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There is a song called "Alive", by Pearl Jam. The opening line is:
Despite the subject-auxiliary inversion ("have I"), which would be expected in an English question, the subordinate clause is affirmative. What is the function of this inversion? |
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None of the causes of inversion mentioned on Wikipedia seem to apply: there is no strong negation like never, nor a strong limiting adverb like so and only in first position. We can only be sure after some historical research. But, after some reflection, I think the most likely explanation is that it echoes an hypothetical question. I imagine it came about like this:
In an indignant reply, the original statement may be echoed as a rhetorical question, but without inversion. Notice that the perspective changes as would be expected: you changes into I.
The question is echoed as a half-question, half-exclamation. In casual writing,
When this rhetorical question is used in a casual manner, in a well-known formula (cf. how do you do), it may lose some force and be pronounced and punctuated as a statement instead of a question. The remaining rhetorical force is expressed by the inversion: have I got a little story for you is stronger than I have got a little story for you, in that the story is suggested to be more remarkable. |
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It's simply a rhetorical question for emphasis. Like, "Have I got news for you?", meaning: not only do I have news, but it's really interesting or juicy. The statement "I have got news for you" seems rather bland and uninteresting in comparison. Also, "Do I not like orange", Graham Taylor's famous quote. He really didn't like orange. To return to the quote, "I have got a little story for you" is something a journalist might meekly say their editor, whereas, "Have I got a little story for you" really gets the listener/reader interested. I'd agree with Ken about the reason for adding "little" to the sentence in this context though. Great song - Pearl Jam rock! |
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I agree with @Bill - emphasis is provided to the I. Wikipedia defines SAI as occurring in declarative sentences when restrictive elements are formed; in this case, the emphasis props up the restrictive property of the I. |
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The inversion turns the statement, "I have a little story for you," into a question. In common verbal usage (e.g. have I got a deal for you) the inversion is used to indicate that the following information is important enough to pay attention to. I'm guessing that this is because a statement doesn't necessarily need a response, but the listener has to at least consider responding to a question. In the song, it's probably as much because the lyric gives Vedder a nice opportunity for some complex syncopation :) |
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