Interrogative Strategies

An Areal Typology of the Languages of China

Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie

vorgelegt von

Tianhua Luo

an der

Geisteswissenschaftliche Sektion Fachbereich Sprachwissenschaft

Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 23. September 2013

1. Referent: Prof. Dr. Frans Plank 2. Referentin: Prof. Dr. Nicole Dehé

i

Contents

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ v Zusammenfassung ............................................................................................... vii Abstract ................................................................................................................ xi Notational conventions....................................................................................... xiii Chapter 1. Introduction...................................................................................... 1

1.1. The grammar of interrogatives.................................................................1 1.1.1. Interrogative forms........................................................................ 1 1.1.2. Assymetries in form and meaning................................................11

1.2. Motivation ..............................................................................................16 1.3. Material ..................................................................................................19 1.4. Methodology ..........................................................................................24 1.5. Outline of the work ................................................................................28

Chapter 2. A survey of polar interrogative strategies .................................... 31

2.1. Sino-Tibetan languages ..........................................................................32 2.1.1. Sinitic languages ......................................................................... 32

2.1.1.1. Standard Chinese............................................................ 32 2.1.1.2. Yongxin Gan................................................................... 48 2.1.1.3. Comparative Sinitic........................................................ 56

2.1.2. Tibeto-Burman languages ........................................................... 71 2.1.2.1. Tibetan languages........................................................... 71 2.1.2.2. Yi languages ................................................................... 74 2.1.2.3. Jingpo languages ............................................................ 88 2.1.2.4. Burmese languages......................................................... 93 2.1.2.5. Qiangic languages .......................................................... 95

2.1.3. Kam languages .......................................................................... 105 2.1.4. Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages .........................................117

2.2. Altaic languages ...................................................................................122 2.2.1. Turkic languages ....................................................................... 122 2.2.2. Mongolian languages ................................................................ 128 2.2.3. Manchu-Tungusic languages..................................................... 133

2.3. Austronesian languages........................................................................136 2.4. Austro-Asiatic languages .....................................................................146

ii

2.5. Indo-European ..................................................................................... 154 2.6. Creole languages.................................................................................. 155 2.7. Summary.............................................................................................. 157

Chapter 3. Question particles and final particles ......................................... 159

3.1. The position of question particles........................................................ 162 3.2. ma ne polar questions in Sinitic languages.......................................... 165

3.2.1. ma ne polar questions ................................................................ 165 3.2.2. The nature of ma ne polar questions.......................................... 172

3.3. Final particles in wh-questions ............................................................ 174 3.3.1. Final particles in wh-questions .................................................. 174 3.3.2. Final particles in reduced wh-questions..................................... 177

3.4. Summary.............................................................................................. 182 Chapter 4. Disjunctions and alternative questions....................................... 183

4.1. Alternative vs X-neg-X questions........................................................ 185 4.2. Alternative questions: the or vs or/or? typology................................. 188

4.2.1. Introducing the or vs or/or? typology ....................................... 188 4.2.2. The or vs or/or? typology.......................................................... 189 4.2.3. The position of or and or/or? .................................................... 193 4.2.4. The or vs or/or? typology and clause order .............................. 196

4.3. Particles as disjunctions....................................................................... 198 4.3.1. Alternative questions through particles ..................................... 198 4.3.2. Patterns of particle disjunctions in alternative questions........... 200

4.4. Alternative islands in Sinitic................................................................ 202 4.5. Summary.............................................................................................. 204

Chapter 5. Wh-phrases and wh-questions ..................................................... 205

5.1. The position of wh-phrases.................................................................. 206 5.2. Wh-fronting in Standard Chinese......................................................... 208 5.3. The syntax of wh-questions ................................................................. 212

5.3.1. Wh-questions and word order change........................................ 212 5.3.2. Wh-questions with coordination in Sinitic................................. 216

5.4. The reduplication of wh-phrases.......................................................... 217 5.4.1. Languages with reduplication in wh-phrases............................. 218 5.4.2. Which wh-phrases can be reduplicated?.................................... 219 5.4.3. Semantics of reduplicated wh-phrases....................................... 221 5.4.4. Syllable pattern of reduplicated wh-phrases.............................. 223

5.5. Summary.............................................................................................. 226

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Chapter 6. Three types of verb-related questions ........................................ 227

6.1. Q-VP questions .....................................................................................228 6.1.1. Q-VP in Sinitic........................................................................... 228 6.1.2. Q-VP in Tibeto-Burman............................................................. 234 6.1.3. Summary ................................................................................... 239

