Sources for question particles
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18148/hs/2025.v9i2-10.185Keywords:
polar question particles, grammaticalization, diachronic typology, interrogativesAbstract
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.Downloads
Published
2025-02-04
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DiGS23 special issue
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Copyright (c) 2025 George Walkden, Tian Li, Laura Weisshaar

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Articles appearing in Journal of Historical Syntax are published under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Authors retain copyright.