Abstract
This thesis is concerned with word order phenomena in questions in the Rogaland dialects (RDs) of Norwegian, and is written within the framework of generative grammar (Chomsky’s Minimalist Program). More specifically, it is concerned with non-V2 word order in wh-questions and a subtype of polar questions, so-called om-questions. In addition to demonstrating that there is no complexity constraint on non-V2 in wh-questions in the RDs, new data
illustrating hitherto undescribed phenomena are presented.
One such phenomenon found only in the RDs is what I call the “Wh+nå/då construction”: non-V2 wh-questions in which either of the sentence adverbs nå ‘now’ or då ‘then’ appears between the wh-phrase and the subject/complementizer, yielding (at least) V4 word order. Two analyses of the construction are proposed: One in which nå/då are analyzed as adjuncts adjoined to C-bar, and one in which the construction is analyzed as a biclausal, elliptical it-cleft. The latter is preferred as it provides a straightforward explanation to some observed asymmetries related to verb movement.
Also exclusive to the RDs are om-questions. I show that om-questions in which the initial element om ‘whether’ is followed by the complementizer at ‘that’ pave way for analyzing om as an XP in Spec-CP (contrary to previous analyses). The lack of V-to-C movement is discussed, and a previously unseen construction, in which the adverb då `then' competes with the subject for the position following om, is presented and analyzed.