The structural position of chera (why) in Persian

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Abstract

This article investigates the position of the adjunct «chera» (why) in Persian. There are two different proposals to consider. According to the first proposal, «chera» is merged post-verbally before it obligatorily moves to precede the verb. According to the second proposal, first introduced in this article, «chera» is generated before the verb, but moves somewhere higher in the tree structure. In this article we employ the linear order of the phrases in the sentence and certain empirical facts to support the second hypothesis. We take «chera» as a wh-causal phrase merged in the adjunct position to the vP to the left before it moves to the Spec, Interrogative phrase along the lines of Shlonsky and Soare (2o11).

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