Difference between revisions of "Questions"

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===WH Constituent Questions===
  
===WH Constituent Questions===
   
−
Wh-DPs are formed such that the WH determiner agrees in noun class marking with the noun at the head of the NP. As such, there are 14 different ways of saying "which" and "how many/much". The following table shows agreement with all noun classes:
 +
Wh-DPs are formed such that the WH determiner agrees in noun class marking with the noun at the head of the NP. As such, there are 14 different ways of saying "which" and "how many/much". The syntax and agreement patterns of these WH-words is presented below.
  +
  +
'''oxum''' 'which' is postposed to its noun and agrees with it. It is likely based on a default article '''ox''' suffixed with a WH-suffix '''-um''' that forms the resulting WH-determiner. The following table shows agreement with all noun classes (note: diminutives and augmentatives are missing at present):
   
 
[[File:Oana_which_table_v2.PNG]]
  
[[File:Oana_which_table_v2.PNG]]
   
  ⚫
'''podnum''' 'how many/much' is either postposed or preposed to its noun. If postposed, agreement occurs (e.g. '''andew ambodnum''' 'how many women.AUG'), but if preposed, agreement does not occur (e.g. '''podnum andew''' 'how many women.AUG'). Agreement forms are given below:
−
Below, I present citation forms, which seem to be used when not agreeing with a noun class (either when the noun class is not known or when the position within the DP does not require agreement).
  
   
  +
:{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="4" style="border: 1px solid black;"
−
'''oxum''' 'which' is postposed to the noun it agrees with. Agreement forms will be listed here eventually.
  
  +
|+ Noun class pair examples
  +
! Class !! Example !! Det. !! English !! Plural !! Det. !! Semantic generalization
  +
|-
  +
| '''ox/w''' || ''o-'''''t'''ew || ''ox''e || woman || ''Ø-'''''r'''ew || ''w''e || humans
  +
|-
  +
| '''ol/ax''' || ''o-'''''f'''iiɗ || ''ol''e || butterfly || ''xa-'''''p'''iiɗ || ''ax''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''l/ak''' || ''Ø-'''''x'''omb || ''l''e || turtle || ''a-'''''q'''omb || ''ak''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''f/k''' || ''Ø-'''''x'''aarit || ''f''e || friend || ''Ø-'''''q'''aarit || ''k''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''n/k''' || ''Ø-'''''nq'''oox || ''n''e || bull || ''Ø-'''''q'''oox || ''k''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''al/k''' || ''a-'''''mb'''eel || ''al''e || lake || ''Ø-'''''p'''eel || ''k''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''al/ak''' || ''a-'''''k'''oong || ''al''e || monkey || ''a-'''''k'''oong || ''ak''e
  +
|-
  +
| '''ong/fn''' || ''o-'''''nd'''ew || ''ong''e || woman [DIM] || ''fo-'''''nd'''ew || ''n''e || diminutives
  +
|-
  +
| '''gal/gak''' || ''ga-'''''nd'''ew <br> ''gi-'''''nd'''ew || ''al''e || woman [AUG] || ''ga-'''''nd'''ew || ''ak''e || augmentatives
  +
|-
  +
|}<br/>
   
  ⚫
The wh- question word appears in the form of a morphological change on the determiner particle, whereby the initial segments are retained in agreement with the noun class, but the usual determiner vowel ending is substituted with -um:
⚫
'''podnum''' 'how many/much' is either postposed or preposed to its noun. If postposed, agreement occurs (e.g. '''andew ambodnum''' 'how many women.AUG'), but if preposed, agreement does not occur (e.g. '''podnum andew''' 'how many women.AUG'). Agreement forms will be listed here eventually.
  
   
  ⚫
:'''faniik famaak fe'''<br>
⚫
The wh- question word appears in the form of a morphological change on the determiner, whereby the initial consonant is retained in agreement with the noun class, but the usual determiner vowel ending is substituted for -um:
  
  ⚫
:‘the big elephant’
   
−
faniik famaak fe
+
:'''faniik famaak fum yaxgu'''<br>
  ⚫
:‘Which big elephant is red?’
⚫
<br>‘the big elephant’
  
   
  +
Historically, this '''-um''' suffix may have been an independent word '''*num''', since forms such as the following are still in occasional use:
⚫
faniik famaak fum yaxgu
 
⚫
<br>‘Which big elephant is red?’
  
   
  ⚫
:'''faniik fum yaxgu'''
−
The underlying ‘which’ word must be num, since the consultant offered examples such as the following, which illustrate that num is also in word-class agreement, like any other type of noun-phrase-internal element would be:
  
  ⚫
:'''faniik fanum yaxgu'''<br>
  ⚫
:‘Which elephant is red?’
   
  ⚫
In the absence of a noun, all singular and plural forms of which-determiners are realized as a default '''oxum''' (the citation form provided above) and '''wum''', respectively, without any noun-class-specific identifier:
⚫
faniik fum yaxgu
  
⚫
faniik fanum yaxgu
  
⚫
<br>‘Which elephant is red?’
  
