Editing Question (section)

=== Alternative questions ===
An ''alternative question''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAnAlternativeQuestion.htm |title=What is an alternative question?|publisher=SIL International |work=Glossary of linguistic terms |editor1-last=Loos |editor1-first=Eugene E. |editor2-last=Anderson |editor2-first=Susan |editor3-last=Day |editor3-first=Dwight H. Jr. |editor4-last=Jordan |editor4-first=Paul C. |editor5-last=Wingate |editor5-first=J. Douglas }}</ref> presents two or more discrete choices as possible answers in an assumption that only one of them is true. For example:

:Are you supporting England, Ireland or Wales?

The canonical expected answer to such a question would be either "England", "Ireland", or "Wales". Such an alternative question [[presupposes]] that the addressee supports one of these three teams. The addressee may [[cancellation (linguistics)|cancel]] this presupposition with an answer like "None of them".

In English, alternative questions are not syntactically distinguished from yes–no questions. Depending on context, the same question may have either interpretation:
*Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I'm on a low fat diet.]
*Do these muffins have butter or margarine? [I saw that the recipe said you could use either.]
In speech, these are distinguishable by [[intonation (linguistics)|intonation]], i.e., the question is interpreted as an alternative question when uttered with a rising contour on "butter" and a falling contour on "margarine".