関連性理論 (Sperber and Wilson 1993)の枠組みで否定の極性疑問文とmatching tagを分析したもの。
発話の表意には基本表意と高次表意がある。
a. Mary's son visited her at the weekend.
b. Mary says that her son visited her at the weekend.
c. Mary believes that her son visited her at the weekend.
d. Mary is happy that her son visited her at the weekend.
基本表意とは，発話の言語的解読によって得られた論理形式から語用論的プロセスによって発展させた命題形式である。上で斜字の部分が高次表意を表す。
否定疑問文
基本表意を表す場合
"Don't you feel well?" (Am I right in thinking that you don't feel well?)
高次表意を表す場合
"Isn't the answer obvious?" (Of course, the answer is obvious.)
Matching tag
"I'm your God." "Doctor, listen to me --" "Oh now it's doctor, is it?"
