ABSTRACT
Wh-cons t r u c t ions have been among the c o n s t r u c t ions m s t s t u d i e d by gene ra t i ve grammarians over t he l a s t ten years. W i t h i n the framework known as the Standard Theory and i t s ex tens ions , t h i s area o f syntax has generated a g rea t deal o f t h e o r e t i c a l d i scuss ion and cont roversy , The t h e o r e t i c a i approach emanating f rom the work o f Chomsky (1973 and a f t e r ) has Deen developed i n a number o f d e t a i l e d s tud ies , some o f t h e most impress ive be ing Kayne's (1974) and Vergnaud's (1974) analyses of r e l a t i v e c lauses i n French, A l l e n ' s (1977) s tudy o f wh-const ruc t ions i n Old Eng l i sh , and Chonisky and L a s n i k ' s (1977) ana l ys i s o f r e l a t i v e c lauses i n Eng l i sh . R e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e work o f importance has been done on the semantics o f these c o n s t r u c t i o n s i n t h i s general framework, Vergnaud (1974) be ing a n o t a b l e excep t i on . Most o f the semant ic s t u d i e s o f r e l a t i v e c lauses and quest ions have been done by ph i losophers and by 1 i ngu is t s wo rk ing i n formal semant ics, i n p a r t i c u l a r by those work ing i n the framework o f Montague grammar.
