The prepositional interrogative clause

Abstract

This paper traces the development of a syntactic structure in the modern Gaelic languages in which an interrogative pronoun is followed by an inflected preposition, e.g. Mod. Ir. cé leis a raibh tú ag caint?, Scot. Gael. cò ris a bha thu a’ bruidhinn? (‘with whom were you speaking?’). It is argued that the underlying structure in such clauses is that of the old prepositional relative, but that the syntagm of stressed interrogative + preposition + relative particle has been replaced by a copular structure consisting of an unstressed interrogative + stressed prepositional pronoun. The chronology of this syntactic development is outlined and variant alternative structures involving interrogative + prepositional pronoun are examined.