@phdthesis{Anderbois:11,
	abstract = {The central topic this dissertation is the semantic relationship between disjunctions, indefinites, and other instances of existential quantification on the one hand and questions on the other. I argue that the former have more in common with the latter than is generally acknowledged and, in particular, that their compositional semantics includes not only truth-conditional information, but also an issue-raising or inquisitive capacity. For example, a simple assertion like ``Someone left.'' not only proposes to rule out the possibility that no one left, it also presents the issue of `Who left?' as a possible direction for future discussion. 

This dissertation presents several empirical arguments for this inquisitive capacity and for particular interactions with other elements in the sentence. The most direct argument comes from novel fieldwork on wh- and alternative questions in Yucatec Maya (an indigenous language of Mexico), which consist of focused disjunctions and focused indefinite wh-words respectively. I argue that both patterns can be accounted for under a semantics where disjunctions and indefinite wh-words --- across all their uses --- make a contribution that is both inquisitive and potentially informative. The (contextually restricted) presupposition of focus is responsible for isolating this inquisitive capacity in questions, thus distinguishing them from assertions. 

This Yucatec Maya-based semantics for disjunctions and indefinites sheds light on several puzzles regarding these elements more generally, and in particular, in English. The first of these is the ellipsis process known as Sluicing, which I analyze as the anaphoric retrieval of an issue introduced by prior inquisitive elements. Second, I provide an analysis of subtle differences between positive, negative, and alternative polar questions with or not, which makes use of a more structured `two-tiered' semantics for issues. Finally, I provide a semantic/pragmatic account of polar questions with preposed negation in which (double) negation plays the pivotal semantic role, suppressing inquisitive content within the question itself, thereby providing added emphasis on the truth-conditional information of the proposition itself (i.e. Verum Focus).},
	author = {Scott {AnderBois}},
	date-added = {2021-08-17 00:00:00 +0000},
	date-modified = {2021-08-17 00:00:00 +0000},
	school = {University of California Santa Cruz},
	title = {Issues and alternatives},
	url = {https://research.clps.brown.edu/anderbois/PDFs/AnderBois_Diss_Web.pdf},
	year = {2011},
	Bdsk-Url-1 = {https://research.clps.brown.edu/anderbois/PDFs/AnderBois_Diss_Web.pdf}}

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The most direct argument comes from novel fieldwork on wh- and alternative questions in Yucatec Maya (an indigenous language of Mexico), which consist of focused disjunctions and focused indefinite wh-words respectively. I argue that both patterns can be accounted for under a semantics where disjunctions and indefinite wh-words — across all their uses — make a contribution that is both inquisitive and potentially informative. The (contextually restricted) presupposition of focus is responsible for isolating this inquisitive capacity in questions, thus distinguishing them from assertions. This Yucatec Maya-based semantics for disjunctions and indefinites sheds light on several puzzles regarding these elements more generally, and in particular, in English. The first of these is the ellipsis process known as Sluicing, which I analyze as the anaphoric retrieval of an issue introduced by prior inquisitive elements. Second, I provide an analysis of subtle differences between positive, negative, and alternative polar questions with or not, which makes use of a more structured `two-tiered' semantics for issues. 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