In Kikuyu, Hausa, Moore and Palauan, INFL alternates between a
realis
form and an
irrealis
form. It is argued that this alternation is explicable in terms of the binding theory. In Kikuyu, Hausa and Moore, INFL bears the features [±anaphor] and [±pronominal], which are utilized by this theory in accounting for the complementary distribution of its two forms. Variation among these three languages is attributed to the ability or inability of intermediate traces of
wh-operators to act as binders. In Palauan, however, INFL is an r-expression. A paththeoretic account of INFL in this language is provided in which the realis form is treated as a proper name and the irrealis form as a variable.
I wish to thank Laurie Tuller, Réjean Canac-Marquis, Esther Torrego, Mireille Tremblay and four thorough anonymous reviewers for NLLT for their useful comments. Thanks also to Frederick Newmeyer for his very helpful contribution to the revision of this article, both in form and in content, and to Carol Georgopoulos for kindly providing me with crucial facts about Palauan.
This research has been made possible by grant #411-85-0012 from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and FCAR grant #87-EQ-2681 from the Province of Québec.