Wh-island

Definition
Wh-island is the extraction island created by an embedded sentence which is introduced by a wh-word.

Example
The complement of wonder in (i)b is a wh-island. The contrast with (i)a serves to show that it is the wh-element to whom which blocks the extraction of what.

(i) a  what did you think [Bert gave t to Bobje] b *what did you wonder [to whom Bert gave t t]

The ill-formedness of (i)b is usually explained as a Subjacency violation. In the Minimalist Program, wh-islands are analyzed as an effect of the Minimal Link Condition.

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics