6.3 Definition of the variable

Before the hypothesis can be verified, it is necessary to define the variable, namely question tags, further. Algeo (2006: 293) describes questions tags in their traditional form as follows:

       A question tag is a subordinate interrogative clause consisting of the operator of a preceding (often main) clause, typically with reverse        polarity […], followed by a pronoun whose antecedent is the subject of the preceding clause [.]

Concerning the polarity of question tags, example (1) illustrates the type affirmative sentence plus negative question tag and sentence (2) is an example of a negated sentence followed by a positive question tag. In cases where the preceding clause does not contain any operator, the question tag is built of a form of do, as can be seen in example (3) (cf. Algeo 2006: 293).

(1)        “Julia can help, can’t she?” (Algeo 2006: 293)

(2)        “James can’t help that, can he?” (Algeo 2006: 293)

(3)        “They came, didn’t they?” (Algeo 2006: 293)

For this mini-project, the only important factor is that isn’t it and right are used as question tags in the corpus examples. The polarity is not considered in the analysis, but could be included in a larger study or an extension of this project.

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