Question embedding without wh-interrogatives: A unified account

Jeanne Lecavelier (Universität Potsdam)
Malte Zimmermann (Universität Potsdam)

We present a novel analysis of embedded questions focusing on Akan (Kwa, Niger Congo), where these come in the form of relativised NPs without wh-syntax. We propose a unified analysis of Akan Q-NPs (Zimmermann 2018) and their English wh-counterparts on which a covert Q-operator abstracts over a variable expressed by a REL- or a wh-pronoun, respectively. The Akan pattern is possible since the language has a more flexible syntax with cross-categorical operators (Det, Q) that can attach to NP- and TP-constituents alike. The analysis accounts for the varying EXH-strength of such Q-NPs under different embedding predicates in Akan and English alike. It also extends to Chadic Hausa, which features both English-type wh- and Akan-type REL-structures in its grammar. More generally, the analysis suggests that there are two semantic subtypes of concealed questions (CQs) in natural language: English-type CQs with a specificational meaning vs Akan-type Q-NPs with a standard question meaning.