Features of interrogative sentences Interrogative

1 features of interrogative sentences

1.1 inflection
1.2 syntax
1.3 intonation , punctuation

features of interrogative sentences

languages may use both syntax , prosody distinguish interrogative sentences (which pose questions) declarative sentences (which state propositions). syntax refers grammatical changes, such changing word order or adding question words; prosody refers changes in intonation while speaking. languages mark interrogatives morphologically, i.e. inflection of verb. given language may use 1 or more of these methods in combination.

inflection

certain languages mark interrogative sentences using particular inflection of verb (this may described interrogative mood of verb). languages degree of feature include irish, scottish gaelic, welsh, greenlandic, nenets, central alaskan yup ik, turkish, korean , venetian.

in varieties of venetian, interrogative verb endings have developed out of subject pronoun, placed after verb in questions way of inversion (see following section). example, old venetian magnè-vu? ( eat? , formed inversion vu magnè eat ) has developed modern magneto? or magnèu?. form can used overt subjects: voaltri magnèo co mi? ( eat me? , literally eat-you me? ).

in turkish, verb takes interrogative particle mı (also mi, mu, mü according last vowel of word – see vowel harmony), other personal or verbal suffixes following after particle:

geliyorum. ( coming. ) → geliyor muyum? ( coming? )
geliyordum. ( coming. ) → geliyor muydum? ( coming? )
geldim. ( came. ) → geldim mi? ( did come? )
evlisin. ( married. ) → evli misin? ( married? )

further details on verb inflection can found in articles on languages listed above (or grammars).

syntax

the main syntactic devices used in various languages marking questions changes in word order , addition of interrogative words or particles.

in modern western european languages, questions marked switching verb subject (inversion), changing canonical word order pattern svo vso. example, in german:

er liebt mich. ( loves me ; declarative)
liebt er mich? ( love me? , literally loves me? ; interrogative)

similar patterns found in other germanic languages , french. in case of modern english, inversion used, can take place limited group of verbs (called auxiliaries or special verbs ). in sentences no such verb otherwise present, auxiliary (does, did) introduced enable inversion (for details see do-support, , english grammar § questions. formerly, late 16th century, english used inversion freely verbs, german still does.) example:

they went away. (normal declarative sentence)
they did go away. (declarative sentence re-formed using do-support)
did go away? (interrogative formed inversion auxiliary did)

an inverted subject pronoun may develop verb ending, described in previous section regard venetian.

another common way of marking questions use of grammatical particle or enclitic, turn statement yes–no question enquiring whether statement true. particle may placed @ beginning or end of sentence, or attached element within sentence. examples of interrogative particles typically placed @ start of sentence include french est-ce que , polish czy. (the english word whether behaves in way too, used in indirect questions only.) constructed language esperanto uses particle ĉu, operates polish czy:

vi estas blua. ( blue. )
Ĉu vi estas blua? ( blue? )

particles typically placed @ end of question include japanese か ka , mandarin 吗 ma. these illustrated respectively in following examples:

彼は日本人です kare wa nihon-jin desu. ( japanese. )
彼は日本人ですか？ kare wa nihon-jin desu ka? ( japanese? )
他是中國人 tā shì zhōngguórén. ( chinese. )
他是中國人吗？ tā shì zhōngguórén ma? ( chinese? )

enclitic interrogative particles, typically placed after first (stressed) element of sentence, element question relates, include russian ли li, , latin nē (sometimes n in latin). example:

tu id veritus es. ( feared that. )
tu nē id veritus es? ( did fear that? )

this ne forms neutral yes–no question, implying neither answer (except context makes clear answer must be). latin forms yes–no questions nonne, implying questioner thinks answer affirmative, , num, implying interrogator thinks answer negative. examples: num negāre audēs? ( dare not deny, you? ; catullus 1,4,8); mithridātēs nōnne ad cn. pompeium lēgātum mīsit? ( didn t mithridates send ambassador gneaus pompey? ; pompey 16,46).

in indonesian , malay, particle -kah appended suffix, either last word of sentence, or word or phrase needs confirmation (that word or phrase being brought start of sentence). in more formal situations, question word apakah (formed appending -kah apa, ) used.

