Negative Wh-Constructions in Cantonese Revisited

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Date

2024-11

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Ohio State University. Libraries

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Abstract

Negative wh-construction (NWHC) refers to the non-canonical use of wh-words to express strong negation. The syntax and semantics of NWHC have been studied thoroughly by Cheung (2008, 2009). The main purpose of this paper is to revisit some major arguments in Cheung (2008). Providing novel evidence from Cantonese, I propose that the NWH-word is generated below TP and that NWHC involves an Agree relation between the NWH-word and the expressive component, which shares the same structure with other post-subject rhetorical expressions. The findings not only shed light on a syntactic approach to rhetorical questions, but also contribute to studies in peripheral structure and expressive component.

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Keywords

Rhetorical question, negative wh-constructions, Agree, expressive component

Citation

Choi, Tsun Hei. "Negative Wh-Constructions in Cantonese Revisited." Buckeye East Asian Linguistics, vol. 9 (November 2024), p. 6-21.