{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/390928"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/390928","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Discourse-Conditioned Wh-Placement in Natural Language","abstract":"This dissertation presents a typological investigation of discourse-conditioned wh-placement in natural languages, focusing on wh-ex-situ in wh-in-situ languages (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish) and wh-in-situ in wh-movement languages (Greek, Italian, French, Spanish). Standing at the interface of syntax and information structure, I approach this word order variation with a notion initially adopted in distinguishing the inherent interpretative difference between English which-complexes and other wh-nominals such as what—D(iscourse)-linking (Pesetsky, 1987). The unified explanation I will provide for the availability of these two variants of wh-placement is that the variables bound by these wh-phrases must range over a restrictive set of alternatives that are either saliently specified in the prior utterance or viewed as familiar to both interlocutors. Crucially, such interpretive restrictions are absent for wh-phrases appearing in the default positions of these languages (except for the inherently D-linked which-phrases). I begin by thoroughly examining the Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ questions and presenting evidence to substantiate three key proposals. First, the gapped wh-dependency derived by movement encodes existential presupposition and conventionally implicates three types of contrastive focus. I propose that both of these effects are made possible due to the unvalued, interpretable [FOC D-LINGKING] feature in the Foc⁰ head which triggers the wh-fronting. Second, D-linking serves as a precondition for wh-nominals to take an ex-situ position and the analysis of this property is best incorporated into a Split-DP structure (Guardiano, 2012; Roberts, 2017). By reapplying the feature-valuation approach of Agree (Pesetsky & Torrego, 2007) that we adopt at the CP level to head movement (Roberts, 2010) within DP, I propose that the D-linkability of a wh-nominal is contingent on whether the wh-item can be exponed at D; the wh-item of a wh-phrase can be base generated in D, as in the case of na ‘which’-complexes, or optionally undergo head movement from n to D, as in the case of shenme ‘what’-complexes. Lastly, I propose that Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ construction is subcategorised into the gapped and the resumptive wh-dependencies, with the former identified as wh-focus movement, and the latter involving a hidden prolepsis construction where the wh-phrase is base-generated in an A position—Spec,RP, predicating over a complement clause containing a coreferential correlate (Lohninger, Kovač, & Wurmbrand, 2022). The wh-phrase further undergoes topic movement to the LP of the matrix domain, conveying a contrastive topic interpretation, which also hinges on D-linking (Büring, 2003). Turning to the cross-linguistic investigation of D-linked wh-placement in four other wh-in-situ languages and four wh-movement languages, I intend to shed light on how this phenomenon can be shaped by both universal principles and language-specific parameters. Drawing on a set of parameters designed based on the surface patterns, the syntactic properties and the interpretive properties associated with this non-canonical question formation, I tentatively propose a typological implication: languages, if not all, have both wh-ex-situ and wh-in-situ at their disposal in terms of forming genuine information-seeking questions; it is the D-linking property of the wh-phrase that makes the non-canonical word order possible.","abstract_html":"This dissertation presents a typological investigation of discourse-conditioned wh-placement in natural languages, focusing on wh-ex-situ in wh-in-situ languages (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish) and wh-in-situ in wh-movement languages (Greek, Italian, French, Spanish). Standing at the interface of syntax and information structure, I approach this word order variation with a notion initially adopted in distinguishing the inherent interpretative difference between English which-complexes and other wh-nominals such as what—D(iscourse)-linking (Pesetsky, 1987). The unified explanation I will provide for the availability of these two variants of wh-placement is that the variables bound by these wh-phrases must range over a restrictive set of alternatives that are either saliently specified in the prior utterance or viewed as familiar to both interlocutors. Crucially, such interpretive restrictions are absent for wh-phrases appearing in the default positions of these languages (except for the inherently D-linked which-phrases). I begin by thoroughly examining the Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ questions and presenting evidence to substantiate three key proposals. First, the gapped wh-dependency derived by movement encodes existential presupposition and conventionally implicates three types of contrastive focus. I propose that both of these effects are made possible due to the unvalued, interpretable [FOC D-LINGKING] feature in the Foc⁰ head which triggers the wh-fronting. Second, D-linking serves as a precondition for wh-nominals to take an ex-situ position and the analysis of this property is best incorporated into a Split-DP structure (Guardiano, 2012; Roberts, 2017). By reapplying the feature-valuation approach of Agree (Pesetsky & Torrego, 2007) that we adopt at the CP level to head movement (Roberts, 2010) within DP, I propose that the D-linkability of a wh-nominal is