Dependency between wh-question and Q-particle

Unlike English, Korean is a wh-in-situ language where the wh-word stays in the original position (see, among others, Hagstrom 1998, Chung 2000, Kim 2000, and Hong 2005).

As seen from these examples, unlike English, there is no displacement (or movement) of the wh-phrase in forming the wh-questions. The wh-expression in Korean need not move to the clausal scope (clause-initial) position, though it can be optionally displaced to the position through a scrambling process:

In forming a wh-question in the language, all that is required is the presence of a Q-particle. That is, the wh-expression requires a question mood marking (Q-particle) like -ni on the matrix verb to have an interrogative meaning.Without such a Q-particle, the wh-expression can be interpreted as an indefinite pronoun (see Chung 1996, Kim 2000, Hong 2005):

The wh-expression is thus ambiguous between an interrogative reading and an indefinite reading, depending on the presence of the Q-particle.

The Q-particle can be attached to the final verb of a clause located to the right of the corresponding wh-element, marking its scope, as illustrated by the following:

In both cases, the wh-question is in the embedded clause but the position of the Q-particle differs.