Lexical Variation in Degree wh‐questions in Spanish and the Internal Structure of wh‐phrases1

Bibliographic Data

ID21398732
AuthorsLuis Eguren (0000-0001-9543-292X, Departamento de Filología Española Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid Spain, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume74
Issue3
Pages717-739
Publication date2020-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0039-3193 • E-ISSN: 1467-9582
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/stul.12141
OpenAlexW3029871974
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

This paper provides a formal account of the pattern of lexical variation found in adjectival degree wh‐questions in current Spanish. It is proposed that Spanish degree wh‐forms heading an interrogative clause ( cuán ‘how much’, qué tan ‘what so’, cómo de ‘how of’, and cuánto de ‘how much of’) share an internal structure including (at least) two components, a wh‐operator and a (degree) variable, which are both phonetically realized in the Old and American Spanish degree wh‐expression qué tan . This analysis is extended to the American Spanish nominal wh‐form qué tanto(s) ‘what so much/many’ and to the general Spanish manner wh‐expression qué tal ‘what such’. It is further argued that all interrogative wh‐forms in Spanish comprise a wh‐quantifier and an overt or covert variable ranging over different types of entities (individuals, amounts, manners, degrees, etc.), also tentatively suggesting that this could apply across languages

Covert · Degree (music) · Expression (computer science) · Interrogative · Linguistics · Physics · Quantifier (linguistics) · Variable (mathematics) · Variation (astronomy) · Computer Science · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Philosophy · Spanish Linguistics and Language Studies · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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