영어의 주어-조동사 도치규칙에 대한 최소주의적 고찰

A Minimalist Analysis of Subject-Auxiliary Inversion in English

  It has been one of the big puzzles in English syntax that the SAI (Subject Auxiliary Inversion) is obligatory in the matrix clause of non-subject Wh-question but that it is prohibited in the subject Wh-question. This subject/object asymmetry is no longer viable in the subordinate clause of questions. Specifically the SAI is disallowed in both positions of indirect Wh-questions and in indirect Y/N questions. This generalization, however, does not apply to the other SAI constructions; the SAI is found both in the matrix and the embedded clauses of negative inversion sentences. For this puzzle and a unified account of the rule itself, we suggest firstly, that the SAI in English is an independent but a uniform rule, secondly, that it is a focus movement and triggered by a focus feature in T which was inherited from C.