Nali ‘where’ and how to derive its negation meaning

This study examines the “negation meaning” of the locational wh-expression nali ‘where’ in Mandarin. Some previous studies have proposed that nali contains formal elements directly responsible for this negation meaning. This paper argues against that view. In its “adversative” uses, nali not only conveys negation but can also express challenge or questioning. Moreover, the salience of the negation interpretation of nali is affected by the meaning of the predicate with which it co-occurs. These observations call into question analyses that posit an inherent formal element in nali responsible for its negation meaning. Instead, this paper proposes that nali has a part-whole semantics and argues that its negation use arises from its core question meaning, its part-whole semantics, and the speaker’s commitment to the belief that nali denotes an empty set.