Underspecified coordination, focus and contrast in Wá·šiw

Abstract

The connective =ŋa in Wá·šiw (Washo/Washoe; Hokan/isolate; USA) is compatible with both conjunction and disjunction interpretations. Although conjunction/disjunction flexibility has been discussed and analyzed in other languages, what is unique about the Wá·šiw case is that the conjunction reading of =ŋa is contrastive conjunction, translated into English as but. I argue that =ŋa is underspecified for conjunction or disjunction, following the analysis of Davidson (2013) for underspecified coordination in ASL. I propose that the additive marker =saʔ (≈ ‘also’) derives a disjunction reading of =ŋa by existentially quantifying over the alternative set denoted by the coordination. I then propose that =ŋa also lexicalizes a notion of semantic contrast, following Toosarvandani’s (2014) proposal for English but. On this analysis, the coordinates of =ŋa stand in opposition to a certain proposition in the QUD, where one conjunct implies that the proposition is true, while the other conjunct implies that the proposition is false. I furthermore show how =ŋa and =saʔ in interrogatives derive the exclusive and exhaustive inferences associated with alternative questions, though several open issues remain.