contingent on whether the wh-item can be exponed at D; the wh-item of a wh-phrase can be base generated in D, as in the case of na ‘which’-complexes, or optionally undergo head movement from n to D, as in the case of shenme ‘what’-complexes. Lastly, I propose that Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ construction is subcategorised into the gapped and the resumptive wh-dependencies, with the former identified as wh-focus movement, and the latter involving a hidden prolepsis construction where the wh-phrase is base-generated in an A position—Spec,RP, predicating over a complement clause containing a coreferential correlate (Lohninger, Kovač, & Wurmbrand, 2022). The wh-phrase further undergoes topic movement to the LP of the matrix domain, conveying a contrastive topic interpretation, which also hinges on D-linking (Büring, 2003). Turning to the cross-linguistic investigation of D-linked wh-placement in four other wh-in-situ languages and four wh-movement languages, I intend to shed light on how this phenomenon can be shaped by both universal principles and language-specific parameters. Drawing on a set of parameters designed based on the surface patterns, the syntactic properties and the interpretive properties associated with this non-canonical question formation, I tentatively propose a typological implication: languages, if not all, have both wh-ex-situ and wh-in-situ at their disposal in terms of forming genuine information-seeking questions; it is the D-linking property of the wh-phrase that makes the non-canonical word order possible.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ren, Fangning"],"institution":"University of Cambridge","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Roberts, Ian","Biberauer, Theresa"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-06-02","date_published":"2025-06-02","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:20Z","subjects":["comparative syntax","D-linking","focus","information structure","wh-placement"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/3f4c5682-7fae-46a7-b2ec-160cb4c85495/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.122272","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.doi"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Roberts, Ian","Biberauer, Theresa"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.sponsor","label":"Sponsor","values":["CSC Cambridge Scholarship"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ren, Fangning"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-06-02"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cambridge"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/390928"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["comparative syntax","D-linking","focus","information structure","wh-placement"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/3f4c5682-7fae-46a7-b2ec-160cb4c85495/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.122272"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/952ce5f4-f493-4ffe-99c8-f2943d72b1cd/download"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation presents a typological investigation of discourse-conditioned wh-placement in natural languages, focusing on wh-ex-situ in wh-in-situ languages (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish) and wh-in-situ in wh-movement languages (Greek, Italian, French, Spanish). Standing at the interface of syntax and information structure, I approach this word order variation with a notion initially adopted in distinguishing the inherent interpretative difference between English which-complexes and other wh-nominals such as what—D(iscourse)-linking (Pesetsky, 1987). The unified explanation I will provide for the availability of these two variants of wh-placement is that the variables bound by these wh-phrases must range over a restrictive set of alternatives that are either saliently specified in the prior utterance or viewed as familiar to both interlocutors. Crucially, such interpretive restrictions are absent for wh-phrases appearing in the default positions of these languages (except for the inherently D-linked which-phrases). I begin by thoroughly examining the Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ questions and presenting evidence to substantiate three key proposals. First, the gapped wh-dependency derived by movement encodes existential presupposition and conventionally implicates three types of contrastive focus. I propose that both of these effects are made possible due to the unvalued, interpretable [FOC D-LINGKING] feature in the Foc⁰ head which triggers the wh-fronting. Second, D-linking serves as a precondition for wh-nominals to take an ex-situ position and the analysis of this property is best incorporated into a Split-DP structure (Guardiano, 2012; Roberts, 2017). By reapplying the feature-valuation approach of Agree (Pesetsky & Torrego, 2007) that we adopt at the CP level to head movement (Roberts, 2010) within DP, I propose that the D-linkability of a wh-nominal is contingent on whether the wh-item can be exponed at D; the wh-item of a wh-phrase can be base generated in D, as in the case of na ‘which’-complexes, or optionally undergo head movement from n to D, as in the case of shenme ‘what’-complexes. Lastly, I propose that Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ construction is subcategorised into the gapped and the resumptive wh-dependencies, with the former identified as wh-focus movement, and the latter involving a hidden prolepsis construction where the wh-phrase is base-generated in an A position—Spec,RP, predicating over a complement clause containing a coreferential correlate (Lohninger, Kovač, & Wurmbrand, 2022). The