UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Wh-words in Hittite: A Study in Syntax-Semantics and Syntax-Phonology Interfaces. A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Indo-European Studies by Mattyas Georges Charles Huggard 2015 c Copyright by Mattyas Georges Charles Huggard 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Wh-words in Hittite: A Study in Syntax-Semantics and Syntax-Phonology Interfaces. by Mattyas Georges Charles Huggard Doctor of Philosophy in Indo-European Studies University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor H. Craig Melchert, Chair This dissertation provides the first unified account for the distribution and interpretation of wh-words in Hittite as indefinites, interrogatives and relativizers. Based on cross-linguistic comparanda, Hittite wh-words display the typical behavior of indefinite polarity items, and are prosodically deficient. As such, I argue that the surface positioning of wh-words in Hittite involves the syntax-semantics interface, and the syntax-phonology interface. The non-standard word order of indefinites in Hittite is attributed to two factors. For an existential interpretation, Hittite wh-words must remain within the [vP] and are bound by the Rule of Existential Closure. For a presuppositional interpretation, indefinites un- dergo Quantifier Raising to IP. The final surface position of indefinites is determined by the syntax-phonology interface to satisfy prosodic restrictions: wh-words in Hittite are subject to Prosodic Inversion at Spell Out. As an interrogative, I argue that the wh-form consists of a phonologically null determiner [D ∅[+wh]] plus the Hittite wh-word kui-. Hittite wh-in situ is triggered by an intonational Q-morpheme, and is underspecified as [Q: ], enabling it to license both yes-no questions and wh-questions, as in modern French. Based on experimental evidence from living languages, I propose that the accentual nature of wh-words in Hittite interrogatives is the outcome of ii the stress assignment by the intonational Q-morpheme. Finally, I offer the first alternative analysis to Held’s (1957) account of Hittite correlative clauses. I demonstrate that preposed “indeterminate” correlatives represent wh-conditional clauses, as in Mandarin Chinese, Serbo-Croatian, and early Latin. The accented nature of the wh-word in wh-conditionals is derived from the stress assignment by contrastive Focus. I show that the peculiar distribution of the wh-word in “determinate” preposed correlatives resembles that of indefinites: the wh-word is bound by the rule of Existential Closure and may be subject to Prosodic Inversion at Spell Out. I show that postposed correlatives may be restrictive or non-restrictive, and that Middle Hittite and New Hittite texts also exhibit embedded relative clauses. iii The dissertation of Mattyas Georges Charles Huggard is approved. Stephanie Jamison Hilda Koopman Brent Vine H. Craig Melchert, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv To my family v Contents 1 Goals, Background, and Questions 1 1.1 Globalview .................................... 1 1.1.1 The Indefinite-Interrogative Connection . .. 2 1.1.2 TheIERelativeProblem......................... 4 1.2 TheoreticalAssumptions . .. .. 7 1.2.1 ElementsofGrammar .......................... 8 1.2.2 Merge,AgreeandMove ......................... 9 1.2.3 HierarchyoftheClause.......................... 14 1.2.4 PhasesandSpellOut........................... 16 1.2.5 Clitics, Morphological Merger and Prosodic Inversion . 18 1.3 Hittite and the Anatolian IE languages . 20 1.3.1 Historical and philological background to the Anatolian texts . ... 20 1.3.2 Grammar ................................. 24 1.4 Goals of this Dissertation . 30 2 The nature of wh-words in Hittite 32 2.1 Introduction.................................... 32 2.2 Lexical ambiguities of wh-words......................... 32 2.2.1 Interrogative Reading of wh-words ................... 33 2.2.2 Wh-wordsasExistentialQuantifiers. 33 vi 2.2.3 Wh-wordsasuniversalquantifiers . 36 2.2.4 Wh-wordsasIndefinites ......................... 37 2.3 Heim’s(1982)TheoryofIndefinites . 38 2.4 Cheng’s (1991) Theory of wh-words....................... 39 2.4.1 Japanese and Mandarin Chinese wh-words ............... 39 2.4.2 Wh-words in Multiple Fronting languages . 42 2.4.3 ThecaseofEnglish............................ 46 2.5 Hittite kui- isapolarityitem .......................... 46 2.6 Diachronic notes on Postfixes in Anatolian . 48 3 The Syntax of Indefinites in Hittite 50 3.1 Introduction.................................... 50 3.2 Defining “Low”: Restrictions on the distribution of Indefinites . ...... 53 3.3 Mapping Indefinites: Diesing’s (1992) Proposal . .... 56 3.3.1 The starting point: Heim’s (1982) Theory of Indefinites . .. 