Reconstruction and A'-Movement in Relative Clauses and Wh-Interrogatives in Standard Arabic

Rania  Al-Aqarbeh

doi:10.35516/hum.v50i3.5432

Authors

Rania Al-Aqarbeh Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8346-9426

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v50i3.5432

Keywords:

Movement, islands, reconstruction, resumption, Standard Arabic

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates reconstruction in wh-interrogative and relative clause dependencies in Standard Arabic (SA).

Methods: Two experiments were conducted to assess the acceptability of reconstructed interpretations with respect to three variables: type of islands, dependency-resolving strategy, and binding principles. The experiments were conducted on sixty individuals who willingly volunteered to take part in the study, with the stipulation that their identities would be kept confidential. All participants were experts in Standard Arabic syntax and semantics, holding Ph.D. degrees from Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

Results: The results indicate that the presence and type of islands, as well as the type of binding principles, play a significant role in the availability of reconstruction in SA. However, the presence or type of resumptive pronouns has no effect.

Conclusions: These findings hold true for both wh-interrogative and relative clause dependencies. Therefore, the main theoretical implication of this study is that relative clauses in SA are CPs derived via A'-movement.

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