Chinese conditionals and the theory of conditionals (Quantification)

As is well known, in conditionals and, more generally, in structures involv ing adverbs of quantification, indefinite NPs like a cat display a variable quantificational force. Within DRT this phenomenon is analysed by assimila ting indefinites to variables. Unlike other variable-like elements, however , indefinites cannot be anaphoric to something else. That is, one cannot sa y things like "a cat usually meows if a cat is hungry" meaning "a cat usual ly meows if it is hungry." This is generally explained in terms of a novelt y condition: indefinites must introduce novel variables. Cheng and Huang (1 996) discuss and analyze two types of Chinese conditionals in which wh-word s display quantificational variability. In on type of conditional, their be havior is fully analogous to that of indefinites. In the other, they behave like indefinites in the antecedent, while in the consequent they must be i nterpreted as bound pronouns. Thus, in DR-theoretic terms, Chinese wh-words obey the novelty condition in the antecedent but no in the consequent of a conditional. This behaviour is unexpected. The present paper addresses thi s issue. The main claim is that a certain version of Dynamic Semantics lead s one to expect elements with exactly the properties of Chinese wh-words. I n particular, Dynamic Semantics makes it possible to reverse, in a sense, t he classic DR-theoretic strategy. One can view indefinites as existentially quantified terms: however, their existential force can be overridden by op erators in their local environment that wipe out their existential force, a s it were, and get them to act like variables. If one takes this line, the Novelty Condition becomes dispensable and the problem disappears. The behav iour of Chinese wh-words is also compared to that of other elements analyza ble as indefinite pronomials, such as si in Italian and one in English.