This dissertation investigates the syntactic and semantic aspects of long-distance dependency involved in Korean wh-Negative Polarity Items (NPIs). Korean wh-NPIs consist of a wh-item and a focus particle -to meaning `also' or `even'. In all reported cases, the wh-item and -to appear adjacent to each other. However, the wh-item and -to can appear discontinuously when the NPI licenser is located in a different clause from the wh-NPI. I will call this new form of wh-NPIs \"split wh-NPIs\". The central claims of this dissertation are the following. The first, long-distance dependency displayed in split wh-NPIs is attained via overt movement of a focus particle -to `also/even' in an effort to form a local relation with an NPI licenser. Second, -to is interpreted with its associated wh-item via point-wise semantic composition without forming a local relation at LF. These conclusions are motivated by finding two sets of new data: 1) split wh-NPIs cannot be formed across island boundaries, 2) split wh-NPIs are susceptible to focus intervention effects. This analysis has important implications for another wh-in-situ construction in Korean, wh-questions. By comparing split wh-NPIs with wh-in-situ questions, I argue that wh-in-situ questions do not involve any type of movement.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation investigates the syntactic and semantic aspects of long-distance dependency involved in Korean wh-Negative Polarity Items (NPIs). Korean wh-NPIs consist of a wh-item and a focus particle <em>-to</em> meaning `also' or `even'. In all reported cases, the wh-item and <em>-to</em> appear adjacent to each other. However, the wh-item and <em>-to</em> can appear discontinuously when the NPI licenser is located in a different clause from the wh-NPI. I will call this new form of wh-NPIs "split wh-NPIs". The central claims of this dissertation are the following. The first, long-distance dependency displayed in split wh-NPIs is attained via overt movement of a focus particle <em>-to</em> `also/even' in an effort to form a local relation with an NPI licenser. Second, <em>-to</em> is interpreted with its associated wh-item via point-wise semantic composition without forming a local relation at LF. These conclusions are motivated by finding two sets of new data: 1) split wh-NPIs cannot be formed across island boundaries, 2) split wh-NPIs are susceptible to focus intervention effects. This analysis has important implications for another wh-in-situ construction in Korean, wh-questions. By comparing split wh-NPIs with wh-in-situ questions, I argue that wh-in-situ questions do not involve any type of movement.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lee-Sikka, Yeonju"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Linguistics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Sam Al Khatib","Jason Kandybowicz"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Jonathan Nissenbaum"],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-09-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-09-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:22Z","subjects":["wh-NPI","wh-in-situ","wh-questions","upward agree","wh-prosody","island effects","intervention effects"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4084","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Sam Al Khatib","Jason Kandybowicz"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Jonathan Nissenbaum"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lee-Sikka, Yeonju"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-09-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Linguistics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["wh-NPI","wh-in-situ","wh-questions","upward agree","wh-prosody","island effects","intervention effects"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4084"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation investigates the syntactic and semantic aspects of long-distance dependency involved in Korean wh-Negative Polarity Items (NPIs). Korean wh-NPIs consist of a wh-item and a focus particle -to meaning `also' or `even'. In all reported cases, the wh-item and -to appear adjacent to each other. However, the wh-item and -to can appear discontinuously when the NPI licenser is located in a different clause from the wh-NPI. I will call this new form of wh-NPIs \"split wh-NPIs\". The central claims of this dissertation are the following. The first, long-distance dependency displayed in split wh-NPIs is attained via overt movement of a focus particle -to `also/even' in an effort to form a local relation with an NPI licenser. Second, -to is interpreted with its associated wh-item via point-wise semantic composition without forming a local relation at LF. These conclusions are motivated by finding two sets of new data: 1) split wh-NPIs cannot be formed across island boundaries, 2) split wh-NPIs are susceptible to focus intervention effects. This analysis has important implications for another wh-in-situ construction in Korean, wh-questions. By comparing split wh-NPIs with wh-in-situ questions, I argue that wh-in-situ questions do not involve any type of movement.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Syntax and Semantics of Korean Wh-Quantification: Wh-NPIs and Wh-In-Situ"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Sam Al Khatib","Jason Kandybowicz"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Jonathan Nissenbaum"],"dc:creator":["Lee-Sikka, Yeonju"],"dc:date.available":["2020-09-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation investigates the syntactic and semantic aspects of long-distance dependency involved in Korean wh-Negative Polarity Items (NPIs). Korean wh-NPIs consist of a wh-item and a focus particle -to meaning `also' or `even'. In all reported cases, the wh-item and -to appear adjacent to each other. However, the wh-item and -to can appear discontinuously when the NPI licenser is located in a different clause from the wh-NPI. I will call this new form of wh-NPIs \"split wh-NPIs\". The central claims of this dissertation are the following. The first, long-distance dependency displayed in split wh-NPIs is attained via overt movement of a focus particle -to `also/even' in an effort to form a local relation with an NPI licenser. Second, -to is interpreted with its associated wh-item via point-wise semantic composition without forming a local relation at LF. These conclusions are motivated by finding two sets of new data: 1) split wh-NPIs cannot be formed across island boundaries, 2) split wh-NPIs are susceptible to focus intervention effects. This analysis has important implications for another wh-in-situ construction in Korean, wh-questions. By comparing split wh-NPIs with wh-in-situ questions, I argue that wh-in-situ questions do not involve any type of movement.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4084"],"dc:subject":["wh-NPI","wh-in-situ","wh-questions","upward agree","wh-prosody","island effects","intervention effects"],"dc:title":["The Syntax and Semantics of Korean Wh-Quantification: Wh-NPIs and Wh-In-Situ"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Linguistics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:58:22Z"}