ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the interpretational difference between 'rising' and 'falling' final pitch movements in Yes-No Questions (YNQs). It shows the restricted range of final pitch movements in echo questions and related utterance types. Secondary concern will be to spell out a compositional analysis for the less common 'fall-rise' contour in YNQs. Bolinger considers impossible on original questions, finds typical for echo questions. The intonation of A's original utterance is of no importance for B's rendition of the echo question. The echo questions and the transitional cases the general label 'discourse-linked questions' in reference to the connection to a preceding utterance. A unified account for the intonation of all discourse-linked questions does not require revision of the analysis of echo questions, the intonation did not hinge on the literal repetitions. The distribution of the fall-rise in Bolinger's dialect, derived from the shared dependence on an interpretational feature, namely assertiveness.
