ATB Multiple Wh-fronting and Lower Copy Pronunciation in Some Slavic Languages

Several researchers have argued recently that phonetic realization of the highest copy of a movement chain may not be an absolute requirement and that in certain well-defined contexts―for instance, if it is required to avoid a PF violation―a lower copy can be realized overtly (see Bobaljik 1995, 2002, Bošković 2001, 2002, Nunes 1995, 2004, among others). In this paper, based on a set of novel data, I examine a peculiar pattern of across-the-board multiple wh fronting in some Slavic languages. I argue that the phenomenon examined here involves lower copy pronunciation and that its pattern can be accountd for in a principled manner under Fox and Pesetsky’s(2005) system of cyclic linearization.