In
formal semantics a responsive predicate is an embedding predicate which can take either a
declarative or an
interrogative
An interrogative clause is a clause whose form is typically associated with question-like meanings. For instance, the English sentence (linguistics), sentence "Is Hannah sick?" has interrogative syntax which distinguishes it from its Declarative ...
complement. For instance, the
English verb
A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
''know'' is responsive as shown by the following examples.
# Bill knows whether Mary left.
# Bill knows that Mary left.
Responsives are contrasted with ''rogatives'' such as ''wonder'' which can only take an interrogative complement and ''anti-rogatives'' such as ''believe'' which can only take a declarative complement.
# Bill wonders whether Mary left.
# *Bill wonders that Mary left.
# *Bill believes whether Mary left.
# Bill believes that Mary left.
Some analyses have derived these distinctions from
type compatibility while others explain them in terms of particular properties of the embedding verbs and their complements.
See also
*
Embedded clause
*
Propositional attitude
A propositional attitude is a mental state held by an agent or organism toward a proposition. In philosophy, propositional attitudes can be considered to be neurally realized, causally efficacious, content-bearing internal states (personal princip ...
*
Inquisitive semantics
*
Interrogative clause
*
Question
A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...
Notes
Semantics
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