wh-phrase further undergoes topic movement to the LP of the matrix domain, conveying a contrastive topic interpretation, which also hinges on D-linking (Büring, 2003). Turning to the cross-linguistic investigation of D-linked wh-placement in four other wh-in-situ languages and four wh-movement languages, I intend to shed light on how this phenomenon can be shaped by both universal principles and language-specific parameters. Drawing on a set of parameters designed based on the surface patterns, the syntactic properties and the interpretive properties associated with this non-canonical question formation, I tentatively propose a typological implication: languages, if not all, have both wh-ex-situ and wh-in-situ at their disposal in terms of forming genuine information-seeking questions; it is the D-linking property of the wh-phrase that makes the non-canonical word order possible."]},{"key":"dc:format.checksum.md5","label":"Dc Format Checksum Md5","values":["4535f2d5ca7f788123ee0f8d79eecee3","87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Discourse-Conditioned Wh-Placement in Natural Language"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Roberts, Ian","Biberauer, Theresa"],"dc:contributor.sponsor":["CSC Cambridge Scholarship"],"dc:creator":["Ren, Fangning"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-06-02"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation presents a typological investigation of discourse-conditioned wh-placement in natural languages, focusing on wh-ex-situ in wh-in-situ languages (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish) and wh-in-situ in wh-movement languages (Greek, Italian, French, Spanish). Standing at the interface of syntax and information structure, I approach this word order variation with a notion initially adopted in distinguishing the inherent interpretative difference between English which-complexes and other wh-nominals such as what—D(iscourse)-linking (Pesetsky, 1987). The unified explanation I will provide for the availability of these two variants of wh-placement is that the variables bound by these wh-phrases must range over a restrictive set of alternatives that are either saliently specified in the prior utterance or viewed as familiar to both interlocutors. Crucially, such interpretive restrictions are absent for wh-phrases appearing in the default positions of these languages (except for the inherently D-linked which-phrases). I begin by thoroughly examining the Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ questions and presenting evidence to substantiate three key proposals. First, the gapped wh-dependency derived by movement encodes existential presupposition and conventionally implicates three types of contrastive focus. I propose that both of these effects are made possible due to the unvalued, interpretable [FOC D-LINGKING] feature in the Foc⁰ head which triggers the wh-fronting. Second, D-linking serves as a precondition for wh-nominals to take an ex-situ position and the analysis of this property is best incorporated into a Split-DP structure (Guardiano, 2012; Roberts, 2017). By reapplying the feature-valuation approach of Agree (Pesetsky & Torrego, 2007) that we adopt at the CP level to head movement (Roberts, 2010) within DP, I propose that the D-linkability of a wh-nominal is contingent on whether the wh-item can be exponed at D; the wh-item of a wh-phrase can be base generated in D, as in the case of na ‘which’-complexes, or optionally undergo head movement from n to D, as in the case of shenme ‘what’-complexes. Lastly, I propose that Mandarin D-linked wh-ex-situ construction is subcategorised into the gapped and the resumptive wh-dependencies, with the former identified as wh-focus movement, and the latter involving a hidden prolepsis construction where the wh-phrase is base-generated in an A position—Spec,RP, predicating over a complement clause containing a coreferential correlate (Lohninger, Kovač, & Wurmbrand, 2022). The wh-phrase further undergoes topic movement to the LP of the matrix domain, conveying a contrastive topic interpretation, which also hinges on D-linking (Büring, 2003). Turning to the cross-linguistic investigation of D-linked wh-placement in four other wh-in-situ languages and four wh-movement languages, I intend to shed light on how this phenomenon can be shaped by both universal principles and language-specific parameters. Drawing on a set of parameters designed based on the surface patterns, the syntactic properties and the interpretive properties associated with this non-canonical question formation, I tentatively propose a typological implication: languages, if not all, have both wh-ex-situ and wh-in-situ at their disposal in terms of forming genuine information-seeking questions; it is the D-linking property of the wh-phrase that makes the non-canonical word order possible."],"dc:format.checksum.md5":["4535f2d5ca7f788123ee0f8d79eecee3","87eda9de84448d1f82354d60eee3eb5f"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.122272"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/952ce5f4-f493-4ffe-99c8-f2943d72b1cd/download"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cambridge"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby.uri":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/390928"],"dc:rights":["https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/3f4c5682-7fae-46a7-b2ec-160cb4c85495/download","http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved"],"dc:subject":["comparative syntax","D-linking","focus","information structure","wh-placement"],"dc:title":["Discourse-Conditioned Wh-Placement in Natural Language"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:20Z"}