Chapter published in:
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXIII: Papers selected from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Toronto, Canada, 2019
Edited by Abdel-Khalig Ali and Atiqa Hachimi
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 11] 2022
► pp. 147–166

Remnant-movement analysis of questions with final wh-words in Jordanian Arabic

| The University of Jordan
| Yarmouk University

This paper investigates a subclass of questions in which the wh-word appears question-finally in Jordanian Arabic. It proposes that such questions are syntactically derived by two movements. First, the wh-word moves to the Spec of Focus Phrase in the left periphery of the question (cf. Rizzi, 1997). This is followed by the movement of the remnant TP to a higher position in the left periphery (the Spec of Topic Phrase), c-commanding the already-moved wh-word. Pragmatic and syntactic evidence is provided to motivate this analysis. Two competing alternatives of the derivation of these questions (the in-situ analysis and the right-ward movement of final wh-words) are discussed and rejected based on empirical evidence.

Keywords: Jordanian Arabic, left periphery, remnant movement, wh-movement
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.P-wh-questions in JA
  • 3.Pragmatics of P-wh-questions
  • 4.Syntactic account of P-wh-questions in JA
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 06 December 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.11.07jar
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