Comments on: ‘Sure’ and Questions http://tar.weatherson.org/2009/10/03/sure-and-questions/ Donate to Oxfam: <a>Australian link</a>, <a>New Zealand link</a>, <a>UK link</a>, <a>US link</a>. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:37:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: joshdever http://tar.weatherson.org/2009/10/03/sure-and-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-5850 joshdever Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:47:54 +0000 http://tar.weatherson.org/?p=2404#comment-5850 A few results from Google: When a Chippewa tribal attorney is found murdered in his office, nearly everyone on the Red Cliff Reservation is sure who is responsible. The bank is sure who I am, and I can be pretty damn sure that I'm talking to the bank since they encrypt their responses as well. Though he's unsure about who will get the starting nod on Saturday, Spaziani is sure who won't be seeing the ball on Boston College kicks off. Although he is sure who the culprit is, Clewlow is unable to bring him to trial. Once everybody is sure who is talking to whom and makes a little small talk, the President tells them to blow shit up in his own special secret way. A few results from Google:

When a Chippewa tribal attorney is found murdered in his office, nearly everyone on the Red Cliff Reservation is sure who is responsible.

The bank is sure who I am, and I can be pretty damn sure that I’m talking to the bank since they encrypt their responses as well.

Though he’s unsure about who will get the starting nod on Saturday, Spaziani is sure who won’t be seeing the ball on Boston College kicks off.

Although he is sure who the culprit is, Clewlow is unable to bring him to trial.

Once everybody is sure who is talking to whom and makes a little small talk, the President tells them to blow shit up in his own special secret way.

]]> By: Brian Weatherson http://tar.weatherson.org/2009/10/03/sure-and-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-5849 Brian Weatherson Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:09:36 +0000 http://tar.weatherson.org/?p=2404#comment-5849 "He knows if you've been bad or good" is a very good example. I was wrong to think these are always (a little) marked. There is something odd about the prevalence of "knows if" in NPI-licencing contexts, but it isn't that "knows if" is an NPI. This is getting confusing enough that I should think about leaving it to the experts! “He knows if you’ve been bad or good” is a very good example. I was wrong to think these are always (a little) marked. There is something odd about the prevalence of “knows if” in NPI-licencing contexts, but it isn’t that “knows if” is an NPI.

This is getting confusing enough that I should think about leaving it to the experts!

]]> By: Paul Portner http://tar.weatherson.org/2009/10/03/sure-and-questions/comment-page-1/#comment-5848 Paul Portner Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:59:48 +0000 http://tar.weatherson.org/?p=2404#comment-5848 I wonder if you know there's a huge literature on the semantics of questions, in particular embedded ones, in linguistics. I'd say that Groenendijk and Stokhof's work is the standard now. There are plenty of facts and plenty of compositional details in their work, and the work of others; it remains a very active area of study. Also, it's not hard to google up tons of attested examples of "knows if" (e.g.,"He knows if you've been bad or good") in non-NPI-licensing contexts, so I think it'll be pretty hard to argue it's an NPI. But it also surprised me a bit how relatively often it is found in questions and negative sentences. I wonder if you know there’s a huge literature on the semantics of questions, in particular embedded ones, in linguistics. I’d say that Groenendijk and Stokhof’s work is the standard now. There are plenty of facts and plenty of compositional details in their work, and the work of others; it remains a very active area of study.

Also, it’s not hard to google up tons of attested examples of “knows if” (e.g.,“He knows if you’ve been bad or good”) in non-NPI-licensing contexts, so I think it’ll be pretty hard to argue it’s an NPI. But it also surprised me a bit how relatively often it is found in questions and negative sentences.

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