[Lingtyp] Workshop at SLE 2026: Constructions with multiple wh-words across languages

[Uhlik Mladen]

Dear colleagues,

Valentina Apresjan, Piotr Sobotka, Mikhail Kopotev and I are preparing a
workshop proposal for the forthcoming SLE conference, which will take place
in Osnabrück, Germany, from 26 to 29 August 2026. The workshop is
entitled *Constructions
with multiple wh-words across languages*.

The Call for Papers is available on the website (
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/wh-words-cle2026/) and is also included below. We
warmly invite you to submit a 300-word abstract by 5 November 2025.

Best regards,
Piotr, Valentina, Mikhail and Mladen


Subject: Workshop at SLE 2026: *Constructions with multiple wh-words across
languages*





Full Title: *Constructions with multiple wh-words across languages*





Date: 26-Aug-2026 - 29-Aug-2026

Location: Osnabrück, Germany



Contact Person: Valentina Apresjan & Mikhail Kopotev & Piotr Sobotka &
Mladen Uhlik



Web Site: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/wh-words-CLE2026



Contact mail: ktokudachego at gmail.com



Linguistic Field(s) / Keywords: semantics, pragmatics, syntax, typology,
information structure, WH-words



Submission deadline: 5 November 2025



Convenors: Valentina Apresjan (Dartmouth College, USA), Mikhail Kopotev
(University of Helsinki, Finland / Stockholm University, Sweden), Piotr
Sobotka (Institute of Slavic Studies, PAS, Poland), Mladen Uhlik (Fran
Ramovš Institute of the Slovenian Language & University of Ljubljana,
Slovenia)



*Meeting Description:*



The workshop aims to bring together researchers interested in the syntax,
semantics, and pragmatics of *constructions with multiple wh-words* across
languages, which are understood as constructions structured with two or
more wh-elements that can fulfil different functions, and which are
typically distributive rather than collective (cf. Moravcsik 1978;
Haspelmath 1997: 180). In English these constructions are represented by
interrogatives, such as *Who did what? *or *I don’t know who went
where. *Constructional
patterns with multiple wh-words in different languages have been
extensively studied, especially from a syntactic perspective, e.g. Rudin
(1988), Grewendorf (2001), Aoun & Li (2003), Grebenyova (2006),
Gruet-Skrabalova (2011), Tomaszewicz (2011). Overall, these studies show
that multiple wh-word constructions vary significantly across languages.
While previous research has extensively examined *constructions with
multiple wh-words* from a syntactic perspective, their semantic and
pragmatic dimensions – particularly in lesser-studied languages – remain
underexplored. This workshop seeks to bridge this gap by integrating
insights from typology, semantics, construction grammar and discourse
analysis.

*Constructions with multiple wh-words* appear in a striking variety of
formal and functional guises across languages: wh-word reduplication,
repetition, and combinations of different wh-words, which can cover a range
of functions, including (indirect) questions, (quasi‑)relatives,
indefinites, and others, and express a variety of meanings. For instance,
*reduplication* may signal emphasis or exhaustive listing. In colloquial
Mandarin, the form *shéi shéi* ‘who-who’ conveys the meaning ‘all those who
/ which ones’ and is typically used in the spoken register to inquire about
a group rather than a single individual.



(1)

Mand. colloq.

*shéi shéi*

*yào*

*qù?*





who-who

want, intend to

go





‘Who (all) wants to go?’



In Yiddish, however, wh-reduplication sometimes marks rhetorical questions
or inferential statements.



(2)

Yid.

*vos-vos**,*

*nor*

*araynzogn*

*hot*

*er*

*gekent.*





what-what

only.ptcl

tell-off.inf

have.prs.3sg

3sg.m

know.ptcp.pst





‘Well, all he could do was scold someone.’



In Russian, wh-reduplication with adversative markers conveys concessive or
contrastive meanings:



(3)

Rus.

*kto-kto*

*a*

*on*

*ne*

*podvedët*





who-who

but

he

not

let-down.3sg.fut





‘Other people might but he won’t let (us) down.’



Comparable patterns are attested in other languages as well, though in
somewhat different forms – for example, cf. Pol. wh*-*pro* jak* wh-pro*,
ale* (Dobaczewski, Sobotka & Żurowski 2018):



(4)

Pol.

