On the interpretation of the particle ote and its microvariation

Abstract

The interpretation of the modal particle ote and its distinct dialectal uses are looked into in this article. Speakers use the particle ote to convey a low degree of commitment towards the proposition in embedded statement-clauses marked by the complementizer -(e)n. If this contribution is aplied to interrogative contexts, the result are conjectural questions; in other words, speakers do not expect a firm reply from the adreessee (cf. Littell et al., 2010). Taking this as a starting point, those uses geographically more restricted can also be accounted for: a) those contexts which express a high degree of commitment pragmatically (forms such as «ote den ba!» and the sentence final particle ote) and b) those questions asked in a politer manner by minimising the interrogative force of those contexts which may be considered intrusive or costly (Yang and Wiltschko, 2016; Farkas, 2017). Interestingly, evidence of these analyses can also be found cross-linguistically.