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Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXXV: Papers from the Annual Symposium on Arabic Linguistics, Washington, D.C., 2022
Edited by Ahmad Alqassas
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 14] 2025
► pp. 137–157

Chapter 6
Doubling unconditionals in Arabic

| Charles University
| Charles University
| University of Nantes / LLING - UMR6310
We discuss wh-based unconditionals in Arabic (‘wherever she went, she was followed by photographers’), with special attention paid to the so-called doubling unconditionals in whose antecedents the predicate/clause is reduplicated (lit. ‘wher(ever) she went she went, she was followed by photographers’). We propose that the doubling unconditionals can be treated on a par with canonical unconditionals once one recognizes that the wh-introduced structure within the antecedent (‘wher(ever) she went’) is a focused free relative. We discuss the benefits, problems, and various open issues of this analysis. The paper constitutes the first in-depth discussion of the syntax and semantics of wh-based unconditionals in Arabic, drawing evidence primarily from Syrian Arabic.
Keywords: unconditionals, clause doubling, Wh-clauses, free relatives, focus, alternatives
Article outline
  • 2.Introduction
  • 3.Background on unconditionals
  • 4.Analysis
  • 5.Supporting evidence
    • Free relatives in Arabic
    • Contrastive focus on the free relative
    • TAM-restrictions in doubling unconditionals
  • 6.Problems and open issues
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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