*Kto*

*Jak*

*kto,*

*ale*

*pan*

*nie*

*może*

*sobie*

*na*

*to*

*pozwolić.*





who

As

who

but

you.nom.sg

not

can.prs.3sg

oneself

on

this

afford.inf





‘Of all people, you cannot afford to do that.’



The wh-reduplication can be partial and can take on a non-specific,
indefinite generalized (5) or free-choice (6) interpretations.



(5)

Fin.

*Matti*

*kerto-i*

*mi-nkä*

*mitä-kin*

*matkoiltaan.*





Matti

tell.pst.3sg

what.gen

what.part

travel.pl.abl.poss





‘Matti told all sorts of this and that from his travels.’



(6)

BCMS

*Egipat*

*je*

*zemlja*

*u*

*kojoj*

*zaista*

*možete*





Egypt

be.prs.3sg

country

in

which

really

can.prs.2pl





*štošta*

*vidjeti.*















what-what

see.inf















‘Egypt is a country in which you can really see a lot (lit. something).’



Another type of wh-constructions are *combinations of different wh-pronouns*,
which can occur, for instance, in distributive questions, direct (7) or
indirect (8).

(7)

Sp.

*¿Quién*

*dijo*

*qué?*





who

say.pst.3sg

what





‘Who said what?’



(8)

Bel.

*Ja*

*mnahix*

*vedaju*

*i*

*baču*

*xto*

*jak*

*buduje.*





1sg

many.acc

know.prs. 1sg

and

see.prs. 1sg

who

how

build.prs. 3sg





‘I know many people and I see how each one builds.’



The linear order of wh-pronouns may vary even between closely related
languages, as seen in Belarusian (8) vs BCMS (Bosnian, Croatian,
Montenegrin, Serbian) (9).



(8)

BCMS

*Mnoge*

*znam*

*i*

*gledam*

*kako*

*(t)ko*





many.acc

know.prs.1sg

and

see.prs.1sg

how

who.nom





*gradi.*















build.prs. 3sg















‘I know many people and I see how each one builds.’



Combinations of different wh-words can also appear in quasi-relative
constructions, as illustrated in the following Polish (9) and German (10)
examples:





(9)

Pol.

*Przynieśli*,

*co*

*kto*

*mógł.*





bring.pst.3pl

what

who

can.pst.3sg





‘They brought whatever they could’.



(10)

Ger.

*Wer*

*wen*

*sieht**,*

*der*

*soll*

*es*

*melden.*





who.nom

who.acc

see.prs.3sg

that

shall

3sg.n

report.inf





‘Whoever sees whom should report it.’



In some languages, these constructions are highly idiomatic and exhibit
language-specific semantic and pragmatic properties. For example, in Slavic
languages, apart from interrogative and relative, combinations of different
wh-words have other functions. They can be fully lexicalized, as in
Ukrainian *indefinite*s *dexto, dejaki *‘some people, lit. where who, where
what kind of’ or BCMS *free choice* *gdjekoji *‘an occasional one, lit.
where which’.

They can develop into syntactic phrasemes with restricted collocational
properties and lexicalized interpretations, such as Russian *kto kuda
*‘different
people went in different directions, lit. who where’ or *komu kak *‘different
people have different opinions/tastes, lit. to whom how’ (cf. Apresjan &
Kopotev 2022). Such constructions are attested in many Slavic and
Finno-Ugric languages, Turkish, Hindi, as well as in Baltic languages, cf.
(11) and (12):



(11)

Fin.

*Kaikki*

*piiloutuivat*

*nopeasti*

*kuka*

*mihinkin.*





all

hide.3pl.pst

quickly

who.nom

whatever.ill





‘Everyone hid quickly, each to their own place’



(12)

Lith.

*Berniukai*

*išlakstė*

*kas*

*kur**.*





boys.nom.pl

out-run-iter-pst.3pl

who.nom

where





‘The guys scattered in all directions.’



Although considerably less frequent, these constructions may contain more
than two wh-words:



(13)

Rus.

*V*

*portu*

*pokupali*

*rybu*

*doski*

*prjanosti*

*v*





in

port.LOC

buy.PST.PL

fish.ACC

boards.ACC

spices.ACC

to





*London,*

*Egipet,*

*Indiju    *

*komu*

*kuda*

*čego**.*







London.ACC

Egypt.ACC

India.ACC

who.DAT

to-where

what.GEN







‘In the port they bought fish, boards, spices to London, Egypt, India — in
short, who where what’



We propose the following questions for discussion:



●      What semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic factors underlie the
restrictions on wh-variables and their possible pairings in polypronominal
wh-constructions, especially in their distributive readings?

