TY  - JOUR
A1  - Amaechi, Mary Chimaobi
A1  - Georgi, Doreen
T1  - Quirks of subject (non-)extraction in Igbo
JF  - Glossa : a journal of general linguistics
N2  - In this paper we present new data on a subject/non-subject extraction asymmetry in Igbo constituent questions. We provide evidence that the superficially morphological phenomenon reflects a deeper syntactic asymmetry: Unlike wh-non-subjects, wh-subjects cannot undergo local (A) over bar -movement to the left periphery (SpecFoc); rather, they have to stay in their canonical position SpecT. The same constraint also leads to the that-trace effect (absence of the complementizer) in the embedded clause of long subject wh-movement. We argue that what is responsible for the special status of wh-subjects is their high structural position. We provide an optimality-theoretic analysis of the asymmetry that is based on anti-locality: Local subject (A) over bar -movement is excluded because it is too short. Moreover, we address the nature of apparent wh-in-situ in Igbo.
KW  - extraction asymmetries
KW  - wh-movement
KW  - wh-in-situ
KW  - focus marking
KW  - that-trace effect
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.607
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
PB  - Ubiquity Press
CY  - London
ER  -