Wh-Movement in Hadhrami Arabic: A minimalist perspective

Abstract

This study explores the wh-movement in Hadhrami Arabic (HA), a non-standard variety of Arabic, focusing on the simple and embedded questions as well as definite restrictive relative clauses within the framework of Chomsky’s (1995) Minimalist Program (MP). The researchers adopted a descriptive ethnographic qualitative research design collecting their data from 10 purposefully chosen HA speakers through a questionnaire, interviews and participant observation. The study reveals that the wh-phrases in HA SVO word order are base-generated and exhibit no movement. It also reveals that HA questions may have apparent optional movement of the wh-phrases in the left periphery or in the right one. Finally, it is found that HA definite restrictive relative clauses are not derived by movements.