Wh-agreement explained

Wh-agreement refers to morphological changes triggered by wh-movement, usually in verbs or complementisers.^[1] It occurs in a number of Bantu languages,^{[2] [3]} Austronesian languages including Chamorro and Palauan, Algonquin languages such as Ojibwe,^[4] as well as Hausa, French, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish.^[5]

For example, in Chamorro, the infix (um) (labelled (WH[nom])) is attached to the verb to mark agreement with the nominative question phrase following subject extraction:^[6]

Additionally, some languages have distinct agreement morphology depending on the case of element being moved.^[1] In the case of object extraction in Chamorro, the verb fa'gasi instead becomes fina’gasése (marked with (WH[obj])):

In French and Scottish Gaelic, special complementisers are used in cases of wh-movement:^[5]

Notes and References

1. Book: A. Watanabe. WH-Agreement . Case Absorption and WH-Agreement. https://books.google.com/books?id=XOfzCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170. 6 December 2012. Springer, Dordrecht. Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. 37. 978-94-015-8615-3. 170–1. 10.1007/978-94-015-8615-3_4.
2. McDaniel . Dana . Long-distance extraction attraction: A production-based account of an unexpected cross-linguistic structure . . 29 August 2018 . 3 . 1 . 95 . 10.5334/gjgl.712 . en . 2397-1835. free .
3. Zentz . Jason . Kramer . Ruth . Bantu Wh-agreement and the Case against Probe Impoverishment . Selected Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics . 290–301 .
4. Lochbihler . B. . Mathieu . E. . 2013 . Wh-agreement in Ojibwe relative clauses: Evidence for CP Structure . The Canadian Journal of Linguistics . 58 . 2 . 293–318 . 10.1017/S0008413100003042 . 55026147 .
5. http://artsites.uottawa.ca/eajmathieu/doc/Lochbihler_Mathieu.pdf
6. Book: Sandra Chung

   . Sandra Chung. Sandra Chung. The Design of Agreement: Evidence from Chamorro. November 1998. University of Chicago Press. 978-0-226-10607-6.