kita tersesat lagi. ( lost again. ) → kita tersesat lagikah? ( lost again? )
jawaban saya benar. ( answer correct. ) → benarkah jawaban saya? ( answer correct? )
presiden sudah menerima surat itu. president has received letter. → apakah presiden sudah menerima surat itu? ( has president received letter? )

for turkish, interrogative particle may considered part of verbal inflection system, see previous section.

another way of forming yes–no questions a-not-a construction, found example in chinese, offers explicit yes or no alternatives:

他是中国人 tā shì zhōngguórén. ( chinese. )
他不是中国人 tā bu shì zhōngguórén. ( not chinese. )
他是不是中國人？ tā shì bu shì zhōngguórén? ( chinese? ; literally is, not chinese )

somewhat analogous method of asking questions in colloquial indonesian, similar use of tag questions ( ..., right? , ..., no? , ..., isn t it? , etc.), occur in english , many other languages:

kamu datang ke indonesia, tidak? ( come indonesia? ; literally come indonesia, not? )
dia orang indonesia, bukan? ( indonesian? ; literally indonesian, not? )
mereka sudah belajar bahasa indonesia, belum? ( have learnt indonesian? ; literally have learnt indonesian, not? )

non-polar questions (wh-questions) formed using interrogative word (wh-word) such what, where, how, etc. takes place in syntactic structure of sentence occupied information being sought. however, in terms of word order, interrogative word (or phrase part of) brought start of sentence (an example of wh-fronting) in many languages. such questions may subject subject–verb inversion, yes–no questions. examples english follow:

you (somewhere). (declarative word order)
where you? (interrogative: fronted, subject , verb inverted)
he wants (some book). (declarative)
what book want? (interrogative: book fronted, subject , verb inverted, using do-support)

however wh-fronting typically takes precedence on inversion: if interrogative word subject or part of subject, remains fronted, inversion (which move subject after verb) not occur:

who likes chips?
how many people coming?

not languages have wh-fronting (and yes–no questions, inversion not applicable in languages). in mandarin, example, interrogative word remains in natural place (in situ) in sentence:

你要什麼？ nǐ yào shénme? ( want , literally want what? )

this word order possible in english: did what? (with rising intonation). (note when there more 1 interrogative word, 1 of them fronted: wants order what? ) possible make yes–no questions without grammatical marking, using intonation (or punctuation, when writing) differentiate questions statements – in languages method available. discussed in following section.

intonation , punctuation

questions may indicated different intonation pattern. pattern of rising intonation. applies particularly yes–no questions; use of rising question intonation in yes–no questions has been suggested 1 of universals of human languages. wh-questions, however, rising intonation not commonly used – in english, questions of type not have such intonation pattern.

the use of intonation mark yes–no questions combined grammatical question marking described in previous section. example, in english sentence coming? , rising intonation expected in addition inversion of subject , verb. possible indicate question intonation alone. example:

you re coming. (statement, typically spoken falling intonation)
you re coming? (question, typically spoken rising intonation)

a question this, has same form (except intonation) declarative sentence, called declarative question. in languages available way of forming yes–no questions – lack way of marking such questions grammatically, , using intonation only. examples of such languages italian, modern greek, portuguese, , jakaltek language. in spanish, yes–no questions not distinguished grammatically statements (although subject–verb inversion takes place in wh-questions).

on other hand, possible sentence marked grammatically question, lack characteristic question intonation. indicates question no answer expected, rhetorical question. occurs in english in tag questions, in s late, isn t it? if tag question ( isn t ) spoken rising intonation, answer expected (the speaker expressing doubt), while if spoken falling intonation, no answer expected , no doubt being expressed.

sentences can marked questions when written down. in languages written in latin or cyrillic, other scripts, question mark @ end of sentence identifies question. in spanish, additional inverted mark placed @ beginning (e.g. ¿cómo está usted?). question marks used in declarative questions, in example given above (in case equivalent intonation used in speech, being indication sentence meant question). question marks omitted in rhetorical questions (the sentence given in previous paragraph, when used in context spoken falling intonation, might written s late, isn t it. , no final question mark).