Interpreting Questions with Non Exhaustive Answers
This dissertation investigates the semantics of questions, with a focus on phenomena that challenge the standard views of the related core issues, as well as those that are technically difficult to capture under standard compositional semantics. It begins by re examining several fundamental issues, such as what a question denotes, how a question is composed, and what a wh item denotes. It then tackles questions with complex structures, including mention some questions, multi wh questions, and questions with quantifiers. It also explores several popular issues, such as variations of exhaustivity, sensitivity to false answers, and quantificational variability effects. Chapter 1 discusses some fundamental issues on question semantics. I pursue a hybrid categorial approach and define question roots as topical properties, which can supply propositional answers as well as nominal short answers. But different from traditional categorial approaches, I treat whitems as existential quantifiers, which can be shifted into domain restrictors via a BeDom operator. Moreover, I argue that the live on set of a plural or number neutral wh item is polymorphic: it consists of not only individuals but also generalized conjunctions and disjunctions. Chapter 2 and 3 are centered on mention some questions. Showing that the availability of mention some should be grammatically restricted, I attribute the mention some/mention all ambiguity of 3 questions to structural variations within the question nucleus. The variations include the scope ambiguity of the higher order wh trace and the absence/presence of a null dou. Further, I solve the dilemma between uniqueness and mention some by allowing the short answers to be interpreted with wide scope. Chapter 4 investigates the role of false answers (FAs) in interpreting indirect questions. I focus on the following two facts: first, FA sensitivity is involved in interpreting mention some questions; second, FA sensitivity is concerned with all types of false answers, not just those that are potentially complete. These facts challenge the current dominant analysis that derives FA sensitivity by exhaustifications. In Chapter 5 and 6, I turn to multiple wh questions and questions with quantifiers. Crucially, contra the current dominant view, I argue that pair list readings of multi wh questions are not subject to domain exhaustivity, unlike those of questions with a universal quantifier. Chapter 6 explores two approaches to composing quantifying into question readings, including a higher order question approach and a function based approach. Both approaches manage to treat quantifying into question as regular quantification. Chapter 7 presents a uniform treatment for the seemingly diverse functions of the Mandarin particle dou. I argue that dou is an exhaustifier that operates on pre exhaustified sub alternatives. This chapter provides a baseline theory for the derivation of disjunctive mention all answers to mention some questions.