56 3.3.2 The vPinternalhypothesis ....................... 56 3.3.3 Tree Splitting: The Mapping Hypothesis . 57 3.4 TheSyntax-Semanticsinterface . .. 60 3.4.1 Existential Reading: [Spec, vP] ..................... 60 3.4.2 Presuppositional Reading: Quantifier Raising to [Spec, IP] . .. 62 3.5 Syntax-ProsodyInterface. ... 65 3.5.1 A Revived Proposal: Hittite indefinites are prosodically deficient . .. 66 3.6 Summary ..................................... 82 4 The Syntax of Interrogatives 83 4.1 Introduction.................................... 83 4.2 InterrogativeClauses ............................... 84 4.2.1 TheQmorpheme............................. 85 vii 4.2.2 The null intonation morpheme [Q: ]: the case of French . 88 4.3 Interrogatives in Hittite . 93 4.3.1 HittiteYes-Noquestions . .. .. 93 4.3.2 Hittite Wh-Interrogatives ........................ 95 4.4 A Proposal: the Hittite null intonation morpheme [Q: ] . 104 4.4.1 Some further Diachronic Considerations . 111 5 Hittite Correlated Stuctures 113 5.1 Introduction.................................... 113 5.1.1 PresentGoals ............................... 119 5.2 “ Indeterminate” Wh-ConditionalCorrelatives . 122 5.2.1 Conditionality . 122 5.2.2 Indefinites and Conditional Clauses . 124 5.2.3 Marking Conditionals . 126 5.2.4 Wh-wordsandMandarinChinese Conditionals. 129 5.2.5 Wh-words and ancient Indo-European Conditionals . 131 5.2.6 The Correlative-Conditional Connection . 143 5.3 “ Determinate”, Existential “Correlatives?”................... 152 5.3.1 Same Polarity Item, Same Behavior . 156 5.4 Post-positionedClauses. .. .. 169 5.5 NewPerspectives ................................. 173 5.5.1 Summary ................................. 173 5.6 ClosingComments ................................ 175 Bibliography 179 viii Symbols and Abbreviations * Reconstructed as, ungram- ∀ Universal; for all matical ∃ Existential; there exists ¬ Negation; not ∅ Phonologically null mor- = Clitic boundary pheme < derives/develops from > becomes/develops into [. ] encloses material lost in text [(. )] encloses material restored break from a duplicate <... > encloses material acciden- ≪... ≫ encloses material to be tally omitted by the scribe omitted ! non-standard or errant sign 1 First person in original text 2 Second person 3 Third person abl Ablative case acc Accusative case ACD Antecedent Contained Dele- act Active voice tion adv Adverb aor Aorist asp Aspect aux Auxiliary ix c Common gender; comple- CHD Chicago Hittite Dictionary mentizer Cat. De agri. Cato the Elder, De agri cul- Cic. parad. Cicero, Paradoxa stoicorum tura ad M. Brutum Cic. phil. Cicero, Philippics cl Clitic; Classifier cnj Conjunction cntr Contrastive cond Conditional Mood conn Connective particle CLuv Cuneiform Luvian dat Dative case dem Demonstrative disj Disjunction erg Ergative f Feminine gender foc Focus fut Future gen Genitive case H Laryngeal; High tone HLuv Hieroglyphic Luvian Hitt Hittite IE Indo-European Il. Iliad imp Imperative mood indf Indefinite inf Infinitive inst Instrumental case irr Irrealis iter Iterative aspect LF Logical Form loc Locative case Lyc Lycian Lyd Lydian m Masculine gender mid Middle voice MH Middle Hittite mp Medio-Passive voice MS Middle Script n Neuter gender x n- Non- neg Negation NH New Hittite nom Nominative case NS New Script obl Oblique case OH Old Hittite opt Optative Mood OS Old Script PA Proto-Anatolian Pal Palaic pcp Participle perf Perfect tense PF Phonological Form PIE Proto-Indo-European pl Plural Pl. La. Plato, Laches Plaut.Capt. Plautus, Captivi Plaut. Rud. Plautus, Rudens Plaut. Men. Plautus, Menaechmi Plaut. Mer. Plautus, Mercator Plaut. Most. Plautus, Mostellaria Plaut. Pers. Plautus, Persa Plaut. Stich. Plautus, Stichus pn Personal name pres Present tense pro Null Pronominal pst Past tense ptcl Particle pvb Pre-Verb Q Interrogative particle; place QR Quantifier Raising holder quot Quotative particle refl Reflexive rel Relativizer RV Rg Veda ˚ sg Singular subj Subjunctive Mood supl Superlative Ter. Eun. Terence, Eunuchus top Topic vn Verbal Noun xi voc Vocative case wh Interrogative xii Acknowledgements Had it not been for the people who have advised me, encouraged me, taught me, supported me, and interacted with me, I would not have made it to this moment, writing these ac- knowledgements. I am very grateful to all of them. First and foremost, I offer my deepest thanks to my Doktorvater H. Craig Melchert, who is the reason I came to UCLA six years ago. Craig surpasses whatever conceptualization of “best academic advisor” anyone may have, managing the perfect balance of teaching and mentoring, nurturing and pushing. I am indebted to him for his constructive criticism, his insights, his mentorship, his endless patience, and the shared opinion that the topic