Typologically, many languages have indefinite pronouns that are derivedfrom interrogative pronouns. In fact, some indefinite pronouns assume the same
morphological shape as their interrogative counterparts. Such words are termed
quexistentials: they take on an indefinite or interrogative reading depending on the
sentence environments in which they are licensed. Hengeveld et al. (2021) argue
that indefinite quexistentials only appear in non-focused environments, whereas
their interrogative counterparts only appear in focused environments. With San-
tiago Laxopa Zapotec (Oto-Manguean) as the empirical focus of this thesis, I
expand the typology of quexistentials presented by Hengeveld et al. (2021) and
argue that indefinite and interrogative quexistentials are not always in comple-
mentary distribution, providing elicited data from native speakers of Santiago
Laxopa Zapotec as evidence. I use Karttunen’s (1977) semantics for questions
to unite indefinite and interrogative quexistentials into having the same general-
ized quantifier semantics. The difference in their interpretations arises from the
syntax-semantics interface – in particular, whether the quexistential composes
with an interrogative operator.