@article{1381804,
      recid = {1381804},
      author = {Tanaka, Lidia,},
      title = {Japanese questions : discourse, context and language /},
      pages = {1 online resource (262 pages) :},
      abstract = {"Questions and interrogatives in Japanese discourse have  attracted considerable interest from grammarians, but the  communicative aspect has received little attention. This  book fills this gap. Through detailed analyses of formal  and informal interactions, it demonstrates that the  inherent multi-functional and polysemous aspect of language  can also be observed in the use of questions. The book  shows how questions are used to perform a wide range of  social actions and how varied in form they are. Similarly,  it demonstrates the importance of the context on the  speakers' choice of question types, which, in turn,  contribute to creating a particular stance that  characterizes those interactions.The data used in the book  shows that speakers prefer questions that are not  canonical. When speakers do use canonical questions, they  are overwhelmingly accompanied by some mollifiers. This  phenomenon suggests that in Japanese communication the  illocutionary force of canonical questions is too strong.  To soften the interaction, speakers tend to use other types  of interrogative forms such as statements with rising  intonation, or at least, leave questions grammatically  unfinished. The findings in this book contribute to the  understanding of how Japanese speakers use questions in  different communicative interactions and provide new  evidence of the gap between prescriptive grammar and actual  communication"--},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1381804},
}