−  
⚫
In the absence of a noun, all singular and plural forms of which-determiners are as follows, without any noun-class-specific identifier, which is in fact disallowed:
  
   
 
Singular:
  
Singular:
−
oxum magnu
+
:'''oxum magnu'?''<br>
−
<br>‘Which one is big?’
 +
:‘Which one is big?’
   
 
Plural:
  
Plural:
−
wum yaxgu
+
:'''wum yaxgu?'''<br>
−
<br>‘Which ones are big?’
 +
:‘Which ones are big?’
   
−
*fum yaxgu
 +
:*'''fum yaxgu?'''
−
*fanum yaxgu
  
   
−
However, when a modifier is already present in the question, that modifier must already be marked in agreement with the non-present noun, and therefore the which-question becomes more specific to the actual referent:
 +
However, when a modifier is already present in the question, that modifier must agree in noun class with the elided referent, and therefore '''oxum''' again agrees with the noun class of the elided referent:
   
−
famagnu fum yaxgu
+
:'''famagnu fum yaxgu'''
−
famaak fum yaxgu
 +
:'''famaak fum yaxgu'''
  ⚫
:‘which big one is red?’
−
fa magnu fanum yaxgu
  
⚫
‘which big one is red?’
  
 
 
−
famagnu fe yaxgu
 +
:'''famagnu fe yaxgu.'''
−
‘the big one (elephant) is red’
+
:‘the big one (elephant) is red’
−  
−
This works because the noun phrase and the which-word constitute a constituent and the which-word is a modifying component of the noun, and thus remains referentially particular to the noun class: [famagnu fum] yaxgu, and not *famagnu [fum yaxgu].
  
−  
   
 
[[User:Oana|Oana]] 21:59, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
  
[[User:Oana|Oana]] 21:59, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Revision as of 21:54, 14 December 2012

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 clause-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 as a complementizer, occurring at the left edge of a subordinated clause, meaning approximately 'whether.' In the case that it is used as a complementizer, a question can be formed by adding another ndax at the beginning of the matrix clause. (E.g. a'andee (ye) ndax xam ret 'he doesn't know whether I'll come'; ndax a'andee (ye) ndax xam ret? 'does(n't) he know whether I'll come?' (150))

Pragmatic Questions

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

xeƈa is another sentence-initial particle that expresses doubt, meaning roughly 'perhaps'. The free variant xaƈa exists. Sentences marked with xeƈa may be declarative or (through pragmatic interpretation) interrogative.

Uttering a bare verbal infinitive X (with optional and yet-to-be-systematically-studied person marking) has the force of asking permission to do X. E.g. gar? '(can I) come?'

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- that is not entirely explainable yet

mban - when

yam xar - why, lit. 'because what'

WH Constituent Questions

Wh-DPs are formed such that the WH determiner agrees in noun class marking with the noun at the head of the NP. As such, there are 14 different ways of saying "which" and "how many/much". The syntax and agreement patterns of these WH-words is presented below.

oxum 'which' is postposed to its noun and agrees with it. It is likely based on a default article ox suffixed with a WH-suffix -um that forms the resulting WH-determiner. The following table shows agreement with all noun classes (note: diminutives and augmentatives are missing at present):

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podnum 'how many/much' is either postposed or preposed to its noun. If postposed, agreement occurs (e.g. andew ambodnum 'how many women.AUG'), but if preposed, agreement does not occur (e.g. podnum andew 'how many women.AUG'). Agreement forms are given below:

Noun class pair examples
Class Example Det. English Plural Det. Semantic generalization
ox/w o-tew oxe woman Ø-rew we humans
ol/ax o-fiiɗ ole butterfly xa-piiɗ axe
l/ak Ø-xomb le turtle a-qomb ake
f/k Ø-xaarit fe friend Ø-qaarit ke
n/k Ø-nqoox ne bull Ø-qoox ke
al/k a-mbeel ale lake Ø-peel ke
al/ak a-koong ale monkey a-koong ake
ong/fn o-ndew onge woman [DIM] fo-ndew ne diminutives
gal/gak ga-ndew
gi-ndew		 ale woman [AUG] ga-ndew ake augmentatives

The wh- question word appears in the form of a morphological change on the determiner particle, whereby the initial segments are retained in agreement with the noun class, but the usual determiner vowel ending is substituted with -um: 

 :faniik famaak fe
‘the big elephant’
 :faniik famaak fum yaxgu
‘Which big elephant is red?’

Historically, this -um suffix may have been an independent word *num, since forms such as the following are still in occasional use: 

 :faniik fum yaxgu
 :faniik fanum yaxgu

  :‘Which elephant is red?’

In the absence of a noun, all singular and plural forms of which-determiners are realized as a default oxum (the citation form provided above) and wum, respectively, without any noun-class-specific identifier:

Singular: 

 :'oxum magnu'?
‘Which one is big?’

Plural: 

 :wum yaxgu?
		
 :‘Which ones are big?’

 :*fum yaxgu?

However, when a modifier is already present in the question, that modifier must agree in noun class with the elided referent, and therefore oxum again agrees with the noun class of the elided referent: 

 :famagnu fum yaxgu	
 :famaak fum yaxgu
 :‘which big one is red?’

 :famagnu fe yaxgu.
 :‘the big one (elephant) is red’

Oana 21:59, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

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