Bias in Tag Questions
Cory Bill, Todor Koev
March 2023
 

We study various kinds of reverse-polarity tag questions in English, arguing that the speaker biases that such questions convey differ across three dimensions: optionality, strength, and polarity. We propose that the bias profile in each case primarily depends on the shape of the tag, while pointing at the central role of polarity focus and answer salience in generating these biases.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/007302
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: To appear in Perspectives on Biased Questions
keywords: tag questions, polar questions, question bias, polarity focus, degrees of commitment, salience, semantics
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