Universal #673

Legacy number: 673

 Number  670
 Original  Binary choice tags are almost always sentence final, multiple choice tags sentence initial.
 Standardized  IF tags are binary choice, THEN they are sentence final.
IF tags are multiple choice, THEN they are sentence initial.
 Formula  binary choice tags ⇒ sentence final;
multiple choice tag ⇒ sentence initial
 Keywords  order, interrogative sentence, tag question
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical, almost absolute
 Basis  79 languages surveyed in Ultan 1978c
 Source  Ultan 1978c: 232

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Hebrew (Semitic)
Notes
1. In Hebrew (Israeli) halo?, a binary choice tag occurs initially. However Hebrew also has another binary choice tag which occurs in final position.Kannada and French have alternative tag positions. (Ultan 1978c: 232)2. Binary and multiple choice tags: The kind of reply expected may be a binary or amultiple choice.Class 1 tags almost always anticipate yes answers or are meant to be taken as rhetorical.Class 2 tags require a reply which is generally not restricted to two alternatives but calls for additional information, or yes or no followed by a complementary statement (cf. English how about...?)
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. In Hebrew (Israeli) halo?, a binary choice tag occurs initially. However Hebrew also has another binary choice tag which occurs in final position.
Kannada and French have alternative tag positions. (Ultan 1978c: 232)

2. BINARY and MULTIPLE CHOICE TAGS: The kind of reply expected may be a binary or a multiple choice.
Class 1 tags almost always anticipate yes answers or are meant to be taken as rhetorical.
Class 2 tags require a reply which is generally not restricted to two alternatives but calls for additional information, or yes or no followed by a complementary statement (cf. English how about...?)