The particle `how'
elly van gelderen
August 2015
 

Words that function in the lower part of the clause can be reanalyzed as base generated in the higher part. In this paper, I examine how the manner and degree adverb how also functions as a complementizer and yes/no marker. The latter two uses, though not accepted by all native speakers, go back quite a long time. The paper contributes to the discussion about an inventory of features so important in Minimalism since the mid 1990s by arguing that the grammaticalization of how involves a loss of certain features but an increase in others.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/004160
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: Discourse-Oriented Syntax, Bayer, Hinterhölzl, Trotzke (eds), John Benjamins
keywords: complementizer, exclamative, grammaticalization, interrogative, renewal, wh-words, syntax
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