6.2. Verb-reduplicating questions................................................................241 6.2.1. Verb-reduplication in Sinitic ..................................................... 241 6.2.2. Verb-reduplication in Yi ............................................................ 250 6.2.3. Verb-reduplication in Hmong-Mien.......................................... 252 6.2.4. Summary ................................................................................... 253

6.3. Interrogative verbs ...............................................................................255 6.3.1. Interrogative verbs in Sinitic..................................................... 255 6.3.2. Interrogative verbs in Formosan ............................................... 257 6.3.3. Hagège (2008)........................................................................... 258

6.4. Conclusion............................................................................................260 Chapter 7. Typological and area-historical assessment ............................... 263

7.1. Correlations of interrogativity..............................................................265 7.1.1. Correlations with interrogative strategies ................................. 266 7.1.2. Interrogatives and word order ................................................... 270 7.1.3. Interrogatives and locus of marking.......................................... 277 7.1.4. Interrogatives and alignment..................................................... 280 7.1.5. Conclusion................................................................................. 289

7.2. Changes in questions: areal and historical perspectives ......................290 7.2.1. Yes-no questions........................................................................ 290 7.2.2. X-neg-X questions .................................................................... 291 7.2.3. Alternative questions................................................................. 293 7.2.4. Three types of verb-related questions in Sinitic........................ 295

7.3. Further topics: interrogation and negation ...........................................310 7.3.1. Negation and interrogation in ask-and-answers........................ 310 7.3.2. Diachronic negation and interrogation...................................... 313

Chapter 8. Conclusion .................................................................................... 315 References ......................................................................................................... 319 Appendix I. Features of 138 languages of China.............................................. 341 Appendix II. Atlas of interrogative strategies ................................................... 351

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v

Acknowledgements

My work in Konstanz could not have been realized without the help of various

people. I am deeply indebted to everyone who helped directly with this project,

as well as to all who provided inspiration, support, and encouragement along the

way.

First of all, I am particularly grateful to my supervisors Frans Plank and

Nicole Dehé. I would like to thank Frans Plank for his invaluable advice on the

project and kind support over the years, and thank Nicole Dehé for her

constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Sincere thanks also

go to Ka Yin Benjamin Tsou for agreeing to serve as the external examiner on

my evaluation committee.

I would like to thank the Department of Linguistics at the University of

Konstanz, particularly Aditi Lahiri (ständige Gastprofessorin), Maribel Romero,

and Heike Zinsmeister for their useful and informative seminars, and for Heike’s

help with the R project. Friends in offices G111-112 and G115 deserve special

thanks for their constructive assistance, conversation, and laughter. I am

especially grateful to Thomas Mayer for his support in general and for plotting

the atlas. Thanks to Muna Pohl and Florian Schönhuber, too, for their kind help.

I also wish to sincerely thank Bingfu Lu, Jue Wang, and Elizabeth Zeitoun.

I thank Lu Laoshi and Wang Laoshi for leading me into an academic career in

linguistics and for their kind support during my years of study. Thanks to

Elizabeth Zeitoun for providing me with a detailed list of publications on

Formosan interrogatives. I am also indebted to native language informants for

having provided me with various linguistic data for my research.

Part of this work was presented at ICSTLL 43 (Lund 2010), ALT 9 (Hong

Kong 2011), and ALT 10 (Leipzig 2013). I am grateful to the participants for

their useful comments.

For financial support, I owe special thanks to the China Scholarship Council

(CSC) affiliated with the Ministry of Education.

Finally, I would like thank my family for their love and support. Sadly, my

father passed away during my studies in Konstanz and could not witness the

completion of this work. I would like to dedicate the present dissertation to his

loving memory.

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vii

Zusammenfassung

Diese Dissertation untersucht Interrogativstrategien von 138 Sprachen in China

in Bezug auf ihre Vielfalt und auf ihre Gemeinsamkeiten. Dabei wird ein

räumlich-typologischer Ansatz verfolgt, der eine quantitative Analyse von 20

strukturellen Kriterien beinhaltet (zumeist morphosyntaktische Parameter).

Diese Arbeit zeigt wesentliche strukturelle Eigenschaften der Interrogative

in den einzelnen Sprachen auf und versucht Korrelationen zwischen den

strukturellen Merkmalen herauszustellen. Des Weiteren wird untersucht, ob eine

spezifische räumliche Verteilung von Strukturmerkmalen das Ergebnis von

Sprachkontakt zu benachbarten Sprachen ist. Dabei machen Erkenntnisse im

Bereich der Strukturmerkmale, Korrelationen zwischen den Parametern und

räumliche Faktoren interrogativer Strategien den maßgeblichen Beitrag dieser

Arbeit aus.

