Long-Distance List Answers

Abstract

In this chapter I focus on the availability of long-distance list answers in Hindi. Such answers are normally analyzed as involving scope interaction between a matrix and an embedded wh. Since LF wh movement out of finite complements is blocked in Hindi, an explanation along these lines is obviously not feasible for it. I show that there are two distinct sources for long-distance lists, neither of which require us to compromise locality in scope assignment. They can arise when the embedded wh is D-linked, in the sense of Pesetsky (1987). However, they display locality effects that cannot be captured in a treatment of D-linking as unselective Q-binding. The alternative I propose treats the finite complement as a quantificational expression that interacts scopally with the matrix wh. The selectional properties of question embedding verbs and the semantic type of the indirect question, I show, account for a number of facts that would otherwise be problematic. Long-distance answers also have a second source which is dependent on plurality. In these cases, long-distance lists represent a cumulative reading of the question and there is no issue of scope interaction. The alternatives developed for Hindi, I argue, are applicable cross-linguistically since they do not appeal to aspects of grammar that are subject to parametric variation.