Wh-Expletives and Secondary Predication: German Partial Wh-Movement Reconsidered

In German, complex wh-interrogatives can optionally be formed by inserting the 3 person neuter wh-pronoun was in the matrix (Spec,CP) position, instead of long-distance wh-raising. It is generally assumed that 'expletive' was serves as a placeholder for a contentful whexpression lower down in the sentence, which substitutes for it at the level of semantic interpretation. It can be shown, however, that the putative wh-expletive was in German is actually a CP-proform base-generated in matrix object position, and that it is not subject to expletive replacement at LF. As an alternative to previous accounts, I propose a complex predicate analysis of the German was...w construction according to which was is a θ-marked object pronoun capable of licensing a predicative CP in V-complement position. This analysis is consistent with Rothstein's (1995) claim that true object expletives do not exist.