Open AccessEconomy and the Conflict with Uniformity in Syntactic Theory: The Case of Wh-Questions in Moroccan Arabic
Author(s) -
Inass Announi,
Taoufik Allah Afkinich
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of linguistics, literature and translation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2708-0099
pISSN - 2617-0299
DOI - 10.32996/ijllt.2022.5.3.18
Subject(s) - generative grammar , linguistics , minimalist program , feature (linguistics) , relevance (law) , grammar , interrogative word , arabic , computer science , test (biology) , artificial intelligence , natural language processing , political science , philosophy , law , paleontology , biology
This paper investigates the relevance of some syntactic principles in Generative Grammar. Specifically, the objective is to highlight the conflict between economy and uniformity in syntactic theory. This conflict is illustrated by some elements of wh-questions. Using the Minimalist Program as a current syntactic ‘approach’, we take MA wh-elements as a case study to test the relationship between the two principles. We, first, survey the importance of economy in the language itself. Second, we bring examples of the conflict in wh-interrogatives, specifically in wh-subjects, wh-objects, yes-no questions, and the [Q] feature. The significance of the research is that, in the absence of empirical evidence for uniformity, economy should be prioritized.