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Question bias and biased question words in Mandarin, German and Bangla
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
Question bias and biased question words in Mandarin, German and Bangla
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Xu
NamePart
(type = given)
Beibei
NamePart
(type = date)
1983-
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Beibei Xu
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author
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Dayal
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Veneeta
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Veneeta Dayal
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Charlow
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Simon
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Simon Charlow
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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(type = family)
Baker
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Mark
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Mark Baker
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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(type = family)
Krifka
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Manfred
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Manfred Krifka
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Advisory Committee
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outside member
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Rutgers University
Role
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degree grantor
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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school
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Text
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theses
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2017
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2017-05
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2017
Place
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xx
Language
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eng
Abstract
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Bias is a linguistic phenomenon that is primarily found in questions. Various kinds of biased questions have been studied extensively in the literature, e.g. Negative Polar Questions, Questions with Minimizers, Questions with Verum focus (Ladd 1981, Buring & Gunlogson 2000, Guerzoni 2003, Romero & Han 2004, a.o.). Aside from those biased questions, there are questions with dedicated words that can express bias (i.e. biased question words). Those words are "nandao" in Mandarin, "etwa" in German, and "naki" in Bangla. The current dissertation takes a modal approach to bias, distinct from earlier accounts of bias. In order to find out the nature of bias, e.g. how it is introduced, at which level it is interpreted, and why it is primarily found in questions, I study the three biased question words at the interface of syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Based on the analyses of the three words, I claim that bias is a not-at-issue content that is revealed via the speaker's public belief domain (i.e. Discourse commitment). Considering the phenomenon in general, I isolate three conditions for introducing bias: a preference ranking of alternatives, selection of a particular alternative as privileged, and the requirement to update the Question Under Discussion with the alternatives. Biased question words lexically satisfy all three conditions and give rise to the obligatorily biased reading of questions containing them. With these three conditions, I provide a definition for bias and explain the opening statement that "bias is a linguistic phenomenon that is primarily found in questions".
Subject
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Topic
Linguistics
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Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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ETD_8003
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electronic resource
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (vii, 187 p. : ill.)
Note
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Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Beibei Xu
RelatedItem
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TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
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rucore19991600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3ZS30G4
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
RightsDeclaration
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
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Name
FamilyName
Xu
GivenName
Beibei
Role
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Permission or license
DateTime
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2017-04-13 01:26:09
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Name
Beibei Xu
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Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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Technical
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2017-04-13T01:23:55
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2017-04-13T01:23:55
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