A survey of polar interrogative strategies in the languages of China
2.1.2.3. Jingpo (Kachin) languages
Jingpo (Kachin)
In Jingpo (also known as Kachin), polar questions are normally formed by taking sentence-final question particles or pre-verb interrogative markers (Liu 1984: 92-3). According to Dai and Xu (1992: 379), particles of this kind add to the surprisingly big number of 116, mostly with a -ni3/-ta3 ending. Alternative questions in Jingpo are of X disj Y structure (Dai and Xu 1992: 235-6). X-neg-X questions are not reported in Jingpo (and some other Jingpo languages, e.g.
Anong, Bengni-Boga’er).
Final question particles vary according to person and number of the subject (and sometimes also the object), and the aspect of the verb (see Liu 1984: 68-9 for detailed discussion).
ʒi33 (or, ji33) is a question marker occurs before a predicate verb or adjective, which questions an action or a certain property. Such interrogatives are also found in many Tibeto-Burman languages (see Section 6.1.2 for more discussion).
(71) Jingpo (Liu 1984: 76)
a. naŋ33 ʒi33 kham33 kǎ2tʃa33 n̩31ni51? 2SG PRT health good
‘Do you have good health?’
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b. khji33 naŋ33 eʔ 55 kum55phaʔ55lai31ka33 3SG.M 2SG letter
ʒi33 ʃǎ2kun55kun55 ti33 nit31ta51?
PRT bring do
‘Is it true that he always brings you letters?’
Dulong (Derung)
Polar interrogative strategies in Dulong (also known as Derung) include question particles, alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology.
Two common question particles are e53 and da55. The structure of an alternative question is normally the bare forms of two (or more) disjuncts, no disjunctions are needed in between, i.e. XY (Sun 1982: 156-7, 175-6).
ma55- (in Nujiang Dulong is gɯ55-), the interrogative morpheme, always comes first in all the morphemes (if it is not the only morpheme) of a verb.
(72) Dulong (Sun 1982: 202-3)
a. ăŋ53 ma55-kai55? (Dulongjiang Dulong)
3SG.M Q-eat
‘Did he eat?’
b. ăŋ53 gɯ55-khe55? (Nujiang Dulong)
3SG.M Q-eat
Some other differences also lie in different varieties of Dulong, for example, a V neg V question is found in Nujiang Dulong, but not in Dulongjiang Dulong (Sun 1982: 203).
Geman
In Geman polar questions, final question particles (with also a terminal rising intonation), X-neg-X structures, and alternative structures are used.
The most common final question particle in Geman is lai35. Alternative questions take X prt Y (prt) or X prt Y disj (prt) structure (Li 2002: 195-7, 211).
(73) Geman (Li 2002: 196) a. ɯi53 tʂa55ɕi55 lai35?
3SG.M tʂa55ɕi55 QP
‘Is he tʂa55ɕi55?’
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b. ɯi53 a31pʌi35 mɯ31ka55 mai55 lai35? 3SG.M money not.have not QP
‘He has no money, hasn’t he?’
(b) behaves like a tag question, which invariably takes mai55 lai35 ‘hasn’t he?’
after a declarative sentence, regardless if it is positive or negative (note the difference in English).
Darang
Darang is reported to have final question particles (e.g. ja35, sa31) and alternative structures (X prt disj Y prt) in its polar questions (Sun et al. 1980: 221, 227-8).
(74) Darang (Sun et al. 1980: 201, 228) a. ȵoŋ35 bo53 ja31 ja35?
2SG go FUT QP
‘Are you going (there)?’
b. a31tia55n̥n53 tɯ31ɹui55 glai53 ja35 kia53a31 kha31liau55 pɯ31ɹe55 ja35?
today fertizer carry QP or farmland weed QP
‘Shall we carry the fertilizer or weed the grass today?’
Anong
In Anong, final question particles and alternative structures are often used to form polar questions. Alternative questions normally do not use a disjunction between the two (or more) disjuncts, but take a particle after each disjunct, i.e. X prt Y prt.
