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Bavarian Syntax: Contributions to the theory of syntax
Edited by Günther Grewendorf and Helmut Weiß
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 220] 2014
► pp. 23–50

Syntactic and phonological properties of wh-operators and wh-movement in Bavarian

Wh-movement is less uniform than suggested by the standard theory of generative grammar. Bavarian provides evidence that word-size wh-operators have syntactic as well as phonological properties of functional heads rather than genuine phrases. At the core of the analysis is the intuition that wh-words embrace the role of the complementizer, and that as a consequence merger of a separate complementizer is suspended. Theoretical reasoning which comes to this conclusion is suggested by judgment as well as production experiments with native speakers of the language. It is argued that from the economy-driven perspective of minimalist syntax, head-style wh-movement, as supported by Bavarian syntax, should actually be the preferred choice.

Published online: 26 November 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/la.220.02bay
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Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Bayer, Josef
2014. Syntactic and phonological properties of wh-operators and wh-movement in Bavarian. In Bavarian Syntax [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 220], ► pp. 23 ff. DOI logo
Lutz, Uli
2014. Structures of ‘emphatic topicalization’ in Bavarian. In Bavarian Syntax [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 220], ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Schallert, Oliver & Ermenegildo Bidese
2021. Doubly-filled COMPs in Alpine varieties. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 74:1 ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
van Koppen, Marjo
2017. Complementizer Agreement. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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