Basic English Syntax with Exercises

anaphoric operator

7.4.2 A comparison between relative and interrogative clauses

Finally by moving to the specifier of the CP, the wh-element is interpreted as an operator in both interrogative and relative clauses. The fact that one is interpreted more like a quantificational operator, like quantificational pronouns such as everyone or someone, while the other is interpreted like an anaphoric operator, which is referentially dependent on some other element in the sentence, like a reflexive pronoun such as himself, falls out due to the different functions of questions and relative clauses: one asks a question and the other modifies a noun.

7.4.2 A comparison between relative and interrogative clauses

Again this may be entirely due to differences in the use of these constructions. As a relative clause modifies a noun making use of an anaphoric operator, there must be an antecedent for the operator to take its reference from. This antecedent, i.e. the modified noun, can provide us with the content of the operator and hence this is recoverable even if we cannot see the operator itself. With a question, however, as there is no antecedent, the content of the operator has to be visible on the operator itself and hence the null operator cannot be used in this way. The null operator used in yes–no questions is clearly non-referential and hence has no specific content to be recovered. In this situation then the null operator can suffice.