(75) Anong (Sun and Liu 2005: 128)
a. ɳa31 tian35sɿ35tɕi55 ɳ31-vεn35ε31 mε53 m31 ɳ31-vεn35ε31 mε53? 2SG television 2-buy PRT NEG 2-buy PRT
‘Are you going to buy a television?’
b. a31 tɕhεn31phɯ31 kha31 ɳ31-ɳã55ʂɿ31 mε53
2SG son ACC 2-like PRT
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
tɕhεn31mɯ31 kha31 ɳ31-ʂɿ31 mε53 daughter ACC 2-like PRT
‘Do you like to have a son or a daughter?’
Yidu
Polar questions in Yidu are reported to use final question particles, X-neg-X structures, and alternative structures.
ja31 and a31 are the two most frequently used final question particles in Yidu.
X-neg-X questions normally take X X neg structure, and alternative questions take (disj) X prt (disj) Y prt (Jiang 2005: 105, 169-73, 178). The following are two examples of alternative questions: (b) uses a normal disjunction (a55i33soŋ55
‘or’), while (a) uses a particle disjunction (wa53).
(76) Yidu (Jiang 2005: 172)
a. ȵu35 e55tia55ni35 ba53 tho31 wa53 a33na55ja55 ba53 tho31 wa53? 2SG today go out PRT tomorrow go out PRT
‘Are you going there today or tomorrow?’
b. a55i33soŋ55 ȵu35 ȵi35 ŋa35 tɕi55 oŋ35 ma55 dza33 wa53,
or 2SG AGT 1SG GEN home LOC come PRT
a55i33soŋ55 ŋa35 ȵi35 ȵu35 tɕi55 oŋ35 ma55 ba33 wa53? or 1SG AGT 2SG GEN home LOC go PRT
‘Will you come to my home, or shall I go to your home?’
Bengni-Boga’er
In Bengni-Boga’er, polar questions by using final question particles and alternative structures are reported.
Some common particles used at the end of polar questions include je, ɦəː, a, and teː (teːla). Alternative questions are of X prt Y prt structure (Ouyang 1985: 40, 58).
(77) Bengni-Boga’er (Ouyang 1985: 40, 58) a. noː in-dəbo je, in-moŋbo je?
2SG go-FUT PRT go-NEG PRT
‘Are you going (there) or not?’
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b. noː akeː doː-dəbo je, iɕi tɯŋ-dəbo je?
2SG meal eat-FUT PRT water drink-FUT PRT
‘Do you want to eat or drink?’
Sulong
In Sulong, final question particles, X-neg-X (including V neg V and A neg A), and alternative structures are used in its polar question system.
Two common final question particles are (ha31)waŋ55 and ɣaŋ51, and alternative questions take a X disj Y disj structure (Li 2004: 165-71). The following are examples of X-neg-X questions.
(78) Sulong (Li 2004: 167)
a. na55 ɬa33sa55 wu55ga31 ba31 wu55ga31? 2SG Lhasa go NEG go
‘Are you going to Lhasa or not?’
b. na55 ɟe33 a31ŋwa33ȵiaŋ55da31 ba31 ŋwa33ȵiaŋ55da31? 3SG.M TOP good.looking NEG good.looking
‘Is he handsome or not?’
Bengru
Bengru is reported to have final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures in its polar questions.
Polar questions formed by final question particle (ja31) are free in choosing intonation, though there are slight differences in meaning.
(79) Bengru (Li 2007a: 726)
nai55 mɯ31liu55 nə31vɤ55 du31 rau53 ja31? home inside people have EXIST go
‘Is there someone at home?’
(79) can be of a plain or rising or falling intonation. By plain, it is a normal question; by rising, it has somewhat rhetoric meaning ‘IS there someone at home?’; by falling, a speaker thinks it is very likely that there is someone at home, and simply asks for a confirmation (Li 2007a: 726).
X-neg-X questions and alternative questions are also reported in Li (2007a:
726), each with only one example, of VP neg VP and disj X, disj Y structure,
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respectively.