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In:Responding to Polar Questions across Languages and Contexts
Edited by Galina B. Bolden, John Heritage and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
[Studies in Language and Social Interaction 35] 2023
► pp. 76–108

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Chapter 3
Responding to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese

É-responses and repeats

 | University of Helsinki
 | Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul | National Council for Scientific and Technological Development
Published online: 27 November 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.35.03har
Abstract
This paper explores the division of labor between particle and repetitional responses to polar questions in Brazilian Portuguese. We examine a response form that occurs both as a particle and as a verb repeat – the é-response – and compare its uses to repeat responses consisting of elements other than é. Freestanding and expanded responses are analyzed to gather evidence of the participants’ orientations to the epistemic and action commitments that the initial polar responses convey. The analyses indicate that é-responses (both particle and repeat) sufficiently confirm previously established information, for instance, in response to understanding checks. In contrast, when responding to requests for confirmation about a new matter, é responses only weakly confirm the proposition in the question, indicating that it might not be true, or treat it as ancillary. Importantly, é-responses do not affirm genuinely new information but instead suggest a lack of commitment to affirming the proposition. In order to provide a committed confirmation or affirmation, minimal repetitional responses other than é are used. The study thus sheds further light on é-responses in different sequential and action environments and on the role of repetitional responses in Brazilian Portuguese, including a discussion in relation to findings from other languages.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Polar questions and responses in Brazilian Portuguese
    • 2.1Question design
    • 2.2Response variants
  • 3.The corpus
  • 4.É-responses
    • 4.1É-particle as a freestanding response: Confirming already addressed matters
    • 4.2É-particle response expanded: Weak commitment
    • 4.3É-particle and moving on: Treating the matter as ancillary
    • 4.4É-repeat
  • 5.Repeats other than é
    • 5.1Minimal repeat as a freestanding response: Affirming new information
    • 5.2Repeat expanded: Committing and specifying
    • 5.3A further look at what repetitional responses convey
  • 6.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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