The English of northwestern Ireland allows quantifier float of a previously undocumented kind in wh-questions. The quantifier all, though construed with a fronted wh-pronoun, may appear in a position considerably to the right of that pronoun. It is argued that all so stranded marks a position through which a wh-phrase has passed or in which a wh-phrase originates. The construction then provides visible evidence for intermediate derivational stages. This evidence is used to develop a new argument for successive cyclicity and to argue for overt object shift in English and for an origin site for subjects strictly within VP and below the object shift position.
A Local EnglishThis article examines part of the syntactic system of a local variety of English-a variety spoken in an area west and east of the river Foyle in the northwest of Ireland. The area includes at least Derry city, the Inishowen peninsula, southeast Donegal, and the westernmost parts of counties Tyrone and Derry. At the risk of sacrificing accuracy for brevity, I will call the English(es) spoken in this area West Ulster English. West Ulster English is close to the east Ulster variety (called Belfast English) described in the important body of work on dialect syntax developed by Alison Henry. The two varieties are, however, distinct in numerous ways-phonological, morphological, and syntactic. In particular, the phenomenon considered here does not occur, as far as I know, in Belfast English. 1