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1 results

  • 26 - Syntax Semantics

  • from Part IV - Comparative Syntax: Interfaces
  • Edited by Sjef Barbiers, Universiteit Leiden, Norbert Corver, Universiteit Utrecht, Maria Polinsky, University of Maryland, College Park
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Comparative Syntax
    Published online:
    05 January 2026
    Print publication:
    04 September 2025, pp 869-905

  • Summary

    This chapter examines two phenomena whose syntax and semantics reflect some of the key developments in modern linguistic theory: question formation and quantifier scope. Both of these require that the relevant expression, be it a wh-phrase or a QP, be interpreted at the level of the clause. We first discuss several ways in which one can derive the relevant meanings for basic questions (clauses with one wh-phrase) and basic quantificational structures (clauses with one quantifier, be it a universal or an existential) before moving on to more complicated structures that have more than one such expression: multiple wh-questions, sentences with more than one quantifier, questions with a quantifier and a wh-phrase. Finally, we consider sentences with ellipsis and note certain differences between the full version and the elliptical version. We connect these differences to the results from our earlier discussions. The general point we emphasize is the existence of distinct scope-taking mechanisms that govern question formation as well as quantifier scope.