Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
6-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Program
Linguistics
Advisor
William Haddican
Subject Categories
Semantics and Pragmatics | Syntax
Keywords
Thai, quantifier float, quantifier scope, stranding, extraposition, quantifier raising
Abstract
Research on Thai Q(uantifier)-float attempts to manifest the problems for each of its analysis. For the adverbial analysis, the Japanese data show that the floating quantifiers can be associated with both distributive and plurality-of-events readings while Thai does not distinguish between these two readings. For the stranding analysis, the differences from English-Thai comparative data show that Thai floating quantifiers often occur in positions where their associated NPs could not have previously occupied or have been moved from, and thus cannot be analyzed as resulting from stranding. As a solution, Thai Q-float is postulated as an instance of rightward movement (extraposition) but this idea has recently been rejected and replaced with the Quantifier Raising (QR) analysis. This thesis aims to defend the extraposition approach by providing empirically supporting data to confirm the availability of extraposition in Thai, and to undercut the motivation for the recent QR analysis. I propose that this QR analysis is problematic since its data face some empirical problems. These problems result from the native speakers’ judgments on the data that are used to illustrate the locality restrictions and scopal effects of the floating quantifiers in Thai. It is found that some data contrast to the native speakers’ judgments while some mislead them to agree with the judgments by the author.
Recommended Citation
Chaiphet, Khanin, "Aspects of Quantifier Float in Thai" (2017). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2048