A survey of polar interrogative strategies in the languages of China
2.2.3. Manchu-Tungusic languages
Manchu
Polar interrogative strategies of Manchu include final question particles (e.g.
no, nio), X-neg, alternative structures (X prt Y), and verb morphology (see, e.g. Ji and Liu 1986: 153-6, 348-54; Zhao 1989: 153-4; Zhao 1990; Wang 2005: 69, 92;
Wu 2008).
(147) Manchu (a-c, Wang 2005: 210, 62, 243; d, Wu 2008) a. ɕi mandʐo gisun baʁanam no?
2SG Manchu language can PRT
‘Can you speak the Manchu language?’
b. ɕi-niŋŋə ino vaqa?
2SG-GEN be not.be
‘Is it yours or not?’
c. ərə dʐaqa ʂʅ fəniŋŋə xεʂʅ itɕiŋŋə?
DEF stuff be old or.be new
‘Is the stuff old or new?’
d. sinde bithe bi-o?
2SG book have-Q
‘Do you have book?’
Some other interrogative verb morphologies include -n and -yūn (Zhao 1990;
Wang 2005: 69; Wu 2008).
Manchu also use V disj V-neg questions, with a similar meaning to V-neg (cf.
147b).
(148) Manchu (Zhao 1989: 184) ɕi kənəmi xεsʅ kənəaxoɷ 2SG go or go.NEG
‘Are you going (there) or not?’
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
Xibo (Sibo, Xibe)
In Xibo (also known as Sibo, or Xibe), polar questions are formed by using a sentence-final rising intonation, or adding a question particle (e.g., na, ba) at the end of a declarative sentence.
(149) Xibo (Li and Zhong 1986: 77, 109, 97) a. nan dʑi-xə?
people come-PST
‘Did someone come?’
b. gən! sandʑə tər dʐulxu bod χani tua bi ba?
go girl DEF south house still fire have PRT
‘Go, my daughter! Perhaps the southern neighbor has a fire?’
c. bi agəsədəri gum adʑig vaq na?
1SG brother all young not.be PRT
‘I am younger than all my brothers, am I not?’
The structure of Xibo’s alternative questions is not very clear, though Li and Zhong (1986: 114) included an example in their book, which is of X prt Y prt structure.
Evenki
Strategies of polar question in (Huihe) Evenki mainly include intonation change, final question particles, and alternative structures.
Some common question particles include gi/gu, gʊʊ/guu, jʉ, ba, wu, gə, etc.
The structure of alternative questions is X prt, Y prt (see Hu and Chaoke 1986:
108-10; Chaoke 1995: 84, 114, 120, 187, 189).
Oreqen
Like Evenki, Oreqen also uses rising intonation, final question particle, and alternative structure in polar questions, although the inventory of question particles is different.
Question particles include baa/bəə, jεε/jee/ŋεε/ŋee, ɔɔ, unti, mʊʊ/muu, jɔɔgʊʊ/jɔɔguu, jɔɔmaa/jooməə, and so on (Hu 1986: 63, 152-4). It is clear that jεε/jee/ŋεε/ŋee, ɔɔ, and unti are different, while the others are similar. Note that Evenki ba and Oreqen baa/bəə are very likely borrowed from Chinese ba.
Particles can be used to form alternative questions; in particular, particles
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
take disjunct-final positions, i.e. X prt Y prt (Hu 1986: 154).
Hezhen (Nanai)
Two common polar question particles in Hezhen (also known as Nanai) are a/ə and ba (An 1986: 64). ba is the same to Evenki ba and resembles Oreqen baa/bəə. Other strategies (if any) of polar questions are not clear, owing to the fact that relevant descriptive literature is not available.
Korean
Korean uses interrogative verb morphology and intonation change to form polar questions. The pattern of intonation change is like this: yes/no questions end with a terminal rising intonation (Sohn 1999: 199); alternative questions, which normally have no disjunction between the disjuncts, i.e. XY, are reported to have their first disjunct ending with a terminal rising intonation, while the latter disjunct has a slightly falling intonation (Xuan et al. 1985: 88; Sohn 1999:
307).
Korean interrogative verb morphology (or ‘interrogative mood endings’, see Lee 1989: 99) conveys various pragmatic meanings with subtle differences.
