A corpus-based analysis of meaning variations in German tag questions evidence from spoken and written conversational corpora
- This paper addresses semantic/pragmatic variability of tag questions in German and makes three main contributions. First, we document the prevalence and variety of question tags in German across three different types of conversational corpora. Second, by annotating question tags according to their syntactic and semantic context, discourse function, and pragmatic effect, we demonstrate the existing overlap and differences between the individual tag variants. Finally, we distinguish several groups of question tags by identifying the factors that influence the speakers’ choices of tags in the conversational context, such as clause type, function, speaker/hearer knowledge, as well as conversation type and medium. These factors provide the limits of variability by constraining certain question tags in German against occurring in specific contexts or with individual functions.
Author details: | Yulia Clausen, Tatjana SchefflerORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-467882 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.25932/publishup-46788 |
ISSN: | 1866-8364 |
Title of parent work (German): | Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe (706) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2021/03/01 |
Publication year: | 2020 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2021/03/01 |
Tag: | German; corpus annotation; discourse functions; pragmatic variability; tag questions |
Issue: | 706 |
Number of pages: | 33 |
Source: | Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory (2020) DOI: 10.1515/cllt-2019-0060 |
Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät |
Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Linguistik | |
DDC classification: | 4 Sprache / 40 Sprache / 400 Sprache |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Grantor: | Walter de Gruyter Online Zeitschriften / Open Access Mitgliedschaft |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Green Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |