Abstract

This paper analyzes the existence of superiority with each instance of whfronting in Basque multiple questions, and shows how the phenomenon forces us to reconsider our understanding of the mechanisms of multiple wh-fronting in general. I propose that the role of the verb is crucial in determining the specific patterns of multiple wh-fronting found across languages. If correct, my analysis shows that head-to-head dependencies cannot be entirely shifted from narrow syntax into the PF-component, as they are the key factors in the syntactic organization of multiple whfronting. My analysis also entails that because it depends on such uninterpretable features as phi-features on finite verbs, superiority is a narrow-syntax requirement, and not an interpretive effect. 1 Background on Multiple Wh-fronting The investigation of multiple wh-questions has occupied an important place in the Principles-and-Parameters approach. At first, properties of multiple questions of

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