●      Under what semantic and pragmatic conditions are such constructions
licensed in discourse, and what communicative functions do they perform
across languages?

●      What syntactic positions can these constructions occupy within the
clause, and how do they interact with the valency requirements of the
predicate (if present)?

●      How do frequency, idiomatization and formulaicity influence the
grammatical status of these constructions across different languages?

●      What are the historical sources of such constructions (e.g. indirect
questions > quasi-relatives > distributives), and what grammaticalization
paths can be identified cross-linguistically?

●      Can we detect areal or genealogical patterns in the distribution and
structure of these constructions, and what do such patterns reveal about
contact-induced change versus independent development?

●      How do polypronominal distributive constructions compare with other
distributive strategies (lexical, morphological, or clausal)
cross-linguistically?



*Call for Papers:*



We welcome submissions that employ a range of theoretical frameworks,
including but not limited to Construction Grammar, formal semantic and
pragmatic analyses, corpus-based studies, cross-linguistic typological
comparisons. We are particularly interested in studies that combine
theoretical analysis with empirical data from diverse languages, using
methodologies such as corpus linguistics, experimental pragmaticsand
comparative linguistics.



If you wish to participate in this workshop, please send your abstract of
max. 300 words (including examples and excluding references) to the
following email address (ktokudachego at gmail.com) by *November 5th 2025*.



*Key dates for workshop proposals and abstracts*

   - 5 Nov 2025 – Deadline for submitting the 300-word abstracts
   - 15 Dec 2025 – Decision on acceptance/rejection of workshop proposals
   by the SLE committee
   - 15 Jan 2026 – Deadline for submitting all abstracts (including
   workshop papers) via EasyChair
   - 31 Mar 2026 – Notification of acceptance/rejection of abstracts

Details: SLE 2026 Conference Website
<https://societaslinguistica.eu/sle2026/>



*References*



Apresjan, Valentina & Mikhail Kopotev. 2022. Avtonomnye distributivnye
konstrukcii s voprositel’no-odnositel’nymi mestoimenijami v russkom
jazyke [Autonomous
bi‑pronominal distributive constructions in Russian]. *Voprosy
jazykoznanija* 4. 115–142.

Aoun, Joseph E., & Li, Yen-hui Audrey. 2003. *Essays on the
Representational and Derivational Nature of Grammar: The Diversity of
Wh-Constructions*. Cambridge, MA/London: MIT Press.

Dobaczewski, Adam, Piotr Sobotka & Sebastian Żurowski. 2018. *Słownik
reduplikacji i powtórzeń polskich: Od zleksykalizowanych podwojeń do
regularnych układów repetycyjnych* [Dictionary of Polish reduplication and
repetition: From lexicalized doublets to regular repetitive patterns].
Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika.

Grebenyova, Lydia. 2006. *Multiple Interrogatives: Syntax, Semantics, and
Learnability*. PhD Dissertation, University of Maryland.

Grewendorf, Günther. 2001. Multiple *Wh-*Fronting. *Linguistic Inquiry* 32(1).
87–122.

Gruet-Skrabalova, Hana. 2011. *Czech questions with two wh-words.* In Peter
Kosta & Lilia Schürcks (eds.), *Formalization of Grammar in Slavic
Languages*, 179-192. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Haspelmath, Martin. 1997. *Indefinite pronouns* (Oxford studies in typology
and linguistic theory). Oxford/New York: Clarendon Press — Oxford
University Press.

Moravcsik, Edith. 1978. Reduplicative Constructions. In Joseph H.
Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson & Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), *Universals of
Human Language*, vol. 3: *Word Structure*, 297–334. Stanford: Stanford
University Press.

Rudin, Catherine. 1988. On multiple questions and multiple WH
fronting. *Natural
Language & Linguistic Theory* 6. 445–501.

Tomaszewicz, Barbara. 2011. Against Spurious Coordination in Multiple
Wh-questions. In Mary Byram Washburn et al., *Proceedings of the 28th West
Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics*, 186-195. Somerville, MA:
Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
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