Indefinite Wh in Mandarin Chinese

Wh-words in Mandarin Chinse can have a non-interrogative indefinite interpretation as well as an interrogative one. The occurrence of a non-interrogative Wh-element is subject to certain semantic and syntactic constraints: it needs a c-commanding non-interrogative Wh licensor, the set of the licensors being defined in terms of the effect on the truth value of a proposition. The relation between the non-interrogative Wh and its licensor is a binder-variable relation, like the one that exists between an interrogative Wh and a question operator. Appropriate interpretations of given Wh-elements are determined by the property of the binder: if a Wh-element is bound by a question operator, it is an interrogative; if bound by a non-question operator, it is a non-interrogative. The binder-variable relation is subject to a Minimality requirement and displays Blocking and Specificity effects.

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