Intervention Effect in Korean Wh-Questions:Indefinite Matters

Abstract

I claim that the intervention effect in wh-questions is essentially due to the failure of the syntax of LF to feed the right semantics for the wh-question, as opposed to Beck and Kim (1997), who claim that the effect is essentially due to MNSC which says negation should not intervene between the wh-operator and its trace at LF. I try to show that the current proposal is superior to the one in Beck and Kim in that our proposal can provide a better account for the interesting contrast in intervention effect between way (why) and the rest of wh-words and the general lack of it between them in various contexts where Beck and Kim fails to do so.