Embedded Questions in Meskwaki:

Abstract

In descriptive and theoretical treatments of the syntax of Algonquian languages, there has been quite a bit of work done on the syntax of questions (cf. Johnson and Macaulay 2015 and the work cited there). Less attention has been paid specifically to the syntax of embedded questions: that is, when a main verb like ‘ask’, ‘wonder’, or a negated main verb ‘know’ takes a complement clause which is in the form of a question. Perhaps the explanation for the relative neglect of embedded questions in Algonquian syntax is that many languages of the family employ strategies that seem to be identical to the formation of main clause questions. For example, consider the Plains Cree examples in (1-2):