Decomposing questions
Name
42385191-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
13.57 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b6c0c35fd0a5b7d926ef97560a751677
Author(s)
Hagstrom, Paul Alan, 1971-
Advisor(s)
David Pesetsky.
Date Issued
1998
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The primary proposal of this thesis that in questions, a "Q morpheme must undergo syntactic movement from a clause-internal position to a clause-peripheral position. Throughout this thesis, we develop a syntactic analysis and a semantic formalism for questions that accounts for the facts observed in wh-in-situ languages (focusing mainly on Japanese, Sinhala, Shuri Okinawan, and premodern Japanese). We contrast two unrelated languages, Japanese and Sinhala, which form questions in a nearly identical way, but which differ in the placement of Q. We hypothesize that in both languages Q moves from a clause-internal position (corresponding to its overt position in Sinhala) to a clause-peripheral position (corresponding to its overt position in Japanese). We argue for this movement relation by examining the effects of movement islands and other "intervenors" when placed in the path of the hypothesized movement. We also observe that in both languages, indefinites can be formed by appending Q directly to a wh-word in a declarative sentence. Using this, we develop a compositional semantic account under which wh-words like who are represented as sets of individuals and Q is represented as an existential quantifier over choice function variables. This, in conjunction with the proposed syntax, allows us to derive the semantics both of questions and of indefinites containing wh-words. More complex issues arise when considering questions with multiple wh-words and with quantifiers. It is proposed that in multiple questions, Q originates by the lowest wh-word. If Q moves to the clause periphery from the.re, a "pair-list" reading will result, while if Q first moves above the wh-words, a '"single-pair" reading results. Through the use of a semantic mechanism called "flexible functional application", this generalization is derived from the proposed semantics of pair-list questions, which are semantically represented as a set of questions. Questions with quantifiers with functional readings and with pair-list readings are also discussed in detail. Arguments or several more theory-internal proposals are made as well, including an argument for a "single cycle" syntax, and an argument for a type of movement labeled "migration" which is crucially different from "feature attraction."
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1998.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [197]-202).
Subjects
Linguistics and Philosophy
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
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