The traditional observation that Chinese wh-arguments do not exhibit wh-island effects may be only apparent. Using evidence from ‘how-many’ constructions, it is shown that Chinese has wh-island effects even with wh-arguments. What nullifies such effects is in fact the D-linkedness. This finding may lead to the need to reinvestigate the mechanisms underlying the wh-elements in the wh-in-situ languages on the one hand and those triggering wh-island effects on the other.
