Abstract
This paper is meant to delineate the syntax of wh-movement in Standard Arabic within the Optimality Theory framework. The scope of this study is limited to examine only simple, relativized and indirect verbal information questions. Further restrictions also have been placed on tense and negation in that only past tense affirmative questions are tackled here.
Results show that Standard Arabic strictly adheres to the OP SPEC constraint in the matrix as well as the subordinate clauses. Findings also show that *Prep-Strand violation is intolerable in all types of information questions. Furthermore, the phonological manifestation of the complementizer is obligatory when the relative clause head is present or when the relative clause head is deleted and a resumptive pronoun is left behind.