Lexical Variation in Degree wh‐questions in Spanish and the Internal Structure of wh‐phrases1

Abstract

This paper provides a formal account of the pattern of lexical variation found in adjectival degree wh-questions in current Spanish. It is proposed that Spanish degree wh-forms heading an interrogative clause (cu an 'how much', qu e tan 'what so', c omo de 'how of', and cu anto de 'how much of') share an internal structure including (at least) two components, a wh-operator and a (degree) variable, which are both phonetically realized in the Old and American Spanish degree wh-expression qu e tan. This analysis is extended to the American Spanish nominal wh-form qu e tanto(s) 'what so much/many' and to the general Spanish manner wh-expression qu e tal 'what such'. It is further argued that all interrogative wh-forms in Spanish comprise a wh-quantifier and an overt or covert variable ranging over different types of entities (individuals, amounts, manners, degrees, etc.), also tentatively suggesting that this could apply across languages. 1 The following gloss abbreviations will be used in the text: CL = clitic, FUT = future, MASC = masculine, PL = plural, SG = singular, SUBJ = subjunctive. 2 All the wh-forms in (1) are also used in Spanish adjectival wh-exclamatives, together with exclamative-only qu e 'what', which is the preferred form in all Spanish dialects. I will not be dealing with wh-exclamatives in this paper (see, however, the comments in footnote 9 below).