This book is concerned with the meaning and use of two kinds of declarative sentences:
1) It's raining?
2) It's raining.
The difference between (1) and (2) is intonational: (1) has a final rise—indicated by the question mark—while (2) ends with a fall.
Christine Gunlogson's central claim is that the meaning and use of both kinds of sentences must be understood in terms of the meaning of their defining formal elements, namely declarative sentence type and rising versus falling intonation. Gunlogson supports that claim through an investigation of the use of declaratives as questions. On one hand, Gunlogson demonstrates that rising and falling declaratives share an aspect of conventional meaning attributable to their declarative form, distinguishing them both from the corresponding polar interrogative "(Is it raining?) "and constraining their use as questions. On the other hand, since (1) and (2) constitute a minimal pair, differing only in intonation,... [More...] [Edit review] [Delete review]