Sources for question particles

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18148/hs/2025.v9i2-10.185

Keywords:

polar question particles, grammaticalization, diachronic typology, interrogatives

Abstract

This paper deals with the diachrony of polar question particles (PQPs). We propose five source representations that can give rise to such particles: i) disjunction, ii) subordinators, iii) wh-words, iv) epistemic modality, and v) focus particles. Data is drawn from a typological survey, supported by in-depth case studies from the literature. The historical developments proposed are compatible with established formal approaches to grammaticalization.

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Published

2025-02-04