Focus on «Wh»-Questions

This book is a minimalist study of wh-questions in Polish, which aims at providing a homogeneous account for the phenomena under consideration. The discussion is set against the hypothesis that wh-fronting in Polish targets [Spec, CP]. The analysis relies on the idea that wh-movement applies for reasons of feature checking, as assumed by Chomsky (1993, 1995 ch. 3). The book offers an analysis of multiple wh-questions, wh-scope marking constructions and long-distance wh-extraction facts in Polish. The author argues that no overt wh-movement in the traditional sense takes place in Polish. Wh-fronting is triggered by the need to check a strong [+focus]-feature. It is shown that the analysis in terms of focus movement is well suited to capture the properties of interrogative constructions in Polish.