TY - BOOK ID - 32074994 TI - Varieties of Alternatives : Focus Particles and wh-Expressions in Mandarin PY - 2018 SN - 9811062080 9811062072 PB - Singapore : Springer Singapore : Imprint: Springer, DB - UniCat KW - Chinese language KW - Mandarin dialects. KW - Particles. KW - Northern Chinese dialects KW - Semantics. KW - Chinese language. KW - Chinese. KW - Sino-Tibetan languages KW - Formal semantics KW - Semasiology KW - Semiology (Semantics) KW - Comparative linguistics KW - Information theory KW - Language and languages KW - Lexicology KW - Meaning (Psychology) UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:32074994 AB - This book concerns two focus particles (jiu, dou) and wh-expressions (shenme = ‘what’, na geren = ‘which person’) in Mandarin Chinese. These items are systematically ‘ambiguous’ and have played important roles in various aspects of Mandarin grammar. An idea based on alternatives and varieties of alternatives in particular – following Chierchia’s 2013 analysis of the polarity system – is pursued to account for the systematic ambiguities. The unambiguous semantics of jiu, dou and wh-expressions are maintained and ‘ambiguity’ explained through varieties of alternatives interacting with other independently motivated aspects of the structure they occur in. By examining these aspects in detail, the book will help readers gain a better understanding of a broad range of phenomena that involve these items – including exhaustivity, distributivity, questions and conditionals. ER -