Universal 1113: special marking in yes-no questions ⇔ no syntactic wh-movement

Universal 1113: special marking in yes-no questions ⇔ no syntactic wh-movement

Original

Wh-in-situ languages have special markings in yes-no questions, and languages with special markings in yes-no questions are wh-in-situ languages.

Standardized

IF there is no syntactic wh-movement, THEN there is special marking in yes-no questions, and vice versa.

Keywords

interrogative, question particle, wh-movement

Domain

syntax, morphology

Type

mutual implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

languages in Cheng 1991

Source

Cheng 1991: 21

Counterexamples

Agta (W. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian), Chontal (Hokan), Diola (Atlantic, Niger-Congo), Scottish Gaelic (Celtic, Indo-European): all VSO languages, showing syntactic wh-movement (i.e. question words are sentence-initial) and using question particles (Ultan 1978c: 232).