Abstract
Direct and indirect characterizations of the relation between clause type (syntactic form) and speech act (pragmatic function) are problematic because they map oversimplified forms onto decomposable functions. We propose an alternative account of questions by abandoning any (in)direct link to their clause type and by decomposing speech acts into two variables encoding propositional attitudes. One variable captures the speaker’s commitment to an utterance, another their expectation toward the addressee’s engagement. We couch this proposal in a syntactic framework that relies on two projections dedicated to managing common ground (GroundP) and managing turn-taking (ResponseP), respectively. Empirical evidence comes from the conversational properties of sentence-final intonation in English and sentence-peripheral particles that serve to manage the common ground.
Highlights
Searle (1969), for instance, defines them as attempts to elicit information from the hearer
We investigate the relation between the forms and functions of different types of questions with the aim of identifying what these types have in common and whether they can be assumed to form a natural class
We address these problems by arguing for a new typology of questions that conceptualizes questions as different configurations of speaker commitment and addressee engagement
Summary
Searle (1969), for instance, defines them as attempts to elicit information from the hearer. We define the function of questions and other speech acts in terms of conversational effects. With syntax as a mediator of form and function, we have the means to model speech acts as complex phenomena that relate both speaker and addressee to the propositional content.
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