An Investigation of the Information Structure of Wh-Questions in Modern Persian Based on Text

Abstract

Wh-question words are linguistic devices which are either associated with the information structure of the sentences or are regarded as signs for the kind of information provided by the sentences. Wh-questions have been extensively studied for their general structure and Wh-movement. The present study aimed to investigate how Wh-questions have changed overtime. It also aimed at exploring the current status of Wh-questions in modern Persian. To do so, a set of prose literary works from the 4th century up to the contemporary time were analyzed. It was found that two types of sluices have been commonly used in modern Persian; a) Wh-in situ b) displaced Wh. The excessive use of sluices not only leads to Information Focusing, but also results in Contrastive Focus via Wh-Movement which could move the focus to another phrase. The results showed that the Persian Wh-questions have changed overtime in terms of Wh-movement and the kinds of information structures.

Keywords

• information structure
• interrogative structures
• focus
• contrastive information
• sluices