QVs

QVs, short for “Question Variables,” are linguistic markers that indicate interrogative content within a clause. They are commonly employed in studies of syntax and discourse to analyse how the information structure of a sentence shifts from assertions to questions. The concept originates in information‑structure theory, where utterances are segmented into topic, focus, and rheme components. A QV typically signals a change in focus that signals an inquiry rather than a statement. For example, in the sentence “The king asked if the guests had arrived,” the phrase “if the guests had arrived” functions as a QV, marking the embedded interrogative clause.

In many languages, QVs are associated with special particles, intonation patterns or auxiliary verbs. English uses auxiliary inversion (“Did you come?”) and particles such as “ever” or “also” to signal question‐like focus. Japanese marks QVs with the particle *ka*, while Korean employs the auxiliary *seo* in yes‑no questions. QVs are useful in automated question generation systems, natural language processing, and language‑learning software where distinguishing interrogative from declarative speech acts is essential. The study of QVs also informs psycholinguistic models of attention and pragmatic inference, showing how listeners orient to information that is anticipated or unknown. QVs thus play a key role in the intersection of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.