Questions

Polar Questions

Polar questions can be formed in several ways. Syntactic means can form overt polar questions, while particular intonations can give utterances with declarative syntax the illocutionary force of a question.

Syntactic Questions

Polar questions are formed by means of a sentence-initial question particle. There are several attested particles, with no clear semantic distinction among them.

ndax is one sentence-initial question particle. It may or may not be preferentially used in instances where the speaker has incomplete information to make the yes-no judgment themselves, or situations in which the speaker is seeking confirmation. E.g. ndax añaama, "Is he eating?" as uttered while looking at a person with a plate and utensils (102).

ndax can also be used outside of questions as a marker of uncertainty ("perhaps"). Thus, the previous sentence, ndax añaama, can be interpreted as "Is he eating?" or "Perhaps he's eating."

Intonational Questions

Polar questions can be implied by adding a non-sentence-final H to normal declarative (falling) intonation. The specific placement of the H varies.

WH Questions

All WH-questions are formed through the use of syntactically overt WH-pronouns.

xar - what

tam - where, with occasional licensing by an applicative suffix on the verb

an - who, with an apparent verbal prefix na-