LEXICAL, SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF MIXED TYPE INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES IN MODERN ENGLISH

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the questions which being general by their structure require not only the confirmation or denial of their propositional content but also the clarification of certain components. The uniqueness of such interrogative sentences lies in the fact that in this case a special question (WH-question) functions in the interrogative sentence of a different type, namely, in a general question. Interrogative sentences of this type are considered as a mixed type interrogative sentences. The need for clarification of a particular component in such questions may be manifested either explicitly or implicitly. The explicit meaning is displayed with the help of the explicit expression of the whole semantic structure of the interrogative sentence, i.e., by means of the inquiry about competence and the subject of the inquiry. The implicit request for information is carried out by using deictic words and the indefinite pronouns which indicate that there is a gap in the speaker‟s knowledge that must be filled in with some relevant information.