Rhetorical question
The rhetorical question is regarded as stylistic devices of rhetoric. Rhetorical questions do not serve the information gain, but are linguistic means of influence. Semantically are rhetorical questions near the allegations.
On a rhetorical question the questioner does not expect ( informative ) answer, but he's doing to the reinforcing effect of his statement. The speaker expresses by the rhetorical question of his own opinion. Due to the context and the emphasis the rhetorical question is indicated. The answer to a rhetorical question is, therefore, acceptance or rejection, but not of information.
Application
Rhetorical questions are often used in lectures to strengthen during long versions audience's attention or to provoke them to a certain extent. In discussions and dialogues, the rhetorical question is often used to reinforce arguments. In factually discussions rhetorical questions can enhance the final argument (eg, " Do you not understand that? ").
Examples
A classic example of a rhetorical question is the beginning of the first speech against Catiline by Cicero: Quousque abutere tandem, Catilina, patientia nostra? ("How long, O Catiline, you're going to abuse our patience ?")
Other examples are:
- " Did not I tell you? " ( Emphasis on " substance" )
- "Who is perfect? "
- "Do you want to expire the unique chance? "
- " Let's do not all error? "
- "Are you as stupid? "
- "Are you still sane? "
- "How many people have to die? "
Another figure of speech in the form of a question is the dialogism.
Rhetorical questions in linguistic research
Linguistic interest in this phenomenon has only existed since the early 1980s. This fact can perhaps be explained by the fact that classical linguistics was applied to the 20th century as a pure word of linguistics, which is located at the level of word -sentence text. Rhetorical questions as entities that can be explained by a concept of linguistic action, are thus ever become of interest for linguistics only since justification of linguistic pragmatics.
In a comprehensive linguistic representation of 1986 Jörg Meibauer asks the rhetorical question in the focus of linguistic action. To date, these are the most extensive and comprehensive discussion of rhetorical questions. In a recent paper from the year 2007 Sascha Bechmann shows that describe rhetorical questions as indirect assertive speech acts clearly and explain by means of the overarching concept of the speech act and be classified. Rhetorical questions can be debunked in many ways as an indirect assertions. Thus, the polarity reversal plays a crucial role in the premises of rhetorical questions always polar behave exactly the reverse of the intended claims.
Rhetorical questions as indirect claims
The terminological designation rhetorical question implies and suggests incorrectly that it is a separate, narrowly defined and clearly defined question set type, so that rhetorical questions are assessed according to false: The rhetorical question just trains not have its own set of questions type, it differs fundamentally from such Interrogativsatztypen, where function and scope are clearly defined. Rhetorical questions have nothing in common except for the grammatical form with real questions. From pragmalinguistischer perspective, the rhetorical question is clearly classified as indirect assertion that a semantic or pragmatic proximity to questions is not given. None of the parameters that must be met for an action as a question fulfills a rhetorical question. Interrogative sentences are not always something to do with question acts. A distinction between record type and speech act type is to be made mandatory for rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions are not tied to a particular grammatical form of a question, so all kinds of interrogative sentence types occur in the form and constitute in addition also not have its own rhetorical joke.
The communicative function of rhetorical questions
Rhetorical Questions fulfill an essential communicative function by serving on the path of indirection to express an opinion, this to some extent impose the interlocutor and thus trigger a " persuasive effect" on him. This is to elicit the relationship expressed by the rhetorical question in the opinion of listeners were. Thus, rhetorical questions are not neutral, such as statements of fact, but they have evaluative features, which are described as evaluative parameters.