In this paper, we present data from three Norwegian dialect types, NOR-1, NOR-2 and NOR-3, which differ with respect to the verb second (V2) requirement in wh-questions: NOR-1 (represented by Standard Norwegian) requires V2 in all main clauses, NOR-3 (represented by the Nordmøre dialect) lacks this requirement in all wh-questions, while NOR-2 (represented by the Tromsø dialect) lacks the requir...

Even in relatively configurational languages, such as English, speakers frequently have a choice between different constituent orders. Many of these word order variations have been linked to complexity (Hawkins 2005; inter alia). For example, heavy-NP shift is more likely if the shifted NP is more complex than the NP it shifts over (Wasow 1997). Other cases of word order variations, however, ha...

We describe research centering on the statistical analysis of WHquestions. This work is motivated by the long-term goal of enhancing the performance of information retrieval systems. We identified informational goals associated with users’ queries posed to an Internet resource, and built a statistical model which infers these informational goals from shallow linguistic features of user queries....

Contra previous uniform approaches for wh-phrases, the current paper argues that there is a clear asymmetry between in-situ argument and adjunct wh-phrases with respect to Intervention Effects (IEs) in Korean and Japanese. Based on the categorical (nominal vs. adverbial) dichotomy evidenced by structural case attachment tests and formation of complex wh-expressions, different base locations for...

English-speaking children are known to be delayed in their comprehension of passive sentences (Slobin, 1966; Turner & Rommetveit, 1967; Bever, 1970; Maratsos & Ambramovitch, 1975; Maratsos, Fox, Becker, & Chalkley, 1985; Gordon & Chafetz, 1990; Fox & Grodzinsky, 1998; Hirsch & Wexler, 2004a). Additionally, it has been noted that children’s level of passive comprehension is in part determined by...