On the Derivation of Subject wh-Words and Theory of Cartography

In this article, we examine the syntactic derivation of subject wh-words in Jordanian Arabic. Firstly, we provide empirical evidence that questions with a subject wh-word are syntactically derived by overt movement of the given subject wh-word to the left periphery. This empirical evidence is based on the position of the subject wh-words to the left of the high IP adverbials, including epistemic adverbials and evidentials, as well as the position of the subject wh-words relative to topical elements. Secondly, we examine the intriguing ban on the use of subject wh-words in VSO sentences although non-interrogative subjects are permitted to occur in such clauses, and other wh-words may appear in their thematic positions (given the appropriate context). We show that this ban results from the effects of a proposed economy-driven condition that disallows the use of an expletive (to fill Spec, TP) while the thematic subject is available (in Spec, vP). Additionally, we show that this ban results from the interactions of the effects of criterial freezing and the conditions that licence elements in the low IP area.