Is there a universal answering strategy for rejecting negative propositions? Typological evidence on the use of prosody and gesture.

ABSTRACT: Previous research has proposed that languages diverge with respect to how their speakers confirm and contradict negative questions. Taking into account the classification between truth-based and polarity-based languages, this paper is mainly concerned with the expression of REJECT (a semantic operation that signals a contradiction move with respect to the common ground, along Krifka's lines) in two languages belonging to two typologically distinct answering systems, namely Catalan (polarity-based) and Russian (a mixed system using polarity-based, truth-based, and echoic strategies). This investigation has two goals. First, to assess empirically the relevance of prosodic and gestural patterns in the interpretation of confirming and rejecting responses to negative polar questions. Second, to

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Fuente S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4493367 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature