On the Parataxis of Arabic split questions

Abstract

In this article I present an analysis of split questions (SQs) in Modern Standard Arabic. I argue that this construction is best analyzed as a biclausal articulation, where two clauses are meditated by a special relation of coordination dubbed “Specifying Coordination.” Contrary to the previous literature on SQs, I maintain, on empirical and conceptual grounds, that SQs are best derived in a movement-free fashion by treating them as a constellation of two well-motivated operations in the grammar: ellipsis and coordination. If on track, the merit of this proposal is to derive peripheral phenomena, such as SQs, from core principles of the grammar.