.