(150) Korean (Xuan et al. 1985: 60-1) a. namujip‘-i p‘urɯ-ni?
willow.leaves green
‘Are the leaves of the willow tree green? (How is it?)’
b. namujip‘-i p‘urɯ-rka?
willow.leaves green
‘Are the leaves of the willow tree green? (I suppose so.)’
c. namujip‘-i p‘urɯ-tənja?
willow.leaves green
‘Are the leaves of the willow tree green? (Did you notice that?)’
Note that all the examples are of the Low Style, i.e. “the style most often used between equals and by superiors to people of lower status” (Lee 1989: 100; see also Sohn 1999: 16, 407-418).
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
2.3. Austronesian languages
Amis
Polar questions in Amis are very frequently expressed by adding question particles at the end of declarative sentences. Alternative questions (X disj Y (prt)) are also used very common, with a free choice of sentence-final question particles (He et al. 1986: 92-4, 97-8, 129, 134; Chen 1992: 150; Zeng 1991:
186-9, 260-1).
(151) Amis (He et al. 1986: 92) a. tajra kiʃu han?
go 2SG PRT
‘Are you going (there)?’
b. u kafuŋ anutʃa u rikuʔ ku ʔaʔatʃaən iʃu ʃaw?
DEF hat or DEF clothes NOM buy.NOMIN 2SG.GEN PRT
‘Do you want to buy some clothes or a hat?’
Different polar questions use different question particles, although they invariably take a sentence-final position. For example, han is used in normal yes/no questions and rhetorical questions, ʃaw is used in alternative questions and wh-questions, kiaʃaw is used in rhetorical questions, saku is used in leading questions, and hukia/kira/kia are used in guesses or rhetorical questions (see He et al. 1986: 92-4; Zeng 1991: 186-9).
Table 2.24. Amis polar question particles
Question particles Subtype of polar questions
han yes/no, rhetorical
ʃaw alternative (also in wh-questions)
kiaʃaw rhetorical
saku leading
hukia, kira, kia guesses, rhetorical
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
Paiwan
In Paiwan, alternative questions are widely used across the dialects. The structure is X disj Y, and the disjunction manu can not be dropped. Other interrogative strategies vary among individual dialects.
In Wenle Paiwan (Laiyi Township, Pingdong County) polar questions can be exactly the same form as declarative sentences, with no change in intonation (Chen and Ma 1986: 90-4, Chen 1992: 123-4; cf. Dryer 2005a for Chalcatongo Mixtec, an Oto-Manguean language spoken in Mexico, which demonstrates no interrogative-declarative distinction).
(152) Wenle Paiwan (Chen and Ma 1986: 91) tɕiŋlay sun tu tsu a ʔalat?
like 2SG ACC DEF NOM bracelet
‘Do you like the bracelet?’
Nevertheless, in an unknown Paiwan dialect, intonation contour modification and stress shift are used to ask polar questions. In the following example, the question is formed by a final-rising intonation contour with a stress shift from the penultimate syllable of the last word to the final syllable.
(153) Paiwan (unkown dialect; Huang et al. 1999; cited from Chang 2010: 12) ti Palang timadju?
NOM Palang 3SG.NOM
‘Is he Palang?’
A matter deserving to be mentioned is that the clause order of Wenle Paiwan is VSO, however, when one wants to emphasis the subject in a question, SVO order is adopted (Chen and Ma 1986: 87).
(154) Wenle Paiwan (Chen and Ma 1986: 87) ti sun a ʔəmləm ta vatu?
NOM 2SG NOM beat ACC dog
‘Is that you beat the dog?’
Bunun
In Bunun, interrogative strategies in polar questions include intonation
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
contour change, question particles, and alternative structures, although there are some dialectal differences.
In Takitaivuɬan Bunun, the question particle ha is normally used at the end of a yes/no question, while biʃ is used right after the sentence-initial predicate in rhetorical or alternative questions. The structure of an alternative question is a(d)u X-at, a(d)u Y (prt) (DISJ X-PRT, DISJ Y (PRT)) (He and Zeng 1986: 109;
Chen 1992: 172-8).