Inhalt und Ergebnisse werden wie folgt zusammengefasst:

Kapitel 2 beinhaltet eine Studie der interrogativen Strategien der Sprachen

in China. Zudem enthält dieses Kapitel eine Analyse zweier einzelner Sprachen,

Standard Chinesisch und Yongxin Gan, sowie ein Profil ihrer Interrogativ-

strategien.

Mehrere spezifische Themen im Bereich Interrogativstrategien werden in

den Kapiteln 3 bis 6 behandelt.

Kapitel 3 macht deutlich, dass sich die Position der Fragepartikeln der

Sprachen in China deutlich von einer weltweiten Sprachstichprobe unterscheidet

(Dryer 2005b), denn die Fragepartikeln der meisten chinesischen Sprachen

werden bevorzugt an das Satzende gesetzt, wohingegen in Dryers Stichprobe ein

sehr viel kleinerer Teil der Sprachen Fragepartikeln an das Satzende stellt.

Ebenso zeigt eine Untersuchung der Entscheidungsfragen, die in den sinitischen

Sprachen mit zwei benachbarten/adjazenten Finalpartikeln gebildet werden, z.B.

ma ne Fragen, dass solche Fragen mittels einer Fragepartikel und einer

Finalpartikel gebildet werden. Damit wird der Mythos der sogenannten ‚Fragen

mit zwei Fragepartikeln’ widerlegt.

In der Diskussion über Disjunktionen und Alternativfragen stellt Kapitel 4

Kriterien für die Unterscheidung zwischen X-neg-X Fragen und alternativen

Fragesätzen in den sinitischen Sprachen vor, da X-neg-X Fragen in der

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Fachliteratur meist als Subtyp alternativer Fragesätze behandelt werden. Dieses

Kapitel geht zudem von einer or vs. or/or? Typologie für alternative Fragen aus

und untersucht zugleich, welche Faktoren für eine solche Typologie von

Bedeutung sind. Denn in den Sprachen Chinas sind Disjunktionen in

Deklarativen und Interrogativen verschieden, jedoch zeigen nicht alle Sprachen

eine derartige Unterscheidung. Diese typologische Unterscheidung ist wichtig,

weil sie (zumindest) mit einigen Wortstellungsparametern korreliert; sie wird in

den Generalisierungen zusammengefasst (Abschnitt 4.2). Neben den “normalen

Disjunktionen“ gibt es einige Sprachen, welche Finalpartikeln als disjunktive

Strategie verwenden. Eine weitere Studie zeigt, dass Partikeln nach dem zweiten

gewählten Token häufiger als nach dem ersten wegfallen.

Im Gegensatz zu den Ergebnissen der weltweiten Sprachstichprobe (Dryer

2005c), ist wh- in situ ein allgemeines Charakteristikum der Sprachen in China.

Dies wird in Kapitel 5 näher beschrieben. Das seltene Phänomen der

wh-Reduplikation in interrogativen Phrasen taucht in 30 Sprachen (meistens im

Tibetobirmanischen) auf. Nichtsdestotrotz variieren einzelne wh-Phrasen in ihren

Möglichkeiten der Reduplikation, insbesondere Wörter wie who, what, where,

und which können leicht redupliziert werden, bei how, when, und why gibt es

einige Schwierigkeiten und how many/much und how long (time) können kaum

redupliziert werden. Dies lässt sich damit erklären, dass wh-Phrasen nur

redupliziert werden können, wenn eine bestimmte Phrase semantisch eine

pluralische Bedeutung in sich tragen kann.

Inhalt des sechsten Kapitels sind drei Arten von Fragesätzen: diejenigen, die

sich auf das Verb beziehen, diejenigen, die mit interrogativen Adverbien gebildet

werden und diejenigen, die mittels Verb-Reduplikation und interrogativen

Verben gebildet werden. Bei den ersten beiden Arten handelt es sich um

Entscheidungsfragen, beim dritten Typus um Inhaltsfragen. Sinitische Sprachen

werden generell als isolierende Sprachen betrachtet, denen morphologische

Strategien fehlen. Dieses Kapitel widerlegt diese Ansicht, indem hier die drei

Typen der Fragesätze, die sich auf das Verb beziehen (alle in sinitischen

Sprachen belegt) gemeinsam betrachtet werden und weist darauf hin, dass

interrogative Strategien klare Fälle morphologischer Prozesse sind.

