A wh discourse particle: Dutch hoezo

Authors

  • Hotze Rullmann University of British Columbia
  • Sander Nederveen University of British Columbia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5683

Keywords:

why-questions, wh-questions, content questions, discourse particles, because-clauses, reasons, Dutch

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of a special kind of why-questions in Dutch, formed with the wh-word hoezo (lit. ‘how so’). We propose that hoezo signals the speaker’s resistance to updating the discourse model, by asking the interlocutor to provide a reason for their preceding discourse move. Hoezo shares properties with both discourse particles (its not-at-issue content expresses the speaker’s attitude towards the current state of the discourse), and question words (it asks the interlocutor to provide a reason). Unlike waarom (the regular word for ‘why’), hoezo is not subject to wh-movement and does not bind a variable.

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Published

2024-05-15

How to Cite

Rullmann, Hotze, and Sander Nederveen. 2024. “A Wh Discourse Particle: Dutch Hoezo”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 9 (1): 5683. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v9i1.5683.