Question embedding without wh-interrogatives: A unified account

Abstract

We present a novel analysis of indirect Q-NP-questions in Akan (Kwa, Niger Congo), which come in the form of relativized 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. Akan Q-NPs are licit because the language has cross-categorical operators (Det, Q), which can attach to NP- and clausal constituents alike. The analysis accounts for the varying EXH-strength of such Q-NPs in Akan, and it is extendable to other non Indoeuropean languages with Q-NPs. More generally, there seem to be two subtypes of NP/DP-based embedded questions in natural language: English-type Concealed Questions with a specificational meaning, and Akan-type Q-NPs with a standard Hamblin-question semantics.