In both formal and functional perspectives, we explain the interpretation of wh-words in echo questions, in terms of the quantificational force and focus scope between the previous speaker and the echoing speaker. Referring to the distribution that the wh-words such as ‘nwukwu’and ‘mwues’ are articulated into two distinct interoretations of wh-pronoun (e.g. ‘wh x’) and indeterminate pronoun (e.g. ‘some x’), we seek for a unified explanation of the scope interpretation from an item into different meanings. In evaluating the status of wh-words in a universe of previous utterance and echo question, the distribution of wh-words in echo questions is arguably taken to be another aspect of redeeming the quantificational fore and focus realization. On the other, the echoing speaker’s reference to designate the occurrence of wh-words is arguably shown to depend upon to the extent that the ‘taken for granted’ information by the previous speaker is accepted or suspended by the echoing speaker, so that the representation of specificity in echo questions is derived by the ‘given/view’ articulation. The short-form echo questions are also illustrative of adhering to the predictions in this line. We show that the focus newly introduced by the echoing speaker is a good sort of underlying factor to trigger the renewal of the mood ending in echo questions. We also show that the occurrence of wh-words in rhetorical-echo question does underly non-trivial interpretation in representing the echoing speaker’s assertion of his or her own unwillingness to the expectation of the previous speaker.