Comparative Concept: question referent (inf) / pronoun (cxn)
Extracted from the appendix of Morphosyntax: Constructions of the World's Languages, by William Croft (2022)
question referent (inf) / pronoun (cxn)
| Typ | information packaging (def) construction (def) |
|---|---|
| Alias(se) | question referent/pronoun • question |
| Assoziiert | |
| Spraakbanken | question referent (inf) / pronoun (cxn) |
Umbrella
Hierarchy
Definition
an unspecified referent in the scope of interrogation, especially polar - interrogatives. Example: in Can you hear anything?, anything is a question pronoun expressing a referent that only 'exists' in a hypothetical world, the possibility of whose existence is being entertained by the questioner. (Section 3.5)