Wh-questions in French and English : Mapping syntax to information structure

Comparative and Contrastive Studies of Information Structure
Edited by Carsten Breul and Edward Göbbel
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 165] 2010

Wh-questions in French and English : Mapping syntax to information structure

Paul Boucher | Université d’Angers

As opposed to English, French wh-questions can take a wide variety of forms. I identify four basic patterns: (a) wh- in situ: Vous êtes allés où?; (b) wh– raised, verb in situ: Où vous êtes allés?; (c) est-ce que insertion: Où est-ce que vous êtes allés?; (d) subject-clitic inversion: Où êtes-vous allés?, and argue that these are in fact ‘allo-questions’. Based on a review of historical factors, as well as on recent corpus studies, I show that each of the four question types corresponds to a distinct pragmatic function and compare French and English usage. Finally, wh– in situ constructions are formally analysed as a covert form of multiple wh-question, using an unselective binding mechanism.

Published online: 9 September 2010

https://doi.org/10.1075/la.165.05bou