On corrective questions and the position of focus

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11293077
AutoresVieri Samek-Lodovici (0000-0002-9827-1014, University College London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen43
Número3
Páginas1899-1947
Fecha de publicación2025-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNatural Language and Linguistic Theory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0167-806X • E-ISSN: 1573-0859
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11049-025-09656-6
OpenAlexW4410548305
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas48

Corrective questions exploit focalization to correct and replace a preceding question much like corrective statements exploit focalization to correct and replace a preceding statement. This paper examines Italian corrective questions in depth, presenting new experimental data supporting their grammatical status. It also shows that Italian corrective questions constitute root interrogative clauses, lack a terminal rise, and qualify as canonical questions when assessed with respect to Farkas’ criteria (Farkas 2022). Corrective questions are theoretically significant because they simultaneously contain a wh-phrase and a corrective focus in a root clause. Their grammaticality challenges the widely held hypothesis that wh-phrases and corrective foci must both be interpreted in a left-peripheral FocP projection that can only hosts one or the other. This hypothesis incorrectly predicts corrective questions to be impossible. I will argue, instead, that corrective foci can be interpreted in-situ, and that focalization à la Rooth (1992) and contrast à la Neeleman and Vermeulen (2012) naturally extend to corrective questions and straightforwardly account for their interpretation and corrective import. The paper also examines focus fronting, discussing the object / non-object divide that emerges from the experimental data and showing that non-object corrective foci may front even when a wh-phrase is present

Corrective Feedback · Exploit · Focalization · Grammar · Grammaticality · Interrogative · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Phrase · Underspecification · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence