On wh-exclamatives and gradability: An argument from Romance

Abstract

This paper discusses a type of wh-exclamative whose wh-component and degree component do not seem to go hand in hand. These are wh-exclamatives in Catalan whose moved wh-phrase is headed by the determiner quin ‘what, which’, and whose NP contains an optional DegP headed by tan ‘so’ or més ‘more’. By taking a closer look at these wh-exclamatives, we will be able to contribute to the debate on the role of gradability and of the wh-component in the semantics of wh-exclamatives. My claim is that the DegP in these wh-exclamatives leaves behind a degree variable that is ultimately bound by an expressive speech act operator. Following Castroviejo (2006) and building on Rett (2009), I adhere to the claim that wh-exclamatives in Catalan are necessarily scalar as a requirement of the expressive operator. Moreover, as a downward-monotonic operator, I show that it licenses upward-directed inferences, which ensures that wh-exclamatives express unexpectedness toward a high degree.