The Linguist

32 The Linguist Vol/63 No/4 ciol.org.uk/thelinguist OPINION & COMMENT Exploring the rhetorical device known as echo questions JOANNA BIERNAT Questions form an important element of interpersonal communication and have been treated with a lot of interest in linguistic research. The main purpose of questions is to exchange information. From a purely grammatical perspective, they are part of the interrogative family, 1 but there is much more to questions than that. In fact, questions are commonly explored in the context of logic, metalanguage, physics, artificial intelligence, linguistic computing and other fields. There has been a significant number of publications devoted to the definition, typology and classification of the question. 2 However, a particular group of questions seems to be less explored: echo questions, also often known as pseudo-questions (Echofragen, Scheinfragen or Prüfungsfragen in German; pytania pozorne or pytania echo in Polish). Examples (in italics) include: • We are going to the theatre tomorrow. Are we? • I can help you with that. Oh, can you? Echo questions present a certain level of difficulty when it comes to their identification, as their syntactic structure often resembles the structure of a standard question (an open question, a closed 'wh' question or a rhetorical question). But as the Polish linguist Magdalena Danielewiczowa highlights, they are not 'real' questions as they don't demonstrate any illocutionary force. 3 Take the follow examples in English and German: • It'd be nice to have a couple of days holiday. Wouldn't it be nice? • Sie sagte die Wahrheit. Was sagte sie? On some occasions, echo questions appear to disregard the concept of grammatical locality and logical placement of the sentence elements. This means that the question word (e.g. 'what', 'when', 'why') doesn't necessarily have to be at the beginning of the sentence; it can be located in the middle, at the end, or in exceptional cases, it can even divide a word: 4 • I gave flowers to George. You gave George what? • John witnessed a great revelation. John witnessed a great what-elation? • On ma złe zamiary. On ma jakie zamiary? • Er hat dumme Probleme. Er hat welche Probleme? Furthermore, echo questions can take the form of statements with raised intonation: • I don't see a problem here. You don't? According to Ron Artstein, echo questions can only really be interpreted and classified through their semantics. 5 Looking at the examples above it becomes clear that they are mostly used to indicate doubts, raise interest or express the feeling of being surprised. We can use them to keep the conversation going, or when asking for something to be repeated: • I witnessed an accident last night. You witnessed what? When it comes to the definition of echo questions in grammars, lexicons and books addressing language style, the focus seems to be on the semantic classification rather than on specifying what those structures really represent. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language points out the importance of behavioural stimuli (declarative, imperative, interrogative or even exclamative) when using echo questions, as the listener seeks certain reassurance from their conversation partner: 6 • I am going with him to the shop. You're going with him to the shop? The Duden Grammatik follows the same principle, calling them Prüfungsfragen ('examining questions'). According to Duden, they are used when the listener aims to check their understanding and seek reassurance. Such questions refer to a previous testimony – to something that has been said or suggested. Positioning the 'wh' element at the end of the sentence puts even more emphasis on the fact checking element. From a behavioural perspective, we observe echo questions as part of our information processing. They can also be confrontational. The main aim here is to influence the interlocutor and impact their behaviour or standpoint in a certain way. The questioner usually wants to get the other person to think or act in a manner which they consider to be 'more appropriate' or 'more correct'. These types of echo questions are often used in campaigns and political debate: • Your candidate has which priorities on his agenda this year? • She is going to support the collapsing system how? Exceptionally, strategic echo questions can be a provocative intervention. They can shake things up and prevent those involved from continuing to follow the same pattern: • I gave Eva a bracelet for Christmas. You gave her jewellery for Christmas? There is an implied judgement here. If the speech partner sees the echo question as a helpful suggestion they may react by changing their behaviour as the questioner Exploring the rhetorical device known as echo questions A what question?

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