Local and Long-distance

Veneeta Dayal (Rutgers)

Abstract

At present there are several mechanisms for giving scope to wh expressions: wh phrases as existential quantifiers, as focused phrases, as choice functions. In the case of single wh questions they yield equivalent results. In the case of multiple wh questions or questions with quantifiers, the different approaches make distinct predictions. This talk explores list answers in local/mono-clausal contexts as well as across islands/clauses. In particular, it looks at the role of skolem functions and higher order questions in navigating the functionality of list answers (i.e. domain cover and point-wise uniqueness). Scope marking is used in the case of local list answers and trapped list answers in the case of long-distance lists to shed light on these issues.