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Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns
The interrogative pronouns are as follows:
yèn - 'what'
son - 'who'
fon - 'where'
fondò - 'how'
jòò - 'why'
Their syntax is wh-in-situ:
(1) rlàŋŋạ to-srob là lʰo bà fon?
squadron up-tent raise be_around AN.IM where
Where did the soldiers set up camp?
(2) pʰò qa-mdòt k!a hąą bà jòò?
NEG apart=wood chop HNR take why?
Why didn't you chop the wood?!
(3a) dži-hạ fon?
come_from-HON where
Where did he come from?
Note that occasionally in sentences like (2) above, especially in cases of significant social differences, even interrogative forms can take honorifics:
(3b) dži-hạ fon-hạ?
come_from-HON where-HON
Where did he (that higher-ranking gentleman) come from?
There are also several atonic variants of yèn. One, -yè, attaches to nouns and acts as an interrogative determiner ('which' or 'what'):
(4) ka-hạ-yè dži-hạ Tsààd-tʰo?
man-HON-which come_from-HON Tsat-DST
Which men came from Tsat?
Another, -(y)in, is used in casual speech for interrogatives representing the direct object, and attaches to the final element of the verb phrase:
(5) mdò bà-yin haa?
see IN.PRF=what then?
What did you see then?
Another, ne-, is used with postpositions and locative verbs:
(6) rlàŋŋạ-tʰų kǂay-kǂay tsa ne-lʰo-d?
squadron-DST dance-IT AN.IM what=be_around-PRF
What is it that those soldiers are dancing around?
Closed questions
For unmarked closed questions the particle ho appears either at the end of the verbal complex or the end of the utterance:
(7) ktọb-ohạ-rų šo-k|ʰòò-hạ bà qǂeχ-ohạ ho?
water=HON=DEM down=pour=HON IN.PRF please=HON INT?
Should I pour sir some of this water [if I poured this water, would it please you?]?
To form negative questions the typical method is to replace the normal negative pʰò with dzè, combined with an interrogative (ho is optional but often appears in these constructions):
(8) dzè qa-mdòt k!a-hąą bà ho?
NEG.INT apart=wood chop=HNR IN.PRF ho?
Didn't you chop the wood?!
The particle omu can be used to form a rhetorical question where the implication is that both the speaker and their interlocutor know the answer, likewise with optional ho:
(9) omu qa-mdòt k!a-hąą bà ho?
INT.RHT apart=wood chop=HNR IN.PRF ho?
You didn't chop the wood?!
The interrogative pronouns are as follows:
yèn - 'what'
son - 'who'
fon - 'where'
fondò - 'how'
jòò - 'why'
Their syntax is wh-in-situ:
(1) rlàŋŋạ to-srob là lʰo bà fon?
squadron up-tent raise be_around AN.IM where
Where did the soldiers set up camp?
(2) pʰò qa-mdòt k!a hąą bà jòò?
NEG apart=wood chop HNR take why?
Why didn't you chop the wood?!
(3a) dži-hạ fon?
come_from-HON where
Where did he come from?
Note that occasionally in sentences like (2) above, especially in cases of significant social differences, even interrogative forms can take honorifics:
(3b) dži-hạ fon-hạ?
come_from-HON where-HON
Where did he (that higher-ranking gentleman) come from?
There are also several atonic variants of yèn. One, -yè, attaches to nouns and acts as an interrogative determiner ('which' or 'what'):
(4) ka-hạ-yè dži-hạ Tsààd-tʰo?
man-HON-which come_from-HON Tsat-DST
Which men came from Tsat?
Another, -(y)in, is used in casual speech for interrogatives representing the direct object, and attaches to the final element of the verb phrase:
(5) mdò bà-yin haa?
see IN.PRF=what then?
What did you see then?
Another, ne-, is used with postpositions and locative verbs:
(6) rlàŋŋạ-tʰų kǂay-kǂay tsa ne-lʰo-d?
squadron-DST dance-IT AN.IM what=be_around-PRF
What is it that those soldiers are dancing around?
Closed questions
For unmarked closed questions the particle ho appears either at the end of the verbal complex or the end of the utterance:
(7) ktọb-ohạ-rų šo-k|ʰòò-hạ bà qǂeχ-ohạ ho?
water=HON=DEM down=pour=HON IN.PRF please=HON INT?
Should I pour sir some of this water [if I poured this water, would it please you?]?
To form negative questions the typical method is to replace the normal negative pʰò with dzè, combined with an interrogative (ho is optional but often appears in these constructions):
(8) dzè qa-mdòt k!a-hąą bà ho?
NEG.INT apart=wood chop=HNR IN.PRF ho?
Didn't you chop the wood?!
The particle omu can be used to form a rhetorical question where the implication is that both the speaker and their interlocutor know the answer, likewise with optional ho:
(9) omu qa-mdòt k!a-hąą bà ho?
INT.RHT apart=wood chop=HNR IN.PRF ho?
You didn't chop the wood?!