Edited by Elly van Gelderen
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 9] 2020
► pp. 135–152
This paper investigates elliptical constructions sluicing and sprouting in Jordanian Arabic (JA), and describes the structure of the sluice clause, which depends on the type of wh-expressions on the one hand, and whether the preposition at the sluice is pied-piped on the other hand. The central research question is how such constructions are derived: via ordinary sluicing or via pseudosluicing. Cases where a preposition is pied-piped with the wh-word in the remnant require an ordinary sluicing analysis; pied-piped PPs are not otherwise found in wh-clefts in JA. However, in cases where a preposition is not pied-piped, the only possible underlying derivation is pseudosluicing, with a wh-cleft structure. I also discuss sprouting, in which the wh-word has no corresponding overt correlate in the antecedent clause.