Rise-Fall-Rise as a Marker of Secondary QUD s

Abstract

In the literature, English rise-fall-rise (RFR) intonation is known both as a marker of secondary information and as a marker of topics.�is paper aims to make plausible that these two uses can be derived from a common core, which in turn can be derived from a recent theory of intonational meaning more generally, according to which rises and falls indicate (non-)compliance with the maxims (Westera 2013, 2014, 2017).�e core meaning of RFR, I propose, is that the main question under discussion (Q��) is not compliantly addressed, while some secondary Q�� is. Several more concrete predictions are derived from this core meaning, pertaining to secondary information, topic marking, exhaustivity, and discourse strategies.�e resulting account is shown to generate certain ingredients of existing accounts, while also doing some things di�erently in ways that may be empirically accurate. If the proposed account is on the right track, it provides an important new intonational window on Q��s.