Disambiguating cues of disjunctive questions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2020/11/0010/000425Keywords:
Alternative questions, disjunctive yes-no questions, intonation, prosodyAbstract
This paper aims to identify the similarities and differences between Jordanian (JA), Egyptian (EA), and Kuwaiti (KA) Arabic regarding the cues that disambiguate alternative questions (altqs) from disjunctive yes-no questions (dynqs): namely, intonation contour and the choice of disjunctive element (DE). A perception study was conducted across the three dialects, replicating Pruitt and Roelofsen’s (2013) perception methodology for English. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were used to analyze the data. The results reveal that all three dialects exhibit a main effect for both intonation and DE choice; specifically, a rising intonation contour and the use of the coordinator ʔaw significantly increase the likelihood of a dynq response. Crucially, the effect of intonation was found to be larger than that of DE choice across all dialects. The subtle differences between these Arabic varieties lie primarily in the relative strength and weight of their respective DE coefficients.
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