Interrogativstrategien können nicht alleine funktionieren. In einer

typologischen und räumlich-historischen Untersuchung von Interrogativen

werden im siebten Kapitel 20 morphosyntaktische Parameter zusammengebracht,

wobei in einem auf Häufigkeiten basierenden Ansatz Korrelationen aufgezeigt

ix

werden.

Als System korrelieren die einzelnen Strategien untereinander, als Teil eines

größeren Sprachsystems korrelieren sie mit vielen anderen morphosyntaktischen

Parametern. All diese Korrelationen werden in Form von 30 Generalisierungen

zusammengefasst (Abschnitt 7.1). Interrogative Strategien variieren und

verändern sich über Raum und Zeit. In diesem Zusammenhang werden

geographische Faktoren vorgestellt, insbesondere der Kontakt mit dem Standard

Chinesischen (und seinen Entlehnungen) innerhalb vieler Sprachgruppen. Zudem

werden historische Entwicklungen, hauptsächlich die Geschwindigkeit der

Veränderung, die Stabilität/ der Erhalt und der Rückgang individueller

interrogativer Strukturen und Sprachgruppen dargestellt (Abschnitt 7.2). Kapitel

7 zeigt somit, dass einerseits Interrogative untereinander sowie mit anderen

Parametern korrelieren und andererseits, dass die Vielfalt der Interrogative das

(instabile) Ergebnis und die Repräsentation von Sprachwandel über Raum und

Zeit sind.

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Abstract

This dissertation explores the diversity and unity of the interrogative strategies in

138 languages of China. It adopts an areal-typological approach and presents a

quantitative analysis on 20 structural features (mostly morphosyntactic

parameters).

This work provides substantive structural features of interrogatives in

individual languages and seeks to establish correlations in different structural

features. It also seeks to establish whether particular areal distributions of

structural features are the result of language contact among neighboring

languages. Hence, structural features, correlations in parameters, and areal

factors in interrogative strategies are the major contributions of this work.

The major contents and findings are summarized as follows:

After an introduction in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 gives a survey of the

interrogative strategies in the languages of China, with also studies in two

individual languages, Standard Chinese and Yongxin Gan, presenting a profile of

interrogative strategies of these languages.

Several specific topics on interrogative strategies are discussed in Chapters

3-6. Chapter 3 suggests that the positions of question particles in the languages

of China are very different from the worldwide language sample (Dryer 2005b)

in that most languages of China prefer sentence-final positions, while Dryer’s

sample reports that a much smaller proportion of other languages have

sentence-final question particles. Also, the discussion on polar questions formed

by two adjacent final particles in Sinitic languages, i.e. ma ne questions, reveals

that such questions are formed by a question particle plus a final particle, which

dispels the myth of the so-called ‘questions formed by two question particles.’

In the discussion on disjunctions and alternative questions, Chapter 4

provides criteria for distinguishing X-neg-X questions and alternative questions

in Sinitic, as X-neg-X questions are frequently treated as a subtype of alternative

questions in the literature. This chapter also proposes an or vs or/or? typology in

alternative questions and discusses what is important to such a typology because

disjunctions in declaratives and interrogatives are different in many languages of

China, while some other languages do not demonstrate such a difference. The

typology matters in that it correlates with (at least) some word order parameters,

xii

which are summarized in several generalizations (Section 4.2). Except for those

with normal disjunctions, some languages are found to use particles as

disjunctive strategies. A further study shows that particles to be chosen after the

second disjunct are more likely to be dropped than those after the first disjunct.

In Chapter 5, quite different from the findings in a worldwide language

sample (Dryer 2005c), wh- in situ is found to be a general characteristic of the

languages of China. A rare phenomenon, wh-reduplication in interrogative

phrases, is found in 30 languages (mostly Tibeto-Burman). Nevertheless,

individual wh-phrases vary in the capability of reduplication, particularly words

like who, what, where, and which can be reduplicated very easily, while how,

when, and why bear some difficulty, and how many/much and how long (time)

can hardly be reduplicated. The explanation is that reduplicating wh-phrases is

only possible when a certain phrase can semantically carry a plural meaning.

