Comment on Why do all languages share the same intonation for questions?

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lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

Do you really think thats true?

“Rhetorical” questions - like this one - are specially interesting because, while they follow the syntax of a genuine question, they’re pragmatically assertions. You’re implying “this is not true”, even if you’re phrasing it as a question.

And that phrasal pitch contour that you see in yes/no questions is dictated by the pragmatical purpose of the utterance, so if the “question” is not actually a question, it doesn’t get it.

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