The Notion That A Repeated Proposition Is Not A Proposition

Doran, Martin & Zappavigna (2025: 44-5, 55n):

¹⁰ There is a question here as to whether No, I won’t additionally tenders a negative proposition, as we argued for the full clauses in (20)-(22) and (24). Our interpretation is that replaying the Subject and Finite without the Residue, as is done in No I won’t, means the turn is not putting forward any new proposition, and so is best read as simply rendering – reacting to what was said previously. It is only when there is some adjustment of the Mood (Subject and Finite) – what Halliday calls a shift in the modal responsibility (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2014) – or the specification of Residue is there a new proposition tendered (Martin, 1992, p. 461ff). This is because any further rendering involving the same strategy will simply replay the Mood of the initial position:

You will be home late as well. – No I won’t. – Yes you will. –No you [sic] won’t etc. 

Having said that, some instances with this configuration would tender a new proposition, such as if the primary tone was placed on either the Subject and Finite to suggest some sort of contrast: 

- You will be home late as well. – No, I won’t; 

or if the Mood Adjunct and Mood are given on different tone groups: 

//No//^ I won’t//. 

Ultimately, evidence as to whether there is a new proposition being tendered will depend on how it is negotiated in the following discourse.

Reviewer Comments:

[1] To be clear, here the authors confuse 'proposition' with 'new proposition', leading them to the self-contradictory conclusion that a repeated proposition is not a proposition.

[2] In terms of speech function, this exchange features four moves, all of which are propositions:

• You will be home late as well is the statement that initiates the exchange;
• No I won’t is a responding statement that contradicts the previous statement;
• Yes you will is a responding statement that contradicts the previous statement;
• No you I won’t is a responding statement that contradicts the previous statement.

See Halliday & Matthiessen (2014: 137).

[3] In the authors' terms, the proposition constitutes a 'tender' if it is subsequently 'rendered' (responded to), as in all the examples they provide.