Modeling Answering Strategies for the Polar Questions across Languages

摘要

This paper provides a discourse-based account of polar questions and answering particles. Arguing against syntax-based ellipsis analyses, the paper suggests that polarity particles are anaphoric in nature and their interpretation is determined by the antecedent evoked by the context. It also suggests that the parametric differences between the polarity-based (e.g., English, Swedish, German) and the truth-based answering system (e.g., Korean, Chinese, Japanese) have to do with the tight interactions between the anaphoric nature of answering particles and discourse.