THE LINGUISTIC NATURE OF IRREAL INTERROGATIVE MEANING AND THE PRAGMATIC POTENTIAL OF RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

Abstract

This paper investigates the linguistic nature of irreal interrogative meaning, exploring the asymmetric relationship between the surface syntactic structure of interrogative sentences and their deep semantic-pragmatic layers. By examining the pragmatic potential of rhetorical questions within discourse, the study analyzes their role in actualizing the speaker’s communicative intentions. Grounded in Speech Act Theory and cognitive linguistics, the research demonstrates how the absence of an epistemic deficit transforms canonical questions into powerful discursive tools for assertion, negation, and emotional manipulation.