V, N P &

Whmovemen
ts
A.MISHEEL
B.TEMUULEN
 INTRODUCTION
In linguistics there are various
types of movement which
affects either heads or maximal
projections.
 NOTE
S: Sentence Q: Question word
C: Complementizer Prep: Preposition
V: Verb PP: Prepositional Phrase
N: Noun Aux: Auxiliary
VP: Verb phrase A: Adiective
NP: Noun Phrase (t): Transformation
Det: Determiner I: inversion/inflection
Adv: Adverb Pro: Pronoun
AdvP: adverb phrase
Pred.P/VP: Predicate phrase
 NP-movement

Movement

Wh-movement V-movement
 • This is a transformational approach of the theory
of universal grammar which was developed by
Noam Chomsky in 1980s.
• It is also called as Principles and Parameters
theory as it accepts that all languages have
universal structural principles together with
various parameters on a language-specific basis.

Noam Chomsky
American linguist
The term Wh-movement originates from
early Generative Grammar of 1960s and
1970s
 what what when

'wh'
where why

who whom

whose how
 WH-MOVEMENT

WH-QUESTIONS WH-RELATIVES NOUN CLAUSES

What book are you
reading? With whom did she
go? What Misheel wrote
surprised her family
Wh-words
TYPES: FUNCTIONS:
• Pronoun • Subject
• Adverb • Object
• Determiner • Modifier

STRUCTURE: EXAMPLE:
Who is that guy standing
Q + aux + subject, object, over there?
complement? (“Who” in this sentence =
pronoun / subject)
Pronouns/adverbs/ determiners
in wh- questions

There are sometimes called interrogative

pronouns/adverbs/determiner
 Wh-phrases
A phrase which has Wh-word is called
wh-phrase.
It is somehow characterized as a question
operator.
For example:
 WH- determiners
Who, Whose ,What, Which are determiners:
About nouns
• What book are you reading?
• Whose jacket is this?
About the pronoun one or ones.
• Which one would you like?
• Which ones did Temuulen want?
The determiner which can be used in questions about selecting. It can
also be used together with the preposition of for the same purpose.
• Which colour shall we use?
• Which book sells the most copies?
The determiner whose asks about possession with reference to a
person as the possessor.
• Whose mother did you say she was?
 WH- ADVERBS
The adverb WH- words, when, where, how, and why, always make the sentence follow the interrogative word
order.
When asks about time.
• When will they arrive?
• Where asks about place.
• Where are you going?
How asks about manner.
• How did you get here? – We came by train.
Why asks about reasons and purpose.
• Why are you saving your money? – To buy a bike.
How much implies reference to a quantity.
• How much does it cost? – £4.20.
How can also be used with adjectives (old, big, far) or with adverbs (often, soon, quickly) to ask about degree,
rate, or timing.
• How far is it to the station? – About five kilometres.
• How often does he come? – Not very often.
 WH- PRONOUNS
The pronouns who, whose, which, and what can be the subject or object of a verb.
• Which was your best subject at school?
• What happened next?
The interrogative pronoun whose is used when the question is asked about a person as the possessor of
something.
• Whose is the motorbike parked outside?
Modern English usage prefers who instead of whom in all but the most formal contexts.
• Who did you talk to?
When whom is used as the object of a preposition, it normally follows the preposition.
• To whom did you speak?
• With whom did she go?
When who is used, the preposition is placed at the end of the clause.
• Who did she go with?
The WH- subject pronouns are found in the same sentence order as statements: WH- subject
pronoun + the main verb.
• Who can help me?
The WH- object pronouns make the sentence take the word order of a question:
WH-object pronoun + primary or modal auxiliary + subject + base form of the verb.
• What has Temuulen done now?
The exception to this is in informal spoken English, when the speaker wants to show shock or
disbelief.
• You did what?
NP-movement
Passives
Raising Constructions
Passives
1a. Misheel solved the problem
1b. The problem was solved (by
Misheel)
(1a) is an active sentence, where the subject and the object of the verb appear where they
are expected to be, given PS rules and the subcategorization requirements of the verb.
(1b), on the other hand, is a passive sentence, where the object of the verb appears in the
subject position and the subject appears, optionally, in the form of a by-phrase (by Misheel)
located at the end of the sentence.
 Raising
NP-movement is involved in the derivation of other constructions besides passives.

Constructions
Compare the following examples:

3a. It seems (that) Mary has solved the problem

3b. It seems [(that) Mary has solved the problem]

4a. Mary seems to have solved the problem

4b. Mary seems (to have solved the problem]

The two examples differ in that the verb of the embedded clause is
conjugated in (3a) but not in (3b), a difference which will play a
crucial role in the analysis to be outlined. (3b) is called a raising
construction, for reasons which will become clear shortly.
 Raising
The main characteristic of raising verbs is that they can take the expletive element it as a subject. Thus, while be

Constructions
certain, for example, is a raising predicate, be confident is not, as shown by the fact that be confident cannot take
the expletive it as a subject:

6a. It is certain (that) Mary will win

6b. Mary is certain to win

7a. *It is confident (that) Mary will win

7b. *Mary is confident to win
7c. Mary is confident (that) she will win

At the moment, the correlation between the ability to take an expletive subject and the ability to host the subject
of another clause seems to be arbitrary.
Source:
• Introducing transformational grammar : from
rules to principles and parameters by
Ouhalla, Jamal, 1961. Page 233-238.

• https://englishclub.comunidades.net/wh-questions
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdBNNUVNBHU
Any questions?