Three types of verb-related questions, in particular questions formed by a

pre-verb interrogative marker, verb-reduplication, and interrogative verbs, are

brought together in Chapter 6. The first two types are polar questions and the

third type is content questions. Sinitic languages are generally considered to be

‘isolating’ languages that lack inflectional morphology. This chapter fine-tunes

such claims by bringing three types of verb-related interrogatives (all reported in

Sinitic languages) together and proposes that such interrogatives are clear cases

of morphological operations.

Interrogative strategies correlate with each other and with other categories

and parameters. In a typological and areal-historical assessment of interrogatives,

Chapter 7 brings 20 parameters together and finds some correlations in a

frequency-based approach. As a system, individual strategies correlate with each

other; as a part of larger systems of language, they correlate with many other

morphosyntactic parameters and these correlations are summarized in 30

generalizations (Section 7.1). Interrogative strategies vary and change in space

and time. Geographical factors, notably contact with (and borrowing from)

Standard Chinese in many groups of languages, as well as historical factors,

notably the pace of change, i.e. pertinacity or transience in individual

interrogative structures and in individual groups of languages, are presented

(Section 7.2). Chapter 7 hence holds that diversity in interrogative strategies is

the (unstable) result and representation of language change in space and time.

xiii

Notational conventions

Abbreviations

Basically, the conventions followed are those given in The Leipzig Glossing

Rules (Comrie et al. 2008). The following abbreviations are used in the

interlinear glosses of language examples. In examples taken from descriptive

literatures, the glosses are generally the same as those used in their original

forms.

1 first person 2 second person 3 third person A agent-like argument of canonical transitive verb ABS absolutive ACC accusative Adj adjective Adv adverb(ial) AGT agent AF agent focus (actor focus) AP adjective phrase CAUS causative CL classifier COP copula D demonstrative DAT dative DEF definite DIR direction DISP disposal (construction) EMP emphatic marker ERG ergative F feminine FP sentence-/disjunct-final particle FUT future FV verb-final vowel GEN genitive

xiv

HON honorific IMP imperative INCL inclusive IRR irrealis LAC Language Atlas of China LOC locative M masculine NEG negation, negative NOM nominative NOMIN nominalization NP noun phrase NUM/Num numeral OBJ object OBL oblique P patient-like argument of canonical transitive verb PASS passive PFV perfective PIPCQ Position of interrogative phrases in content questions PL plural Po postposition PPQP position of polar question particles PQ polar questions PREF prefix Pr preposition PRF perfect PROG progressive PRO(N) pronoun PN proper name PRS present PRT particle PST past Q question particle/marker RDP reduplication S sole argument of the intransitive verb SUFF suffix VP verb phrase WALS The World Atlas of Language Structures

xv

IPA and Standard Chinese Pinyin

Pinyin IPA Pinyin IPA b p ai ai, aɪ, Ai p ph an an, An m m ang aŋ f f ao au, aʊ d t ei ei, eɪ t th en ən n n eng əŋ, ʌŋ l l ia iA, ia g k ian iɛn, iæn k kh iang iaŋ

h x iao iau, iaʊ j tɕ ie iɛ, ie q tɕh in in x ɕ ing iŋ z ts iong iʊŋ, yəŋ

c tsh i(o)u iou, iəʊ s s ong ʊŋ, uŋ

zh tʂ ou ou, əʊ ch tʂh u(e)i uəi, uəɪ sh ʂ u(e)n uən r ɹ ua uA, uɑ uai uai, uaɪ, uAi a A, ɑ, ɛ uan uan, uAn e ɣ, e, ɛ, ə uang uaŋ

o o, u ueng uəŋ, uʌŋ, uʊŋ i i, ɿ, ʅ üan yan, yɐ, yɛn u u, y üe yɛ, ye ü y ün yn, ün er ɚ Notes:

1. i is written as y after zero initial and is written as yi in isolation;

u is written as w after zero initial and is written as wu in isolation;

ü is written as yu after zero initial and is written as u after initials j, q, x.

2. In this thesis most examples of Standard Chinese and other Sinitic languages

are given in Pinyin, while those of Yongxin Gan (Sinitic) and minority

languages are given in IPA.

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Tone system of Standard Chinese  

Tone Symbol Graph Pitch Example

high level ¯ 55 mā [ma55] 妈 ‘mother’

high rising ˊ 35 má [ma35] 麻 ‘hemp’

falling-rising ˇ 214 mǎ [ma214] 马 ‘horse’

high falling ˋ 51 mà [ma51] 骂 ‘(to) scold’

Notes:

1. This table is adapted from Li and Thompson (1981: 6-9) and Sun (2006: 39-40).

2. ‘Falling-rising’ tone is also known as ‘dipping’ tone.

