Alternative Questions

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 450-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Biezma ◽  
Kyle Rawlins
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Questions

scholarly journals Focus and contrastive topic in questions and answers, with particular reference to Turkish

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beste Kamali ◽  
Manfred Krifka
Keyword(s):  
Algebraic Representation ◽  
Similar Role ◽  
Discourse Coherence ◽  
Dynamic Interpretation ◽  
Contrastive Topic ◽  
Questions And Answers ◽  
Alternative Questions

AbstractMuch recent research has recognized the importance of focus and contrastive topic in assertions for discourse coherence. However, with few exceptions, it has been neglected that focus and contrastive topic also occur in questions, and have a similar role in establishing coherence. We propose a framework of dynamic interpretation based on the notion of Commitment Spaces that show that a uniform interpretation of focus and contrastive topic is possible. The algebraic representation format is rich enough so that a separate introduction of discourse trees is not necessary. The paper discusses these phenomena for Turkish, a language with an explicit focus marker for polar and alternative questions, which distinguishes focus from contrastive topic.

What is Quantumness?

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-19
Author(s):  
Gershon Kurizki ◽  
Goren Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Quantum Mechanics ◽  
Quantum Physics ◽  
Quantum Object ◽  
Alternative Questions

Henry Bar is about to become the first quantum superhero, having discovered the incredible yet true principle that all things, large and small, are subject to the laws of quantum physics. He finds out that it may be possible, albeit extremely challenging, even for us humans to manifest “quantumness”. This principle underlies Henry’s implementation of his quantum suit that allows him to act as a quantum object. In order to understand this principle, the historical route from early atomism to the emergence of quantum mechanics (QM) as a revolutionary theory of radiation and matter is presented. The inception of QM was a landmark in the age-old quest for answers to the question: is reality, in its complexity, reducible to simple constituents? Alternative questions include: How far up the complexity ladder can QM be pushed as a framework for explaining reality? The appendix to this chapter introduces mathematical notations for QM phenomena.

Zur Frageintonation im Altbabylonischen

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-74
Author(s):  
Carsten Peust
Keyword(s):  
Old Babylonian ◽  
Object Clitics ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Alternative Questions ◽  
Interrogative Clauses ◽  
Final Syllable

Abstract This paper examines the use of plene writing as a marker of interrogative clauses in Old Babylonian letters. It is argued that plene writing here denotes a specific intonation contour, most probably a sharply rising melody. Main conclusions concerning its use: (1) Only polar questions carry interrogative intonation, not so wh-questions. (2) In alternative questions, only the first half usually carries interrogative intonation, not the second. (3) The (verbal or nominal) predicate of the sentence is the default carrier of interrogative intonation, but other elements may take over this role if they are focussed. (4) Interrogative intonation is always located on the final syllable of the affected phrase. (5) This implies that interrogative intonation regularly shifts onto enclitics, such as verbal object clitics, if the phrase contains any.

Translating question propositions between English and Yoruba

Babel ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
J.O. Friday-Ótún
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
Alternative Questions

This paper focuses on the aspect of question translation between English and Yoruba. Translation serves as a mirror through which any language can be relatively replicated into another. Question proposition between English and Yoruba are significant in the body of language knowledge among about 30 million Yoruba users of English in the western part of Nigeria and diaspora.<p>This study explored the types of question propositions between English and Yoruba, and their process in translation free from the former to the latter, and, vice versa, using the literal and idiomatic continuum of translation proposed by Larson (1984).
 The findings of the paper revealed that question translation between both languages has implications on the characteristics of language which affect translation. The similarities and peculiarities of each language as they affect the translation to Wh, Yes/no, Echo, Tag and Alternative questions in both languages were highlighted. Also underscored was the significance of translating question proposition between both languages in pedagogical and other contexts of communication.


scholarly journals The role of focus marking in disjunctive questions: A QUD-based approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 654
Author(s):  
Morwenna Hoeks
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Congruence Condition ◽  
Contrastive Topic ◽  
Structural Differences ◽  
Alternative Questions ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Focus Marking

Disjunctive questions are ambiguous: they can either be interpreted as polar questions (PolQs), as open disjunctive questions (OpenQs), or as closed alternative questions (ClosedQ). The goal of this paper is to show that the difference in interpretation between these questions can be derived via effects of focus marking directly. In doing so, the proposal brings out the striking parallel between the prosody of questions with foci/contrastive topics on the one hand and that of alternative questions on the other. Unlike previous approaches, this proposal does not rely on structural differences between AltQs and PolQs derived via ellipsis or syntactic movement. To show how this works out, an account of focus and contrastive topic marking in questions is put forward in which f-marking in questions determines what constitutes a possible answer by signaling what the speaker's QUD is like. By imposing a congruence condition between f-marked questions and their answers that requires answers to resolve the question itself as well as its signaled QUD, we predict the right answerhood conditions for disjunctive questions.

scholarly journals Surprise-Predicates, Strong Exhaustivity and Alternative Questions

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maribel Romero
Keyword(s):  
Comparison Class ◽  
Degree Constructions ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Class C ◽  
Alternative Questions

Factive emotive verbs like surprise and disappoint disallow the strongly exhaustive reading of wh-questions and do not embed alternative questions (nor polar questions) (Guerzoni & Sharvit 2007; Lahiri 1991; a.o.). This paper develops a novel account of this correlation by exploiting a property of surprise-type verbs so-far overlooked in the question literature: their focus-sensitivity. These verbs are treated as degree constructions where the comparison term –the selected type of answer to the question– must be a member of the comparison class C shaped by focus. Strongly exhaustive answers of wh-questions do not match the comparison class and are thus ruled out. Alternative questions fail to produce a suitable C both for strongly and for weakly exhaustive answers and are, hence, entirely disallowed.

scholarly journals Disambiguating cues of disjunctive questions

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Younes ◽  
Sam Hellmuth
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Alternative Questions

This paper aims to find out the similarities and differences between Jordanian (JA), Egyptian (EA), and Kuwaiti (KA) Arabic in which cues disambiguate alternative questions (altqs) and disjunctive yes-no questions (dynqs): intonation contour and choice of disjunctive element (DE). A perception study was run in the three dialects, replicating Pruitt & Roelofsen’s (2013) perception study on English. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to explore the results which revealed all dialects show a main effect of both intonation and DE choice; a rise contour and use of ʔaw significantly increased the likelihood of dynq responses. The effect of intonation was larger than that of DE choice in all dialects. The differences between the dialects lay in the relative strength of the DE coefficients.

scholarly journals Decomposing cornering effects

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Andrea Beltrama ◽  
Erlinde Meertens ◽  
Maribel Romero
Keyword(s):  
Information Structure ◽  
Alternative Questions ◽  
Focus Information

Alternative Questions with “or not” (NAQ) convey a cornering effect, which is notfound with they polar counterparts (PQ). This effect has been claimed to consist of two parts(Biezma 2009): NAQs (i) cannot be used discourse-initially and (ii) they do not license followupquestions/subquestions. In this paper, we ask the following: Are both parts of corneringlinked to the same property of NAQs? Or do they reflect distinct linguistic phenomena? Weexplore the issue by comparing the behavior of NAQs to Complement Alternative Questions(CAQ), a type of question that, like NAQs, presents logically opposite alternatives but, unlikeNAQs, fully spells out the second one. Results from two experiments suggest that both parts ofcornering can instead be explained in terms of independent semantic and pragmatic principles,which operate beyond the domain of alternative questions.Keywords: Alternative Questions, cornering, discourse, focus, information structure.

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