Rhetorical question, grammaticalization and markers of modality

Abstract

The present paper intends to analyze a set of Spanish phenomena of grammaticalization originated in rhetorical questions and expressing different meanings related to modality and the left periphery of the clause. We analyze first “true” rhetorical questions, both total (¿Tiene algún sentido que vayas?) and partial (¿A quién no le gusta el fútbol?); although they are processed in syntax as “true” questions, they are not codified pragmatically as information requests but as assertions involving a systematic semantic inversion in the interpretation of modality, polarity and quantifiers (cf. Escandell Vidal 1984, 1999). Parting on “true” rhetorical questions, we identify different grammaticalized constructions, including the qué “of reply” recognized by Di Tullio (2014) (¿Qué vas a ser bueno?) and the exhortative qué (¿Qué mentís?). In both cases, the qué expresses a clear reject of a previous hypothesis or of some pragmatic situation (or attitude) of an interlocutor. We focus also on structures derived from total indirect rhetorical questions, with an epistemic meaning parallel to the qué “of reply” (e.g., ¿Mirá si la voy a dejar?), and total direct questions, which have an interpretation with an evaluative modality related to emphatic surprise (e.g., ¿No va y le miente?, ¿No va que lo encuentra?). All these constructions have in common that they involve a complex interaction among elements in the left periphery (including interrogation and focus), modality and polarity. After describing their basic grammatical properties, we propose a generative analysis, particularly, from the perspective of syntactic cartography (Rizzi 1997, Cinque 1999).