A Bidimensional Semantics for Questions
Ümit Atlamaz
September 2023
 

This paper provides a formal semantic account of questions in Turkish within the Alternative Semantics framework. It provides a unified analysis for polar, conversation starter, alternative, narrow focus, and constituent questions. Assuming that a question denotes a set of alternative propositions, the paper develops an account where alternatives are generated in situ via focus and indeterminate pronouns and the derivation proceeds via pointwise function application. I argue that the so-called question particle MI in Turkish is a focus particle licensed under certain environments. The attachment site of MI correlates with the type of alternatives generated yielding various types of questions. I also provide an account of why response particles are compatible with polar, narrow focus, and conversation starter questions but not with constituent and alternative questions.
Format: [ pdf ]
Reference: lingbuzz/008249
(please use that when you cite this article)
Published in: Zemin
keywords: question, focus, turkish, semantics
Downloaded:371 times

 

[ edit this article | back to article list ]