Plurality and distributivity in Yaeyaman wh questions
In Yaeyaman, a critically endangered Japonic language of the Southern Ryukyus, there is a distinction made between singular and plural wh questions, with plurality indicated by reduplication of the indeterminate (wh) pronoun. I argue that reduplication of the indeterminate is triggered by a morpheme RED that requires the presence of non atoms in the set of Hamblin alternatives denoted by its sister. When attached directly to an indeterminate pronoun, RED requires the presence of non atomic, plural entities. I then show that reduplicated indeterminate subjects can be interpreted distributively in pair list answers, while reduplicated indeterminate objects cannot. After showing that the distributive reading of the subject indeterminate cannot be modeled straightforwardly using a distributivizing operator attached to the VP, I suggest that it reflects morphological agreement between the subject indeterminate and a clause level RED morpheme, which requires the existence of plural answers in the set of alternative propositions denoted by the question. The semantics of clause level RED requires a distinction between atomic and plural answers that parallels the distinction between atomic and plural entities. I also compare the Yaeyaman data with reduplication in Korean questions, showing that the semantics of RED differs between the two languages. Keywords: plurality, distributivity, indeterminates, wh questions, pair list answers, redupli cation, Ryukyuan, Yaeyaman, Korean