Wh-adjuncts in Chinese refutatory wh-sentences

Abstract

Abstract The present study focuses on the refutatory wh-sentences in Chinese. The main idea is two-fold. First, contrary to the previous accounts arguing for the interrogative nature of refutatory sentences, we argue that refutatory wh-sentences exclude the interrogative force and should be distinguished from rhetorical questions accordingly. Second, we will show that all wh-words bearing the refutatory interpretation should occur as adjuncts, which are syntactically placed in the left periphery. Two subtypes of refutatory wh-adjuncts, namely, propositional refutatory wh-adjuncts and modal refutatory wh-adjuncts, are further classified in this study. The former is semantically akin to the pure negator bu, while the latter semantically relates to modality.