On the controversial status of Romance interrogatives

This article evaluates two competing analyses of Italian (and Romance) interrogatives: The CP- and the IP-analysis. The CP-analysis is claimed to be superior to the IP-analysis. In agreement with the minimalist assumptions that movement is governed by a principle of procrastination, it is argued that Italian questions do not feature I-to-C movement before Spell-out. Subjects in interrogatives do not occur in the preverbal position. Moreover, they cannot occupy the postverbal Position, where they may be found in declaratives, but must occupy left- or right- peripheral positions. These two facts are the basis for claiming that the primitive property underlying the formation of Italian interrogatives is the pro-drop Status of this language. This will also be one of the ingredients for selecting the Italian grammar of interrogatives