(155) Takitaivuɬan Bunun (He and Zeng 1986: 89, 101) a. aʃa a kaʃu hud maʃ davuʃ ha?
like NOM 2SG drink ACC alcohol QP
‘Do you like to drink some alcohol?’
b. au namapahun maʃ padan-at, au namapatuktuk maʃ ɬukiʃ?
or cut ACC bush-PRT or cut ACC tree
‘Do you want to cut the bush or the tree?’
In Isbukun Bunun, intonation contour modification, question particles, and alternative structures are used to ask a polar question.
(156) Isbukun Bunun (Chang 2010: 140-5)
a. adu na-mahtu kutun Tahai minsuma?
PRT IRR-can come Tahai tomorrow
‘Will Tahai be able to come tomorrow?’
b. adu Alang kasu ha?
PRT Alang 2SG.NOM PRT
‘Are you Alang?’
c. Alang sain?
Alang 3SG.NOM
‘Is he Alang?’
d. adu sia Tahai ma-ludah Alang, adu sia Dahu?
PRT EMP Tahai AV-beat Alang PRT EMP Dahu
‘Is it Tahai that beat Alang, or is it Dahu (that beat Alang)?’
As shown above, (a) uses the sentence-initial question particle adu, while (b) uses two discontinuous question particles adu… ha; (c) is a polar question by
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
leveling-rising intonation contour, with no other strategies; (d) is an alternative question, formed by a prt X, prt Y structure, which is different from Takitaivuɬan Bunun in that -at is not needed after the first disjunct juxtaposed.
Atayal
In Atayal, interrogative strategies in polar questions include question particles (Chen 1992: 24; Rau 1992: 175; Shih 2008: 61-9), change in intonation contour, and alternative structures (Shih 2008: 61-9).
(157) Atayal (a, Chen 1992: 24; b-d, Shih 2008: 61-2, 66; e, Huang 1996) a. məkəsiwu suʔ lukus makuʔ ra? (Squliq Atayal)
borrow 2SG clothes 1SG.GEN PRT
‘Do you want to borrow my clothes?’
b. ya’=su kumaral ci ke’ na ’itaral? (Plngawan Atayal)
QP=2S.NOM speak ACC language GEN Atayal
‘Do you speak Atayal?’
c. kumaral=su ci ke’ na ’itaral? (Plngawan Atayal) speak=2S.NOM ACC language GEN Atayal
‘Do you speak Atayal?’
d. pamukan=su ya’=su ’itaral? (Plngawan Atayal) plain.people=2S.NOM QP=2S.NOM Atayal
‘Are you plain people or Atayal?’
e. pa-qaniq=su’ quw ga’ pa-qilaap=su’? (Mayrinax Atayal)
FUT.AV-eat=2SG.NOM Q TOP FUT.AV-sleep=2SG.NOM
‘Will you eat or sleep?’
As shown above, there are some differences among individual dialects. In Squliq Atayal, the question particle ra takes a sentence-final position (a). In Plngawan Atayal, however, the question particle ya’ normally takes a sentence-initial position (b); interrogative meaning is also conveyed by changing the intonation contour of a declarative sentence (c); and ya’ is also used to conjunct alternative disjuncts (d). In Mayrinax Atayal, the topic marker ga’ is used to connect the two disjuncts (e).
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
Saisiyat
In Saisiyat, polar questions are formed by terminal rising intonation or final question particle aj (Chiang and Chiang 2008; in Yeh 2000a, 2000b: 122-3, is ay).
As it was mentioned above, in Paiwan, the clause order could be SVO if the subject is emphasized. In polar questions of Saisiyat, however, SVO order is preferred regardless if the subject is emphasized or not.
(158) Saisiyat (a, Chiang and Chiang 2008; b, Yeh 2000a) a. ʃoʔo s<om>iʔæl ʔilaʔ aj?
2SG.NOM <AF>-eat PFV PRT
‘Have you eaten yet?’
b. rimʔan ʔam ʔ-omo-ral ay?
tomorrow will rain-AF PRT
‘Will it rain tomorrow?’
