Locality and Edge Effects in Korean Multiple Wh-questions

Abstract

Park, Myung-Kwan. 2018. Locality and Edge Effects in Korean Multiple Wh-questions. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 43-3, 523-544. Though of the same form, multiple wh-elements behave differently from single wh-ones in terms of the licensing condition(s). Particularly, to yield a multiple-pair (MP) interpretation the second wh-element in the multiple wh-construction scopally interacts with the first one. Being quantificational, the former is subject to the clause-mate/locality condition before feeding into MP-producing absorption with the latter. On the other hand, single wh-elements (as well as the first wh-element in the multiple wh-construction) are not quantificational, thus possibly being licensed as an indeterminate pronoun, not constrained by the clause-mate/locality condition. But we will see that when embedded in an island, the second wh-element in the multiple wh-construction can alternatively meet the clause-mate/locality condition when it first overtly moves/scrambles to the edge of the dominating node and percolates its quantificational feature to the island-containing node that is to undergo pied-piping QR/Wh-movement. (Dongguk University)