Argument wh-questions and implications in Swedish
Author
Editor
- Johan Brandtler
- David Håkansson
- Stefan Huber
- Eva Klingvall
Summary, in English
In this paper, I discuss the following questions:
- What kind of implication arises from an argument wh-question?
- What kind of implication arises from a clefted argument wh-question in Swedish?
- Is there any difference in Swedish between clefted and non-clefted argument wh-questions with regard to the implications of existence they give rise to?
I argue that both types of argument wh-questions in Swedish, clefted and non-clefted, give rise to the same kind of pragmatic implication and that the choice between clefted and non-clefted form does not depend on a difference in semantic content, but is, in most cases, determined by the kind of propositional attitude held by the speaker. In particular, I argue that every wh-question requires some way in which the questioner, the one asking a wh-question, is cognitively related to the truth of some proposition. Moreover, I show that clefted argument wh-questions are preferred in Swedish when the speaker holds a very strong commitment to the truth of the proposition.
- What kind of implication arises from an argument wh-question?
- What kind of implication arises from a clefted argument wh-question in Swedish?
- Is there any difference in Swedish between clefted and non-clefted argument wh-questions with regard to the implications of existence they give rise to?
I argue that both types of argument wh-questions in Swedish, clefted and non-clefted, give rise to the same kind of pragmatic implication and that the choice between clefted and non-clefted form does not depend on a difference in semantic content, but is, in most cases, determined by the kind of propositional attitude held by the speaker. In particular, I argue that every wh-question requires some way in which the questioner, the one asking a wh-question, is cognitively related to the truth of some proposition. Moreover, I show that clefted argument wh-questions are preferred in Swedish when the speaker holds a very strong commitment to the truth of the proposition.
Department/s
Publishing year
2012
Language
English
Pages
147-159
Publication/Series
Discourse & Grammar. A Festschrift in Honor of Valéria Molnár
Full text
- Available as PDF - 192 kB
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Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
Lund University
Topic
- Languages and Literature
Keywords
- Argument wh-questions
- Clefted argument wh-questions
- Presupposition
- Propositional attitudes
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 978-91-637-0411-6