Free relatives in Croatian: An argument for the comp account

Gracanin-Yuksek M.

LINGUISTIC INQUIRY, vol.39, no.2, pp.275-294, 2008 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 39 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Doi Number: 10.1162/ling.2008.39.2.275
  • Journal Name: LINGUISTIC INQUIRY
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.275-294
  • Keywords: free relatives, relative clauses, Croatian, clitics
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The article argues for the Comp account (e.g., Groos and Van Riems-dijk 1981) over the head account (e.g., Bresnan and Grimshaw 1978) of free relatives (FRs), on the basis of several converging arguments from Croatian. Evidence from reconstruction effects shows that the wh-phrase introducing a free relative (WHFR) originates inside the relative clause and wh-moves to its surface position. In addition, arguments from clitic placement show that the derived position of the WHFR is no higher than Spec,CP of the FR.