Editing Wh-movement (section)

==Pied-piping==
Many instances of wh-fronting involve [[pied-piping]], where the word that is moved pulls an entire encompassing phrase to the front of the clause with it. Pied-piping was first identified by [[John R. Ross]] in his 1967 dissertation.<ref>See Ross's (1967/86:121ff.) original account of pied-piping. For further analyses of pied-piping, see for instance Riemsdijk and Williams (1986:28ff.) and Radford (1997:276ff).</ref>

===Obligatory pied-piping===
In some cases of wh-fronting, pied-piping is obligatory, and the entire encompassing phrase must be fronted for the sentence to be grammatically correct. In the following examples, the moved phrase is underlined:

::a. Susan is reading <u>'''Fred's''' novel</u>.
::b. <u>'''Whose''' novel</u> is Susan reading? <small>– Pied-piping of ''novel''</small> 
::c. *<u>'''Whose'''</u> is Susan reading <u>novel</u>? <small>– Sentence is incorrect because pied-piping has not occurred</small>

::a. The music is <u>'''very''' loud</u>. 
::b. <u>'''How''' loud</u> is the music? <small>– Pied-piping of ''loud''</small>
::c. *<u>'''How'''</u> is the music <u>loud</u>? <small>– Sentence is incorrect because pied-piping has not occurred</small>

These examples illustrate that pied-piping is often necessary when the wh-word is inside a noun phrase or adjective phrase. Pied-piping is motivated in part by the barriers and islands to extraction (see below). When the wh-word appears underneath a blocking category or in an island, the entire encompassing phrase must be fronted.

===Optional pied-piping===
There are other cases where pied-piping is optional. In English, this occurs most notably when the fronted word is the object of a [[prepositional phrase]]. A formal register will pied-pipe the preposition, whereas more colloquial English prefers to leave the preposition ''in situ'':

::a. She revealed her secret <u>to '''Tom'''</u>. 
::b. <u>To '''whom'''</u> did she reveal her secret? <small>– Pied-piping of preposition associated with a formal register</small>
::c. <u>'''Whom'''</u> did she reveal her secret <u>to</u>? <small>– Pied-piping absent in colloquial English</small>

::a. He is hiding <u>behind the '''red''' door</u>. 
::b. <u>Behind '''which''' door</u> is he hiding? <small>– Pied-piping of preposition associated with a formal register</small>
::c. <u>'''Which''' door</u> is he hiding <u>behind</u>? <small>– Pied-piping of preposition absent in colloquial English; pied-piping of noun ''door'' still obligatory</small>

The c. examples are cases of [[preposition stranding]], which is possible in colloquial English but not allowed in many languages that are related to English.<ref>Concerning preposition stranding in wh-questions in English, see Roberts (1997:212f) and Radford (1999:278ff.).</ref> For instance, preposition stranding is largely absent from many of the other Germanic languages, and it may be completely absent from the Romance languages. [[linguistic prescription|Prescriptive]] grammars often claim that preposition stranding should be avoided in English as well, although it may feel artificial or stilted to a native speaker to move the preposition.