A-not-A question

In linguistics, an A-not-A question is a polar question that offers two opposite possibilities for the answer. This disjunctive question is predominantly found in Sinitic and some Altaic languages that offers a choice between an affirmative predicate and its negative counterpart. They are functionally regarded as a type of "yes/no" question, since they are very similar to a large extent. "A-not-A" questions are often interpreted as having a 'neutral' presupposition or is used in a neutral context. This means that the person asking the A-not-A question does not assume the truth value of the proposition expressed by the question. The “A-not-A” question structure is commonly found in Chinese. The overarching principle is that of contrasting the positive and negative form of a premise side by side. A characteristic property of this structure is the restriction to not use YES/NO answers, and requiring an echo response instead. Therefore to properly answer the query, the recipient must select the positive or negative version and use it in the formation of their response.

An example of an A-not-A question in English is in (1.a) "Are you happy or sad?". The response to this question must be an echo answer, stating either "I am happy," or the correct alternative, "I am sad". In other words, this sentence is a leading question, where the speaker has an expectation as to what the answer will be. In contrast, (1.b) "Are you happy or not?" is a neutral question where the answer to this can be yes or no in response to the first and more explicitly stated alternative.

A-not-A questions are not usually used in English, but the following example shows how A-not-A questions are answered.

As seen in this example, simply answering "Yes" or "No" does not suffice as a response to the question. This question must be answered in the "A" or "not A" form. If this question was asked in the A-not-A pattern, its direct form would be "Did John eat or not eat the beans?"

In forming A-not-A questions, "A" must remain the same on both sides. "A" is essentially a variable which can be replaced with a grammatical particle such as a modal, adverb, adjective, verb, or preposition.

In Chinese, A-not-A can be formed by a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. Modals can form A-not-A questions as well. A-not-A questions have a special interrogative type pattern in which all answers must be in “A” (affirmative form) or “not-A” (negative predicate form). In the interrogative clause, A-not-A occurs by repeating the first part in the verbal group (with the option of an auxiliary) and the negative form of the particle is placed in between. However, this clause does not apply when using perfective in aspect. Instead, meiyou is used to replace the repeated verb used in A-not-A form.

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