Abstract
In this chapter I focus on the availability of long-distance list answers in Hindi. Such answers are normally analyzed as involving scope interaction between a matrix and an embedded wh. Since LF wh movement out of finite complements is blocked in Hindi, an explanation along these lines is obviously not feasible for it. I show that there are two distinct sources for long-distance lists, neither of which require us to compromise locality in scope assignment. They can arise when the embedded wh is D-linked, in the sense of Pesetsky (1987). However, they display locality effects that cannot be captured in a treatment of D-linking as unselective Q-binding. The alternative I propose treats the finite complement as a quantificational expression that interacts scopally with the matrix wh. The selectional properties of question embedding verbs and the semantic type of the indirect question, I show, account for a number of facts that would otherwise be problematic. Long-distance answers also have a second source which is dependent on plurality. In these cases, long-distance lists represent a cumulative reading of the question and there is no issue of scope interaction. The alternatives developed for Hindi, I argue, are applicable cross-linguistically since they do not appeal to aspects of grammar that are subject to parametric variation.
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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Dayal, V. (1996). Long-Distance List Answers. In: Locality in WH Quantification. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, vol 62. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4808-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4808-5_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-5478-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4808-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive