Özet:

This article aims to investigate the syntax of the Wh-subject in Hail Arabic (HA), a dialect spoken in the north Najd region in Saudi Arabia. It employs Chomsky’s (2000, 2001) feature-checking theory and Rizzi’s (1997) Split CP hypothesis. This paper demonstrates that the wh-subject can appear in three positions: the specifier position of Tense Phrase [spec, TP], the specifier position of Finiteness Phrase [spec, FinP], and the specifier position of Focus Phrase [spec, FocP]. The study addresses the following question: how is interrogation licensed while the subject is in [Spec, TP] or [Spec, FinP]?  To answer this question, I assume, following Gad (2011), that interrogation is licensed via LF movement of an operator [Op] that bears a strong [wh] feature. This operator moves covertly to [spec CP] to license interrogation. I assume that the complementizer illi ‘that’ heads the FinP. It bears an EPP feature that attracts the Wh-subject adjoining its Spec position. I also claim that pronouns such as hu ‘he’ head the FocP. The study, adopting Chomsky (2000, 2001) feature-checking theory, claims that the focus head establishes an Agree relation with the goal that carries a matching unvalued [Foc] feature, valued [Wh] feature and valued phi-features. The study also demonstrates that the Wh-subject may occur in a final clause position preceded by illi-clause. I account for this phenomenon by assuming that the whole FinP headed by illi moves to the specifier of the upper Topic Phrase while the wh-subject remains in [spec, FocP].

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