Ana Maria Brito (Universidade do Porto)

The alternation between improper indirect questions and DPs containing a restrictive relative

 

Idõpont: 2013. április 30. kedd 11.00 óra

 

Abstract:

This paper analyses the alternation between improper indirect questions and restrictive relatives in European Portuguese. We propose that this alternation is lexically restricted, only occurring with weakly assertive cognitive definite predicates, in the sense of Hinzen & Sheehan (2011), such as saber, ‘to know’ or descobrir, ‘to discover’. We also claim that the alternation between an improper indirect wh-CP and a DP containing a restrictive relative is possible because they share significant features, namely they both involve sentences with declarative illocutionary force and wh/operator chains, and exhibit a high level of referentiality, due to the D-linked nature of the whP in the improper indirect question and the definite and specific nature of the DP that includes the relative.

Key words:

Improper indirect questions, restrictive relatives, weakly assertive cognitive definite predicates, European Portuguese, Spanish.