Like in Bunun, a modal verb could also be used alone to answer questions like (b), e.g. ʔam ʔokaʔ (will NEG) ‘It won’t.’ (Yeh 2000a)
Pazeh
In Pazeh, sentence-final question particles are found in polar questions (115a). (115b) could be analyzed as a question having a distinctive intonation, or simply keeping the same intonation as declarative sentences (like Paiwan), as no further information is provided in Li (2000).
(159) Pazeh (Li 2000)
a. <in>angid-an ka mairad-ay inang say
PERF-cry-LOC TOP alive-FUT again PRT
‘Will crying help to make (him) live again?’
b. ma-baza mu-kawas pazih a rahan siw
AF-know AF-speak Pazeh LIGATURE words 2SG.NOM
‘Do you know how to speak Pazeh?’
Thao
The polar question system of Thao is still not clear, though Chen (1992: 240) reported a polar question with a final question particle.
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
(160) Thao (Chen 1992: 240) qəminerqer qa?
bite PRT
‘Bite?’
Rukai
In Rukai, interrogative strategies by vowel lengthening, interrogative verb morphology and alternative structures are reported in some dialects. Question particles are not used in Rukai (Li 1973: 177; Zeitoun 2000a: 109).
In Maga Rukai, polar questions can be asked by vowel lengthening.
(161) Maga Rukai (Huang et al. 1999; cited from Chang 2010: 13) u-cngili musu kdoma kanav-a: ?
ACT/REAL-see 2SG.NOM sometimes Kanao-OBL
‘Do you sometimes see Kanao?’
In Danancun Rukai (spoken in the Puyuma (Beinan) Township, in the Taidong County), however, vowel lengthening strategy is not found. As the following example shows, there seems to be no vowel-lengthening (though, very likely, it changes the intonation).
(162) Danancun Rukai (Chen 1992: 193) aj-laub-ŋa-naku musu-a?
FUT-burn-FUT-1SG 2SG-OBJ
‘Shall I burn you right now?’
Mantauran Rukai uses interrogative verb morphology ka. Intonation change is also likely to be adopted, as is exemplified by (163b-c), because no morphological or lexical interrogative strategies are used.
(163) Mantauran Rukai (a, Huang et al. 1999, cited from Chang 2010: 12-3;
b-c, Zeitoun 1997) a. ‘oponoho-ka-‘o?
Mantauran-Q-2SG
‘Are you Mantauran?’
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
b. mamai-ka-ʔo takanə vələvələ?
be-NEG-2SG.GEN eat Banana
‘Did you eat a banana?’ Literally, ‘Is that you that ate a banana?’
c. ðipolo-ka-ʔo?
Dipolo-NEG-2SG.GEN
‘Are you Dipolo?’
Note that (b)-(c) are asked in a negative way. Normally, the answers can not be in abbreviated form. Take (163c) for example, an abbreviated form, *ka-li (NEG-1S.GEN) is ungrammatical, a full form, ka ðipolo-ka-li ‘No, I’m not Dipolo’
is used instead, like in English.
Alternative questions in Labuan Rukai do not use any disjunctions, i.e. they are of X Y structure.
(164) Labuan Rukai (Huang et al. 1999, cited from Chang 2010: 14) ay-ungulu=su ku acilay ay-kane=su ku aga?
IRR-drink=2SG.NOM OBL water IRR-eat=2SG.NOM OBL rice
‘Will you drink water or eat rice?’
Tsou
Final question particles are not found in Tsou polar questions. A strategy is to use terminal interrogative intonation, usually a raised pitch on the final syllable. The structure of alternative questions is [X ho nte Y] (Zeitoun 2000b:
119-121; Huang 2002).
(165) Tsou (Chen 1992: 67) te ko meelʉ fiho?
FUT 2SG can catch.up
‘Can you catch up?’
Kavalan
In Kavalan, polar questions are formed by final question particle ni or terminal rising intonation-only. Alternative questions are in [X uu Y] structure (G.
Chang 2000: 148-9; see also Lee 2009 for several polar question examples).
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
(166) Kavalan (H. Chang 2000: 148-9) a. q-em-an=ti=isu tu ’may (ni)?
eat-AF=PEF=2SG ACC meal QP
‘Have you eaten?’
b. ngil qan uu taqa qan tu Raaq aisu?
want eat or not eat ACC liquor 2SG
‘Do you want to drink some liquor or not?’
