Startseite The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli
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The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli

  • Liljana Mitkovska ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Eleni Bužarovska ORCID logo und Fevzudina Saračević ORCID logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 30. Oktober 2024

Abstract

This paper focuses on biased polar questions in Macedonian headed by the interrogative particles zar and neli. These particles function as veridicality markers: neli asserts the truth of p, while zar challenges it by emphasizing the conflict between the epistemic and the evidential bias. Consequently, these questions have different discourse functions. Our goal is to examine the discourse-pragmatic properties of these questions and determine the factors influencing their distribution. We argue that their felicity depends on the interplay of contextual factors: the degree of speaker’s certainty in the truth of the proposition, the existence of conflicting contextual evidence, and the assertiveness component of the biased question. A statistical analysis of 340 examples from literary and social media sources revealed that the most decisive factor for the occurrence of neli- and zar-questions is the degree of speaker certainty in prior belief, highlighting the assertive force of neli-questions compared to the more inquisitive nature of zar-questions.


Corresponding author: Liljana Mitkovska, University AUE-FON, Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, E-mail:

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Received: 2023-12-14
Accepted: 2024-09-16
Published Online: 2024-10-30
Published in Print: 2024-11-26

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Heruntergeladen am 18.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/psicl-2023-0089/html
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