Resumen

GRAU SEMPERE, Antonio. Que interrogativo Átono Opcional en Catalán CentralL*. Boletin de Linguistica [online]. 2005, vol.17, n.23, pp.23-35. ISSN 0798-9709.

Catalan absolute interrogative sentences can be introduced by que, an atonic optional interrogative particle. This que differs in several ways from other instances of que found in Wh- interrogative sentences and as the nucleus of Comp(lementizer). First, unstressed optional que is not required by the thematic grid of the verb and it lacks case marking. Furthermore, the presence of this unstressed que does not affect the meaning of absolute interrogative sentences, although it changes their melodic contour. Finally, the atonic optional que has a positive value for the feature [Wh]. I propose that optional que is generated in the position of Specifier of Comp., where its Q feature is checked, a required condition for the interrogative sentence to be interpreted at the Logical Form. When que is not present, an abstract operator is responsible for checking the Q feature in Comp.

Palabras clave : Catalan; absolute interrogatives; optional que.