Sedeq (Sedik)
In Sedeq (also known as Sedik, Seediq), question particles are used to form polar questions.
One common particle is hao (cf. Kavalan haw), which normally takes a sentence-final position (Chen and Xu 2001: 66, 141; Chen 1992: 42 documented it as hu).
Another common question particle e, which takes sentence-initial position (cf. Atayal ya’, Bunun adu), or (next-to-)last positions.
(167) Sedeq (Chen and Xu 2001: 66, 140) a. yaku maha humetun hao?
1SG FUT close QP
‘Shall I close it?’
b. e munuekan ido suai da?
QP eat-PST meal younger.brother PRT
‘Has younger brother already eaten?’
c. puŋerah karats ue e lumedah?
star sky be QP bright
‘Are the stars shinning in the sky?’
Like Paiwan, the word order of the polar question is changed into SVO if the subject (actor) is emphasized.
Puyuma
Puyuma polar questions are reported to be formed by final question particle amaw or falling terminal intonation-only (Huang 2000: 151-2). Literature on the
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
Puyuma language is limited, for several examples of content questions, see also Cauquelin (1991) and Zeng (2007), the latter also reports a question sentence formed with an interrogative verb (cf. Section 6.3.2).
Yami
Yami, also known as Tao, is a Batanic language spoken in the Lanyu Island, Taiwan. Polar questions are formed by final question particles, e.g. an(g) and ja, and terminal rising intonation-only (C. Chang 2000: 90; Chen 2007b: 2334).
(168) Yami (a, Chen 2007b; b-c, Rau and Dong 2006: 91, 93, 115) a. mej ku apen an?
go 1SG fetch QP
‘Shall I go and fetch it?’
b. maka-kan ka so wakay?
AF.able-eat 2S.NOM OBL sweet.potato
‘Are you able to eat sweet potatos?’ (I bet you won’t.)
c. ma-kala ta o mogis nio?
PF.able-find 1PL.INCL.GEN OBL rice 2PL.GEN
‘Could we manage to find your rice?’
Saaroa
The question particle i is reported in Saaroa polar questions.
(169) Saaroa (Chen 1992: 78) ʔiibuu i?
2SG.GEN.urine QP
‘Is this your urine?’ Literally, ‘Your urine?’
In a more or less assertion, one can respond ʔiibuu ai! ‘(I think) It is your urine!’
(Chen 1992: 78)
Kanakanavu
In Kanakanavu, question particles and alternative structures are used to form polar questions. The question particle kara can take a non-sentence-final position.
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
(170) Kanakanavu (a, Chen 1992: 92; b, Wu 2006) a. kanakanavu kara kasu?
Kanakanavu QP 2SG
‘Are you Kanakanavu?’
b. manman=kasu m-alisinatu kara sa paracani?
like.AF=2S.NOM AF-study QP or sing.AF
‘Do you like studying or singing?’
Huihui
Except for the Formosan and Batanic languages in Taiwan, there is another endangered Austronisan language, Huihui, spoken in Sanya, in the Hainan Province (the second biggest island of China). The population of Hui people (Muslims) in Sanya is about 5,000 (Zheng 1997: 1).
The most salient feature of Huihui’s interrogative system is that it differs from the Formosan and Batanic languages by using X-neg-X questions.
(171) Huihui (Zheng 1997: 72, 76) a. ha33 ʔdi55 pu33 ʔdi55?
2SG sleep not sleep
‘Do you want to sleep or not?’
b. zai33ni33 ʔan33 pu33 ʔan33?
today cold not cold
‘Is it cold today or not?’
The X-neg-X structure in Huihui is borrowed from Chinese (although many Hui people in Sanya also speak Li – a Kam language), not from Li, as the negator in between is the same as the Chinese /pu/, not Li’s /ta/. Another feature of the structure is that a modal verb could answer the question alone if X in X-neg-X is a modal one. For example, by asking haŋ11 pu33 haŋ11? (willnot will) ‘willing to … or not?’, one could answer haŋ11 ‘(Yes, I) will.’ (Zheng 1997: 73)
There are many question particles in Huihui, e.g., te24, ʔa11, va24, ne24, and nə33, all of them are used at the end of a sentence (Zheng 1997: 91).
