New challenges in the area of semantic dependencies: The Romanian epistemic constraint

International audienceThis paper investigates the parameters of variation in the area of semantically dependent indefinites, by focusing on the distribution of the Romanian dependent determiner 'vreun'. Refining previous descriptions in the literature (Farkas 2002, 2006), I argue that the occurrence of 'vreun' in intensional contexts is sensitive to epistemic alternatives. To account for this, I endorse the unitary approach to polarity-sensitivity due to Chierchia (2006) and argue that the differences between 'vreun' and other dependent indefinites stem from the types of alternatives they activate and the way these alternatives contribute to the overall meaning