Internal 'Wh'-Thought and External 'Wh'-Expressions

Abstract

This article attempts to challenge the model in which a universal wh-thought as represented in LF/SEM is derived from grammatical wh-expressions, and further proposes a model with a prelinguistic Conceptual-Intensional Interface, where wh-thoughts are generated in-language a priori to their externalization into grammatical or ungrammatical wh-expressions, in conformity with Chomsky’s proposal of separating thought from expressions and his dictum of ‘meaning with sound’ rather than ‘sound with meaning’. The article also highlights how the saltation from animal cognition to human cognition makes Merge workable to yield Conceptual Hierarchic Structure for internal wh-thought.