Chapter 3. Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese
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Katariina Harjunpää
Abstract
This paper explores the division of labor between particle and repetitional responses to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese. We examine a response form that occurs both as a particle and as a verb repeat – the é-response – and compare its uses to repeat responses consisting of elements other than é. Freestanding and expanded responses are analyzed to gather evidence of the participants’ orientations to the epistemic and action commitments that the initial polar responses convey. The analyses indicate that é-responses (both particle and repeat) sufficiently confirm previously established information, for instance, in response to understanding checks. In contrast, when responding to requests for confirmation about a new matter, é responses only weakly confirm the proposition in the question, indicating that it might not be true, or treat it as ancillary. Importantly, é-responses do not affirm genuinely new information but instead suggest a lack of commitment to affirming the proposition. In order to provide a committed confirmation or affirmation, minimal repetitional responses other than é are used. The study thus sheds further light on é-responses in different sequential and action environments and on the role of repetitional responses in Brazilian Portuguese, including a discussion in relation to findings from other languages.
Abstract
This paper explores the division of labor between particle and repetitional responses to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese. We examine a response form that occurs both as a particle and as a verb repeat – the é-response – and compare its uses to repeat responses consisting of elements other than é. Freestanding and expanded responses are analyzed to gather evidence of the participants’ orientations to the epistemic and action commitments that the initial polar responses convey. The analyses indicate that é-responses (both particle and repeat) sufficiently confirm previously established information, for instance, in response to understanding checks. In contrast, when responding to requests for confirmation about a new matter, é responses only weakly confirm the proposition in the question, indicating that it might not be true, or treat it as ancillary. Importantly, é-responses do not affirm genuinely new information but instead suggest a lack of commitment to affirming the proposition. In order to provide a committed confirmation or affirmation, minimal repetitional responses other than é are used. The study thus sheds further light on é-responses in different sequential and action environments and on the role of repetitional responses in Brazilian Portuguese, including a discussion in relation to findings from other languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Repetitional responses to polar questions in Russian conversation 40
- Chapter 3. Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese 76
- Chapter 4. Responses to polar questions in Polish 109
- Chapter 5. Three practices for confirming inferences in French talk-in-interaction 139
- Chapter 6. Complexities of responding 179
- Chapter 7. The division of labor between the particles jah and jaa ‘yes’ as responses to requests for confirmation in Estonian 210
- Chapter 8. Code-switching, agency, and the answer possibility space of Spanish-English bilinguals 239
- Chapter 9. Post-confirmation modifications 272
- Chapter 10. Responding to polar questions without a polarity item ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Finnish 301
- Chapter 11. Renewing a social action in US primary care 328
- Chapter 12. Do English affirmative polar interrogatives with any favor negative responses? 350
- Appendix. Transcription conventions and symbols for glossing 377
- Subject index 381
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
- Chapter 2. Repetitional responses to polar questions in Russian conversation 40
- Chapter 3. Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese 76
- Chapter 4. Responses to polar questions in Polish 109
- Chapter 5. Three practices for confirming inferences in French talk-in-interaction 139
- Chapter 6. Complexities of responding 179
- Chapter 7. The division of labor between the particles jah and jaa ‘yes’ as responses to requests for confirmation in Estonian 210
- Chapter 8. Code-switching, agency, and the answer possibility space of Spanish-English bilinguals 239
- Chapter 9. Post-confirmation modifications 272
- Chapter 10. Responding to polar questions without a polarity item ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in Finnish 301
- Chapter 11. Renewing a social action in US primary care 328
- Chapter 12. Do English affirmative polar interrogatives with any favor negative responses? 350
- Appendix. Transcription conventions and symbols for glossing 377
- Subject index 381
