Abstract
It is generally observed across languages that why-questions are formed by merging the relevant wh-expression high up in the left periphery (cf. Rizzi 1990, 2001, Ko 2006, Stepanov & Tsai 2008, Tsai 2008, Shlonsky & Soare 2011, among others). This paper investigates a class of postverbal what-questions in Chinese which be best described as applicative construals with a touch of "whining" force. We propose that it actually involves an implicit light verb FOR (i.e., a silent counterpart of an applicative head in Bantu languages), to which the main verb raises in overt syntax. This move is evidenced by the availability of verb-copying and the rearrangement of prosodic weight distinct from typical transitive questions. Our account thus not only explains away the exception to the cross-linguistic generalization about the placement of why, but also reconstruct the correct cartography of whining wh-questions in the verbal domain.