{"title":"The epistemic conditional in polar questions as an argumentative strategy","authors":"Agnès Celle","doi":"10.1515/flin-2023-2052","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This paper accounts for the epistemic use of the conditional in polar questions in French. It is argued that polar questions modalised by the epistemic conditional are biased questions that serve an argumentative function, and that the conditional contributes a different commitment update in interrogatives and in questioning declaratives. The bias type depends on whether the question is interrogative or declarative. In interrogatives, the epistemic conditional is generally associated with the subject clitic-verb inversion pattern. This pattern is argued to routinely convey evidential bias, while evidential bias is determined by the context in <jats:italic>est-ce que</jats:italic> questions. As biased polar questions in the conditional do not undergo interrogative flip, the conjectural meaning conveyed by the combination of the conditional and questioning is reported to be an evidential extension in keeping with evidentiality in non-flip languages (Bhadra, Diti. 2020. The semantics of evidentials in questions. <jats:italic>Journal of Semantics</jats:italic> 37. 367–423). This might shed new light on the apparent conceptual puzzle posed by the shift in meaning of the epistemic conditional in assertions and in questions.","PeriodicalId":45269,"journal":{"name":"Folia Linguistica","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Folia Linguistica","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/flin-2023-2052","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper accounts for the epistemic use of the conditional in polar questions in French. It is argued that polar questions modalised by the epistemic conditional are biased questions that serve an argumentative function, and that the conditional contributes a different commitment update in interrogatives and in questioning declaratives. The bias type depends on whether the question is interrogative or declarative. In interrogatives, the epistemic conditional is generally associated with the subject clitic-verb inversion pattern. This pattern is argued to routinely convey evidential bias, while evidential bias is determined by the context in est-ce que questions. As biased polar questions in the conditional do not undergo interrogative flip, the conjectural meaning conveyed by the combination of the conditional and questioning is reported to be an evidential extension in keeping with evidentiality in non-flip languages (Bhadra, Diti. 2020. The semantics of evidentials in questions. Journal of Semantics 37. 367–423). This might shed new light on the apparent conceptual puzzle posed by the shift in meaning of the epistemic conditional in assertions and in questions.
本文阐述了法语极性疑问句中条件句的认识论用法。本文认为,以认识条件为模态的极性疑问句是具有论证功能的偏向性疑问句,条件在疑问句和陈述句中的承诺更新是不同的。偏向类型取决于问题是疑问句还是陈述句。在疑问句中,认识条件一般与主语从句-动词倒置模式相关联。这种模式被认为通常表达证据偏误,而在 est-ce que 问句中,证据偏误是由上下文决定的。由于条件式中有偏向的极性疑问句不进行疑问句翻转,因此条件式和疑问句结合所传达的猜测意义据说是一种证据性扩展,与非翻转语言中的证据性保持一致(Bhadra, Diti.2020.问题中的证据语义。语义学杂志》37。367-423).这可能会对断言和疑问句中认识论条件意义的转变所带来的明显的概念难题带来新的启示。
期刊介绍:
Folia Linguistica covers all non-historical areas in the traditional disciplines of general linguistics (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics), and also sociological, discoursal, computational and psychological aspects of language and linguistic theory. Other areas of central concern are grammaticalization and language typology. The journal consists of scientific articles presenting results of original research, review articles, overviews of research in specific areas, book reviews, and a miscellanea section carrying reports and discussion notes. In addition, proposals from prospective guest editors for occasional special issues on selected current topics are welcomed.