1. Indirect questions as complements by Stefan Isakov

2. Complements A complement is a syntactic unit that follows another syntactic unit and completes its meaning. Complements are usually found after verbs: I know [to swim]. Without the complement (to swim; Od) the verb (know) wouldn’t have a complete meaning.

3. Complements with other classes Nouns, prepositions and adjectives also have complements: Our belief [that the Earth is flat] was unfounded. (Cn) I am quite fond [of chocolate]. (Cadj) He is in [London]. (Cp or Op)

4. Indirect questions as complements Two types of indirect questions can be found as complements: 1. yes-no IQ, with if/wether as complementizers 2. wh-IQ, with a wh-element as complementizers

5. Wh-indirect questions John knows [whose aligator the plumber located]. This is a typical example of an IQ with the verb know. It can be understood as a reported version of the question: Whose aligator did the plumber locate?

6. Structure of the wh-IQ Within the wh-IQ we have two elements: 1. the questioned NP 2. the sentence without a NP

8. The NPq is actually the missing NP in the other element, in which it would act as the Od. This is graphically represented on the graph bellow:

9. This can also be found with AdjP, and even time and location phrases. Laura told me how fond of chocolate the monkeys are.

11. Yes-No IQ Joseph will tell you [if Martha is leaving]. A yes-no IQ also consists of two elements: 1. whether or if 2. a finite clause

13. Contrastive xemplification Here are some examples of WHAT and HOW indirect questions given in Serbian and English. He wonders [what I see in the cinema]. Zanima ga [šta ja vidim u bioskopu]. I know [how she loves him]. Znam [koliko ga (ona) voli].

18. An IQ or a relative clause? Sometimes it is hard to distinguish whether a complement is an IQ or a relative clause. Sally ate [what George gave her]. John knows [what Martha ate]. There are some tests that can be performed to solve this question.

19. Tests 1. If we can replace what with some other interrogative words then it’s an IQ, if we can’t, it’s a relative clause John knows [how much Martha ate]. *Sally ate [how much George gave her]. 2. there are some verbs that can have only IQ as complements.

20. Verbs that take IQ complements know ask find out wonder teach learn hear guess forget remember say see show tell think etc.