A Minimalist Account of the Response Mechanism in English Echo Questions

本文基于最简方案的理论框架，依托语域赋值假说和非选择性约束理论对英语中的回声疑问句进行句法分析。当回声疑问句以单独形式出现时，对于回声问句的应答必须要包含对所有的疑问词的应答；而当回声疑问句作为嵌入句，成为主句的一部分时，应答者被允许只对部分疑问词进行应答。这主要源于在多疑问词条件下，携带不可解读特征[*uWH]的多个标句词成为赋值对象的多种潜在选择，由此引发的广窄域语域指派使得应答者做出或完整或部分的应答，最终导致语域的歧义性。Based on the theoretical framework of the Minimalist Program, this paper analyzes the syntax of echo questions in English by means of Scope Valuing Hypothesis and Unselective Binding Theory. When the echo question appears as a separate form, the answer to it must include the answer to all the wh-questions; when it follows a verb as an embedded clause, the respondent is allowed to respond to only part of the wh-question. This is mainly due to the fact that under the condition of multiple wh-questions, more than one complementizers with strong uninterpretable feature [*uWH] become potential objects to be valued with scope, and the resulting wide-narrow scope valuing difference causes the respondent to make a complete or partial response, which ultimately leads to the scope ambiguity.