Alternative questions in Huihui are adding a disjunction (and a stop) between the two (or more) disjuncts (Zheng 1997: 85, 101), which is similar to many Sinitic languages (and Kam languages as well).
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
2.4. Austro-Asiatic languages
So far, 9 Austro-Asiatic languages have been reported in China, namely, Wa, De’ang, Bulang, Kumu, Kemie, Buxing, Jing, Mang, and Lai. The first six languages belong to the Mon-Khmer group, and the latter three belong to the Viet-Muong group. These languages are mainly spoken in the Yunnan Province, except that Jing is mainly used in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Strategies of polar questions in the Austro-Asiatic languages in China are summarized in the following table.
Table 2.25. Interrogative strategies in 9 Austro-Asiatic languages
Intonation QP V-neg-V A-neg-A Alternative
Wa + + V-neg-V / VP-neg-VP A-neg-A X (, disj) Y De’ang + + V-neg-V / V(P)-neg-VP A-neg-A X (, disj) Y
Bulang + + V-neg-V A-neg-A X, disj Y
Kemu + + V-neg-V(P) A-neg-A X disj Y
Kemie + + V-neg-V A-neg-A X, Y
Buxing + + V(P)-neg-VP n/i X disj Y
Jing - + V(P)-neg(-V) A-neg X (,) disj Y
Mang n/i + adv-V / (adv-)V(P)-neg-V A-neg-A X (prt), Y
Lai + + VV(-neg) n/i X disj Y
Note that the table is based on the descriptive work I am aware of so far; the blanks are not necessarily to be filled in with a negative value, or a positive one.
X-neg-X questions are very likely to have more complicated structures in individual languages. Alternative questions are also likely to have more strategies in a colloquial context, e.g., having a short stop in between, particles, and/or disjunctions.
Wa (Va)
In Wa (also known as Va), a common way to ask polar question is to use final question particles (e.g. laih, yung/euih/nieh, hliex) and/or rising intonation.
(172) Wa (Zhao 2006: 129) a. hoig som beix?
already eat 2PL
‘Have you eaten?’
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
b. houig maix laih?
come 2SG QP
‘Are you coming?’
In sentences like (172a), that is, questions with an adverb ‘already’ before a verb, which has an equivalent meaning of English Has someone already…? or German Hat jemand schon …?, a common answer is simply to use an adverb, like hoig
‘(I have) already (eaten)’, or ang nyang ‘(I have) not yet (eaten).’ Polar questions that can be answered simply by an adverb are also reported in De’ang (see below).
In the examples above, the subject comes after the verb, which is common in Wa questions and answers (but the basic order in declarative sentences is SVO). However, the subject is placed before the verb if an answer is negative (Zhou and Yan 1984: 87-9).
(173) Wa (Zhao 2006: 175) A: gon sang hu maix?
still want go 2SG
‘Do you still want to go (there)?’
B: ang, ex (ang) lai hu.
NEG 1SG NEG again go
‘(No,) I won’t go (there) again.’
Quite similar to Standard Chinese, both verbs and adjectives can be used in X-neg-X questions in Wa, that is, V(P)-neg-V(P) and A-neg-A.
(174) Wa (Zhou and Yan 1984: 59, 61) a. hoik ang hoik?
come not come
‘Are you coming or not?’
b. song ang song?
bitter not bitter
‘Is it bitter or not?’
It has been mentioned that in Wa the subject comes often before a verb, though it is placed after a verb in a negative answer. In Colloquial Wa, one can
2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies
find that the placement of the subject in X-neg-X questions is very flexible, in particular, it could appear before the subject (175b), or between the disjunctive-negative verbs (175a), or even appear twice, with the first one after the first verb, and the latter one between the negator and the latter verb (175c).
(175) Wa (a, c, Zhao 2006: 175-6; b, Zhou and Yan 1984: 88) a. maix gon sang hu ang hu?
2SG still want go not go
‘Do you still want to go or not?’
b. hu maix ang hu?
go 2SG not go
‘Do you want to go or not?’
‘Do you want to go or not?’