15.2813, Qs: Wh-In-Situ Constructions: Chinese, French, Korean

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-15-2813. Thu Oct 07 2004. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 15.2813, Qs: Wh-In-Situ Constructions:  Chinese, French, Korean

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===========================Directory==============================

1)
Date: 07-Oct-2004
From: Toru Ishii < tishii at kisc.meiji.ac.jp >
Subject: Multiple Q's in Chinese


	
-------------------------Message 1 ----------------------------------
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 18:11:24
From: Toru Ishii < tishii at kisc.meiji.ac.jp >
Subject: Multiple Q's in Chinese

Dear Linguists,

I'd like to check the acceptability of some Chinese, Korean, and
French examples.

I've been investigating the availability of a single-pair reading with a
multiple question and the coordinate structure constraint effects with
wh's-in-situ.  According to Boskovicz's LI paper (2002), (1) has only a
pair-list reading, but not a single-pair reading:

(1)  Who bought what?

Hence, (1) cannot be felicitously asked in the following situation:  John is in
a store and sees somebody buying an article of clothing, but does not see
who it is and does not see exactly what the person is buying.  He goes to
the sales clerk and asks (1).  But, its Japanese counterpart (2) has both a
single-pair and a pair-list reading, and thus can be felicitously asked in the
above situation.  Then, the question is what about its Chinese and Korean
counterparts.  Do they have both a single-pair and a pair-list reading, or only
a pair-list reading?  In other words, can the Chinese and Korean counterparts
of (1-2) be felicitously asked in the above situation?

Next, in English, it has been observed that wh's-in-situ are not allowed in
conjuncts (Chomsky's LGB and Pesetsky's dissertation):

(3)	*Who saw [John and who]?
(4)	*Which article [proves your theorem and defends what theory].

Their Japanese counterparts, however, are good.  What about their Chinese
and Korean counterparts?  Do they exhibit the coordinate structure constraint
effects?

Finally, what about the coordinate structure constraint effects with
wh's-in-situ in French?  I cannot construct relevant examples in French by
myself, so I've written down the examples to check in English.  When you
translate the English examples (7-8) into the French ones word-by-word, are
the resultant French sentences good or bad?  Please note that (7) is intended
to be a wh-in-situ question whereas (8) is intended to be a question with a
fronted wh-phrase:

(7)  John has given what to [Mary and who]?
(8)  What has John given to [Mary and who]?

I'll post a summary if I have enough response.  Thanks.

Toru Ishii
Meiji University, Tokyo
tishii at kisc.meiji.ac.jp

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics; Syntax



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