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.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A different kind of phrasal comparatives with a non-transformational Schönfinkelization in semantic composition: the case of Jordanian Arabic
- On the relation between negation and phases
- Aspects of pitch in textsetting: a suprasegmental analysis of two Turkish versions of Franz Schubert’s Ellens Gesang III (D. 839)
- The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- A different kind of phrasal comparatives with a non-transformational Schönfinkelization in semantic composition: the case of Jordanian Arabic
- On the relation between negation and phases
- Aspects of pitch in textsetting: a suprasegmental analysis of two Turkish versions of Franz Schubert’s Ellens Gesang III (D. 839)
- The role of biased polar question particles in discourse: the case of Macedonian zar and neli