Ot Analysis Of Superiority In English Multiple WH-Questions

Superiority in wh-movement,is defined as the phenomenon that in the same sentence one wh-element is superior to other wh-elements in the light of movement.In English,there are mainly four kinds of superiority effects:(1)Subjects are superior to objects;(2)Adjuncts are superior to objects;(3)Adjuncts are superior to subjects;(4)Indirect objects are superior to direct objects.In this thesis,the latest development of post Generative Grammar—Optimality Theory(Prince and Smolensky 1993) is employed to analyze the superiority phenomenon in which no former approach in Generative Grammar seems to have ever reached explanatory adequacy.Optimality Theory,initiated by Prince and Smolensky in phonology, has extended to other areas in linguistics and has been developing to be a universal linguistic theory.OT grammar is an input-output mechanism that pairs an output form to an input form in which Generator maps the input onto an infinite set of candidate output forms whereas the Evaluator, a set of ranked constraints,evaluates output candidates as to their harmonic values and eventually selects the optimal candidate.OT-based syntax is an attempt to extend the basic working mechanism of OT phonology into the domain of syntax and the basic idea underling OT phonology is equally applicable to OT-based syntax.Grimshaw(1997)presents an OT account of head movement and English auxiliaries,in which wh-movement in English single wh-questions is successfully analyzed.In her paper,she redefines Input, Generator and Evaluator in the domain of syntax since OT-based syntax, as a syntactic theory,demonstrates certain distinctive features.She also lists several syntactic constraints which include:OPERATOR IN SPECIFIER (O_p- SPEC);OBLIGATORY HEADS(OB-HD);FULL-INTERPRETATION (FULL-INT);ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT(STAY).By applying Grimshaw's study,in which multiple wh-questions are not discussed,to the superiority problem,we find out that some grammatically incorrect sentences would be chosen as the optimal candidates.Therefore,the author concludes that Grimshaw's study,in spite of much improvement,is not adequate in superiority study and therefore needs further improvement.This thesis makes two modifications to Grimshaw's syntactic constraint inventory:1) redefining the markedness constraint OP-SPEC as "Specifier position of CP must be occupied by one and only one operator";2)adding one more markedness constraint HIERARCHY OF ADJACENCY(HIE-ADJ),which is held responsible for sequencing correct sentences,into her constraint hierarchy.Having adopted Grimshaw's research method,this thesis derives the eventual constraint hierarchy through comparisons among the five constraints "OP-SPEC＞＞OB-HD＞＞HIE-ADJ＞＞FULL-INT＞＞STAY",and then analyses the four kinds of superiority respectively through the evaluating tableaus in OT.This thesis,which serves as an attempt to employ OT,a relatively new theory,on traditional linguistic problems and also as an endeavor to expand Grimshaw's study,provides a unified OT account of the four kinds of superiority phenomena in English as well as movement in both single and multiple wh-questions.The unification proves that OT analysis is more explanatorily adequate than traditional generative approaches, such as Empty Category Principle(Chomsky 1981)and Minimal Link Condition(Chomsky 1995),in dealing with the superiority phenomenon, and that the application of OT to the domain of syntax proves that OT is a general theory of grammar rather than only a phonological approach.