Dr. Maryam Mohammadi, Post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bielefeld, will give a talk on: Polar Response Particles in Farsi: Lexical Ambiguity

Abstract

Cross-linguistically, polar (response) particles (PolPrts) can serve two distinct functions. They may signal whether a response is positive or negative, known as the polarity reading. Alternatively, they can convey agreement or disagreement with an initiative, termed the conformity reading (Krifka 2013, Roelofsen & Farkas 2015). In certain languages, such as English (and Farsi), the same particles can exhibit both reading, as in (1) and (2). While the prosody plays an important role in certain answers, the bare particles can lead to ambiguity.

(1)  A: Did John come to the party?

            B1: Yes, he did.                       Polarity: Positive / Conformity: Agreement

            B2: No, he didn't.                    Polarity: Negative / Conformity: Disagreement

       

(2)  A: Did John not come to the party?

            B1: Yes, he DID.                     Polarity: Positive

            B2: Yes, he didn't.                   Conformity: Agreement

            B3: No, he DID.                      Polarity: Negative

            B4: No, he didn't.                    Conformity: Disagreement

 

In this talk, I explore the PolPrts âre `yes' and na `no' in Farsi for different readings, not only in responsive forms but also in interrogatives (tag questions). I will go through three experiments, examining (I) the particle preference with respect to the question type, (II) the prosody of PolPrts with respect to the reading/answer type, and (III) the prosody of PolPrts with respect to the (biased) question type. The data reveals the bias sensitivity of PolPrts in the conformity readings as well as the presence of prosodic saliency in certain rejecting answers. Based on our findings, I propose distinct lexical entries to different readings of polar particles. I argue that each reading refers to propositions in different part of the discourse in Scoreboard Model (Farkas & Bruce 2010).