Bipartite question formation in Sm’algyax

Matrix questions in Sm’algyax (Tsimshianic; British Columbia, Alaska) are doubly marked. Wh-questions involve the fronting of a wh-expression to the clause-initial position, together with the interrogative clitic =u; polar questions are introduced by the complementizer ał—diachronically derived from negation—and additionally bear the clitic =ii. By contrast, embedded questions only exhibit a single component: wh-fronting for wh-questions and a complementizer element for polar questions. I argue that this asymmetry reflects a two-layer interrogative syntax. The polar complementizer and the null trigger for wh-movement instantiate an interrogative C[+Q] within CP, while the clitics =u and =ii instantiate an illocutionary operator SAASK within a higher Speech Act Phrase (SAP). Because SAP is restricted to main clauses, embedded questions necessarily lack interrogative clitics. This paper contributes novel empirical evidence from an underdescribed language to ongoing debates about the embeddability of speech acts. Sm’algyax shows clear evidence for an unembeddable SAP layer in the formation of canonical, information-seeking questions, supporting the view that SAP is a genuinely root-only projection (in line with Dayal 2023, pace Krifka 2014, 2023, Woods 2016).