Re: whether

[Robin Turner <robin@BILKENT.EDU.TR>]

"She knew whether he was hungry."

Is this really Standard English?  I have never heard "whether" used like
this, though I suppose it might be common in the U.S.  Us Brits would just
say "She knew he was hungry."

As for whether (!) questions with "whether" are one question or two, I'd
plump for one, ceteris paribus.  "Does that jar contain tea or coffee?"
normally has the presupposition "the jar contains tea EOR coffee."  Context
and phonology make a difference, though.  If the high tone is on "tea",
then the preupposition holds, but if it's on the first syllable of
"coffee", the jar could contain anything or nothing.  Similarly, "Would you
like tea or coffee?" with the second intonation pattern allows the response
"No, thanks."


Robin Turner

Bilkent Universitesi,
IDMYO,
Ankara,
Turkey.

<http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8309>