Rethinking Wh-island Effects in Chinese

Barry C.-Y. Yang; Ting-ting Christina Hsu; Kazunori Kikushima

doi:10.2478/scl-2021-0005

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Rethinking Wh-island Effects in Chinese

Studies in Chinese Linguistics

Volume 42 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

By: Barry C.-Y. Yang, Ting-ting Christina Hsu and Kazunori Kikushima

Open Access

|Jan 2022

Abstract

The traditional observation that Chinese wh-arguments do not exhibit wh-island effects may be only apparent. With new evidence from “how-many” phrases, it is demonstrated that Chinese has wh-island effects even with wh-arguments. What nullifies such effects is in fact the disguise of D-linkedness. Although the lack of wh-island effects seems to pattern Chinese wh-construals with Japanese ones, further tests show that these two languages are still different with respect to strong island effects, (anti-)crossing effects, and multiple wh-interpretations. The finding leads to the need to reinvestigate the mechanisms underlying the scope-taking wh-elements of wh-in-situ languages on the one hand, and those triggering wh-island effects on the other.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/scl-2021-0005 | Journal eISSN: 2470-8275 | Journal ISSN: 1017-1274

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Language: English

Page range: 161 - 182

Submitted on: Aug 26, 2020

Accepted on: Sep 8, 2021

Published on: Jan 18, 2022

Published by: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, T.T. Ng Chinese Language Research Centre

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

Related subjects:

Linguistics and semiotics,

Languages of Asia,

Sino-Tibetan languages,

Chinese,

Levels of linguistic analysis,

Interfaces,

Syntax,

Theoretical frameworks and disciplines,

Contrastive linguistics

© 2022 Barry C.-Y. Yang, Ting-ting Christina Hsu, Kazunori Kikushima, published by The Chinese University of Hong Kong, T.T. Ng Chinese Language Research Centre
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 42 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)