Question/answer congruence and the semantics of wh-phrases

Autor/innen

  • Ingo Reich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.23.2001.121

Abstract

This paper is about the semantics of wh-phrases. It is argued that wh-phrases should not be analyzed as indefinites as, for example, Karttunen (1977) and many others have done, but as functional expressions with an indefinite core -their function being to restrict possible focus/background structures in direct or congruent answers. This will be argued for on the basis of observations made with respect to the distribution of term answers in well-formed question/answer sequences. This claim having been established, it will be integrated in a categorial variant of Schwarzschild's (1999) information-theoretic approach to F-marking and accent placement, and – second – its consequences with respect to the focus/background structure of wh-questions will be outlined.

 

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Veröffentlicht

2001

Zitationsvorschlag

Reich, Ingo. 2001. „Question/Answer/Congruence/and/the/Semantics/of/Wh-Phrases“. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 23 (Januar):181-95. https://doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.23.2001.121.