Prosody and gesture in the interpretation of yes-answers to negative yes/no-questions
Tubau Muntaña, Susagna (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
González-Fuente, Santiago (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Prieto Vives, Pilar, 1965- (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Espinal, M. Teresa (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Imprint:	De Gruyter, 2015
Abstract:	In this paper we investigate the role of prosody and gesture in the interpretation of yes-answers to negative yes/no-questions in Catalan, a language with a polarity-based system of confirmation/contradiction of negative yes/no-questions. Two rating experiments were conducted to test (i) whether yes-answers to negative yes/no-questions are perceived as ambiguous by Catalan speakers when prosody and gesture are not available (Experiment 1), and (ii) whether the interpretation of sí 'yes' as an answer to a negative yes/no-question is dependent on prosodic and gestural properties of the answer (Experiment 2). Our results show that yes always asserts a salient propositional discourse referent, which can be either p or ¬p. Intonation and gesture guide the interpretation of yes-answers to negative yes/no-questions in Catalan, and we show that a yes-answer with a marked intonation and gesture is to be interpreted as a denial or REJECT of a salient propositional discourse referent.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Ambiguity ; Gesture ; Negative yes/no-questions ; Prosody ; Yes-answers
Published in:	The Linguistic Review, Vol. 32 Núm. 1 (2015) , p. 115-142, ISSN 1613-3676

DOI: 10.1515/tlr-2014-0016

29 p, 794.8 KB

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