Toward a typology of question particles in the languages of China
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Tianhua Luo [1] ; Yicheng Wu [1]
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[1] Zhejiang University
Zhejiang University
China
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- Localización: Lingua: International review of general linguistics, ISSN 0024-3841, Nº 191-192, 2017, págs. 81-93
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Having surveyed 138 languages spoken in China, this paper attempts to provide a unified account of question particles from a typological perspective. Based on the characteristic structural features of individual interrogatives in these languages, we particularly take issue with Dryer (2013a,b) on two points: (i) some languages he labeled as “no question particles” in fact employ question particles in forming polar interrogatives; (ii) the positions of question particles in the languages of China are different from his findings in that most languages of China prefer sentence-final positions, whereas Dryer reports a much smaller proportion. Moreover, it is found that in many languages of China final particles are also used in wh-questions, including wh-question particles and particles in wh-questions.
