The Linguist

Chartered Institute of Linguists WINTER 2024 The Linguist 33 OPINION & COMMENT suggests; if they read it as a sign of manipulation they may disregard it. Some echo questions go further and are particularly critical or sarcastic: • Does she seriously think she looks pretty in that dress? This does not, however, mean that provocative echo questions always have a negative character. They can be considered positive when they add new perspectives, broaden horizons or minimise the blockages between speech partners: • I found this artist very eccentric. You found this artist what? Danielewiczowa groups them into questions expressing evaluative judgements and questions expressing feelings. 7 Identifying the former turns out to be rather complicated, since it is extremely difficult to separate the judgement made from the emotion expressed, but possible examples include: • Co on tak wrzeszczy? ('Why is he yelling?') • Czy on musi zachowywa ć się niepoważnie? ('Does he have to behave frivolously?') Questions expressing feelings cover waiver ('What to do?'); impatience ('Will this man ever come out?'); confusion ('What is going on?'); happiness ('Can there be anything as beautiful as this?'); indignation ('How are you talking to me?'); and curiosity ('What are you saying?'). Echo questions can be rather tricky for translators. The above examples show that they tend to overlap with rhetorical questions. Some can be interpreted as both echo and rhetorical questions, though the latter tend to raise more emotions. The sentence 'How are you talking to me?', for example, might provoke a certain level of anger or irritation. Nevertheless, the distinction can be quite subjective. For example, whether the question 'Doesn't it work beautifully for dry skin?' in a face cream advert is taken as a rhetorical or an echo question will depend on the audience. Do they feel persuaded? Is a reaction expected? For someone who isn't bothered by the ad, it could be of a rhetorical character. For the translator, it is hard to determine the speaker's intention and assess whether a 'real' question was asked, a comment was made or a reaction is needed. Notes 1 Zaefferer, D (1991) 'Weiß wer was? Wer weiß was? Wer was weiß… w-Interrogative und andere w-Konstruktionen im Deutschen'. In Reis, M and Rosengren, I, Fragesätze und Fragen. Referate anlässlich der 12. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft. Saarbrücken 2 Biernat-Sowka, J (2010) 'Fragewörter im Deutschen. Ein Beitrag zu ihrer Definition und Klassifikation'. In Kwartalnik Neofilologiczny, 57,3 3 Danielewiczowa, M (1991) 'Zdania pytajne o funkcji ekspresywnej'. In Bartmiński, J and Grzegorczykowa, R, Funkcje języka i wypowiedzi, Język a Kultura 4, Wrocław University 4 Janda, RD (1985) 'Echo-questions are Evidence for What? In CLS 21, 171-188 5 Artstein, R (2002) 'A Focus Semantics for Echo Questions.' Workshop on information structure in context, 98, IMS, University of Stuttgart 6 Huddleston, R and Pullum, GK (2002) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, CUP 7 Duden (1998) Die Grammatik, Dudenverlag Linguist, tutor and researcher Dr Joanna Biernat-Sowka MCIL works for a multilingual technology company. TL Quiz answers Quiz, page 24. Who said (and why)? 1 a) Hoa Xuande starred in multilingual series The Sympathizer; 2 a) Peter Gabriel on launching a $10m prize for a team that manages to talk to animals; 3 b) Apollinaire J Kyelem after Burkina Faso removed French as an official language; 4 c) Selena Gomez improved her Spanish for the film Emilia Pérez. The year in politics. 1 The right to a professional, qualified interpreter; 2 Rishi Sunak; 3 Spain; 4 It's a Mandarin slur for sex worker. Tech concerns. 1 Duolingo (on Ice); 2 Terrorist; 3 The Economist; 4 India. True or false? 1 False (against the coroner's advice); 2 False (Spanish, German, Portuguese, French and Korean); 3 True; 4 True. World of literature. 1 They are using AI; 2 36% (roughly 30-40%); 3 Han Kang; 4 BSL. Research developments. 1 (Sperm) whales; 2 Differently; 3 Louder; 4 Elephants. Who's who? 1 Bridget Phillipson, a language graduate, is the UK's new Secretary of State for Education; 2 Irish-language rap trio Kneecap featured in an eponymous hit film; 3 Lady Gaga sang in French at the Olympic Games' Opening Ceremony in Paris; 4 Meghan Markle translated for Prince Harry during a visit to Argentina. League of the Lexicon. Send your answers to linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk by 15 January 2025. Education matters. 1 c) 68% (NCLE survey); 2 c) 86%; 3 The University of Aberdeen; 4 2026. Legal battles. 1 Indonesia; 2 Canada; 3 English language tests; 4 Cheating in their English test. Indigenous languages. 1 Sámi; 2 Te reo Māori; 3 Canada (Ontario); 4 Cornish. Tragic mistranslations. 1 'Homosexual'; 2 a) "I am Somalian first"; 3 Harehare could also be a transliteration of Charlie; 4 The Interpretation of Dreams. Crossword answers Crossword, page 34. P 1 P 2 G 3 A 4 G 5 B 6 M 7 A N A N A L 8 L A N O S N S L I L N N 9 A D A L 10 A C T I F I C M E E C T M 11 A T A 12 D O R C 13 I G A R L N A 14 A M 15 A 16 C H O S 17 P A N I S 18 H N A J 19 L L S 20 T A M P E D E C 21 H O U H B R N U U G 22 E O R G E T 23 O B A G O M A Z Y A H © SHUTTERSTOCK

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