ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes four kinds of Cantonese polar questions, ho2, me1, aa4, and a-not-a questions in the framework of radical inquisitive semantics (Groenendijk & Roelofsen 2010; Aher 2012; Sano 2015). HO2, ME1, and a-not-a questions have multi-dimensional semantics. In addition to their primary speech act of questioning, HO2 and ME1 interrogatives encode secondary assertive acts of positive and negative expectations, respectively, while A-NOT-A interrogatives conventionally encode lack of expectation, hence the neutral requirement. In contrast, AA4 interrogatives are semantically simplex question acts; thus, they can be used in both biased and neutral contexts. The analysis is further supported by one force-choice experiment and one naturalness rating experiment.
