Feature 12. Superiority

found in question(s): 29a, 29b, 29c

Definition and illustration

Many languages allow for the questioning of more than one constituent per clause, e.g., as in the English example in (1):

(1)

Languages differ as to which worders they allow between the subject-wh and the non-subject wh-phrase. In languages like English, the order is fixed in that the subject wh-phrase always comes first. This restriction is referred to as superiority. Not all languages obey the superiority constraint. In German, for instance, the order of wh-phrases is flexible:

(2)

Superiority effects have been argued to be a hallmark of VO-languages. It is assumed that this is due to their EPP-property. Since the subject has to be fronted to Spec,TP, it will invariably precede the other wh-phase, even if subject and object can, in principle, be reordered at the VP-level. In OV-languages, which are not subject to the EPP, the non-subject wh-phrase can precede the subject wh-phrase if the language allows reordering of the two at the VP level (i.e., an intermediate A-scrambling step). These correlations are tested in the following question:

Correlations

Question 29 investigates whether wh-phrases can be reordered.

• Prediction 1: V-O → *OWH-SWH
• Prediction 2: O-V → OWH-SWH

See also

This feature is closely connected to several others that explore the consequences of the presence/absence of the EPP, i.e., 5, 7, 13, 17, 18 as well as features that explore the consequences of the presence/absence of A-scrambling, i.e., 10, 14, 16.

References