Prosodic and informational aspects of polar questions in Neapolitan Italian
نویسنده
چکیده
In this paper the relation between prosodic form and meaning is investigated in a sample of polar questions in Neapolitan Italian, taken from four Map Task dialogues. The sample is analyzed from both the informational and the prosodic point of view. The analysis of the information structure led to the constitution of four groups of questions which are distinguished by their function or by the degree of accessibility of the referents they contain. The groups were then put in relation to the conversational Map Task moves, and to the results of the prosodic analysis. The results of this analysis show that polar questions in Neapolitan Italian have a common prosodic pattern. Their different functions, i.e. confirmation-seeking and information-seeking, are expressed with a variety of means that, together with the information provided by the context, concur to orient the interpretation.
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