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This study provides the first description-oriented, theoretically-unaligned account of wh-clauses in Modern English. The author employs a data-based approach to examine aspects of both generative and non-generative work as regards their relative strengths and weaknesses.Wh-clauses in English: Aspects of Theory and Description is a unique combination of statistical findings and qualitative analysis. It is not only underpinned by a systematic investigation of the Brown University corpus but also includes attested material from other sources such as the British National Corpus, the CobuildDirect corpus as well as material gleaned from the internet.The qualitative and quantitative analyses are combined to approach a wide range of theoretical and descriptive issues, such as wh-movement, landing-sites for moved wh-XPs, vacuous movement, island constraints, among others. Not insignificantly, many questions of indeterminacy are addressed, such as the interface of conjunctions and relative words, the problems of demarcation between interrogatives and free relatives as well as structural ambiguities between interrogatives and exclamatives.
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Acknowledgments In writing this book, there have been many things other than the text itself which I have been thankful for. The completion of this enterprise has, among other things, brought with it an enhanced sense of humility, patience and discipline. These are truly things to be grateful for and these are the people I would like to thank for them. For support far above and beyond the call of duty, I give my sincere thanks to my supervisor, Professor Aimo Seppänen. I have profited enormously from our many conversations and I find it inconceivable that I could have undertaken and completed this project without his friendly attitude and his judicious suggestions. The confidence he has shown in me has had a immeasurable effect on me and my work and it is with immense pleasure that I thank him here for his guidance and encouragement. Giving freely of his time and expertise, Sölve Ohlander has read and commented on parts of previous versions of this text. The keen interest he has shown in my work has been deeply appreciated and I cannot thank him enough for his time, his good cheer, his insightful comments and his unashamedly generativestyle approach to grammar. For his comments on parts of this manuscript I would also like to express my gratitude to Arne Olofsson. Karin Aijmer, despite her mindbendingly hectic schedule, has also taken the time to read parts of my manuscript and I thank her for her interest and advice. I have also benefited greatly from discussions with David Wright, who has always shown a frightening talent for knowing what I am talking about no matter how ill-thought out that may be. I also want to express my appreciation to the members of the doctoral seminar at the English Department at Göteborg University for lively and helpful discussion of many of the subjects contained in this work. I am particularly indebted to Karolina Wirdenäs for providing much needed support and advice, but especially for her assistance in overcoming the innumerable and seemingly insurmountable obstacles I faced in the last hectic days of preparing the first version of this work. On the general theme of moral support there are simply too many people to thank individually, but, having said that, I feel quite content to single out three people who have been exceptionally supportive – for their uncannily well-timed, constructive, considerate and positive comments I am particularly beholden to Rhonwen Bowen, Ron Paul and Margret Javefors. Thanks are also due to Inger Bergren for giving me a ticket to this crazy roller coaster and also to Göran Kjellmer, who in the early stages of what was to become my academic career, showed me how an inspired pedagogue who enjoys his subject can make a difference.