On Quotational Indefinites

Abstract

This paper discusses QUOTATIONAL INDEFINITES, an understudied variety  of indefinites that is attested in languages like Bulgarian  and German (see Cieschinger & Ebert 2011 on the latter), and are akin to Japanese wh-doublets  (see Sudo 2008)  and English  placeholders  like whatshisface or so-and-so (cf. Clark & Gerrig 1990). My major claim is that quotational indefinites existentially  quantify over linguistic  expressions and make reference to both expressions and their denotations. In addition, such indefinites require that the expressions they quantify over are of a certain type (a referential expression, a particular kind of adverbial, etc.) and originate in a previous conversation. This work uncovers important interactions between indefiniteness, quotation, and reportativity,  and broadens our understanding of the typology of indefinites.