Exhaustivity in Wh-questions in Turkish

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon known as exhaustivity in wh-questions in Turkish. It addresses the single question how the exhaustive reading in wh-questions is achieved in the language. Based on new data on the issue at hand, it will be shown that it is the presence of the plural marker -lAr on the wh-phrase itself that gives rise to the specifically exhaustive reading whereas this is not necessarily the case with non-plural-marked wh-phrases. Therefore, it is argued that plural marking itself acts as the presuppostional exhaustivity marker since it evokes an exhaustivity requirement on the answer itself. This, nevertheless, is limited to single wh-questions only in the language since multiple wh-questions generally require exhaustive answers. The findings of the current study have certain implications for theories of exhaustive interpretations of wh-questions and is in agreement with the findings of those analyses where wh-questions are regarded as not inherently exhaustive.