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The genesis and typology of correlatives
- Language
- Linguistic Society of America
- Volume 96, Number 4, December 2020
- pp. 874-907
- 10.1353/lan.2020.0065
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
This article argues for a new theory of the origin of wh-correlatives from indefinite uses of wh-words in paratactic or asyndetic conditionals. We show that this theory predicts a generalization that has so far gone unnoticed: wh-based correlatives always have a universal reading; they may also have a definite reading, which may be morphologically marked. This is in contrast to correlatives where the relativizer originates from a demonstrative element: these always have a definite reading and may also have a universal reading. We demonstrate the validity of this generalization on a data set containing thirty-eight correlative structures from thirty-two languages, that is, all of the correlative structures that are sufficiently well described in the literature.