Argument-marking and the Distribution of wh -Phrases in Malagasy, Tagalog, and Tsou

This paper argues that postverbal wh-phrases in Malagasy, Tagalog, and Tsou are subject to the same general constraint on marking of trigger arguments. It shows that the trigger is not necessarily definite or specific; the nonoccurrence of wh-phrase trigger in postverbal position therefore cannot be reduced to the definite/specific constraint on the trigger argument. There exists evidence, little noticed in the literature, that wh-phrase trigger is sometimes possible in postverbal position. I claim that postverbal wh-phrase trigger is possible just in case it can be marked independently in the same fashion as postverbal non-wh-phrase triggers.