Syntax and prosody: li questions in Macedonian and Bulgarian

Abstract

The distribution of the yes/no-interrogative clitic li in Macedonian and Bulgarian reveals a complex interaction of syntax with prosodic factois. The underlying syntactic uniformity of li questions in the two languages is obscured by a series of prosodic phenomena affecting one language or the other. In Macedonian two prosodic factors affect the placement of li: optional stressing of auxiliaries and optionally allowing certain sequences of words to have only one stress. In Bulgarian two different prosodic phenomena are relevant: stressing of clitics after the negative element ne arrd inversion of initial clitics with the following verb. When these four factors are controlled for, the syntax of li questions in the two languages is startlingly homogeneous. If no element is focused (i.e., moved to SpecCP), then, in both languages, the tensed verb head-incorporates into li in C. Usage differences complicate the picture somerwhat as well.