On the projection of the presupposition of embedded questions

Abstract

The projection patterns of the existential/uniqueness presupposition of a wh-complement varies depending on the predicate that embeds it. This variation poses problems for existing accounts that treat the presupposition as a semantic contribution of an operator merging with the wh-complement (Dayal 1996) or by the embedding predicate (Uegaki 2015). Rather, the patterns suggest an analysis that treats the presupposition as contributed by the propositions corresponding to the answers of the embedded question.