3. In each tone graphs the vertical line on the right serves as a reference for pitch height,

which is divided into five levels, 5 is the highest and 1 is the lowest.

4. The unstressed neutral tone (qīngshēng) is not included in the table. Cf. dōngxī ‘west

and east’ (xi in the high level tone) and dōngxi ‘thing’ (xi in the unstressed neutral tone).

1 Introduction

1

Chapter 1

Introduction 1.1. The grammar of interrogatives

1.1.1. Interrogative forms

The sentence types (or types of grammaticalized speech acts) consist of three

members, declarative, imperative, and interrogative (though exclamatives are

also very often included in the literature). The strategies of their form vary, but

the declarative is the default sentence type and is typically left unmarked, the

imperative is generally shown by verbal affix(es), and the interrogative has many

forms. The core issue of the present thesis is the forms, or “strategies”, for asking

questions, in particular polar questions (also known as yes/no questions).

Content questions (also known as wh- questions, information questions,

constituent questions) are also covered, but less central.

Three kinds of interrogative forms should be distinguished at first place:

prosodic, morphological, and syntactic. Cross-linguistically, the prosodic

question marking is suggested by an intonation contour which is different from

the one in declarative, normally a terminal rising one, at times also falling, or

some other contour patterns. The morphological and syntactic forms, i.e. the

non-prosodic question marking may take a variety of forms, ranging from full or

reduced clauses or phrases over independent words or vocal noises to clitics and

affixes (Plank 2009).

The inventory of question marking varies among individual languages and

individual linguists. For example, in their introductory typological studies on

sentence types and/or interrogative strategies, Sadock and Zwicky (1985), König

and Siemund (2007), and Dryer (2005a) suggest three different lists of strategies

1 Introduction

2

for polar interrogative sentences (S & Z, K & S also include content questions,

which is not the topic here; cf. Siemund 2001, Koptjevskaja-Tamm and Liljegren

2013).

(1) Polar interrogative strategies according to Sadock and Zwicky 1985

a. Intonation contour b. Question particles c. Interrogative verb morphology d. Alternative structures e. Word order change

(2) Polar interrogative strategies according to König and Siemund 2007

a. Intonational marking b. Interrogative particles c. Verbal inflection d. Disjunctive-negative structures e. Change in word order f. Special tags

(3) Polar interrogative strategies according to Dryer 2005a

a. Interrogative intonation only b. Question particles c. Interrogative verb morphology d. Interrogative word order e. Absence of declarative morphemes f. No interrogative-declarative distinction g. Question particle and verb morphology

(1) and (2) are basically the same, except that König and Siemund (2007) noticed

that certain languages spoken in Papua New Guinea (Amele, Kobon) and some

Asian languages, e.g. Standard Chinese, use a disjunctive-negative structure to

phrase questions (see below; see also Sections 2.1.1.1.4 and 4.1 for discussions

of X-neg-X questions in Standard Chinese).

(3e)-(3f) are different from (1)-(2) in that Dryer (2005a) is aware of some

languages which express questions by omitting certain morphemes that are used

in corresponding declarative sentences, e.g. Zayse (Omotic, Afro-Asiatic;

Ethiopia), Kabardian (Northwest Caucasian; Russia; Colarusso 1992: 125-126),

1 Introduction

3

Puquina (isolate; Bolivia; Adelaar 2004: 354), Dinka (Nilotic; Sudan; Nebel

1948: 58-61), and Huichol (Corachol, Uto-Aztecan; Mexico).

(4) Zayse (Hayward 1990b: 307; cited in Dryer 2005a)

a. hamá-tte-ten ‘I will go’ b. háma-ten ‘Will I go?’ c. hamá-tt-isen ‘She will go.’d. háma-ysen ‘Will she go?’

(5) Huichol (Grimes 1964: 27; Palmer 2001: 54)

a. pée-t ʌa ASSERTIVE-direction go ‘He left.’

b. mázá tikuucúu deer asleep ‘Is the deer asleep?’ In (4), the morpheme -tt(e)- is missing in the interrogatives (4b, 4d), but is kept

in corresponding declarative sentences (4a, 4c). In (5a), an ‘assertive’ marker

pée- is employed to indicate the sentence is a statement, while the form used as a

question is often the unmarked form (5b).

Moreover, there are languages simply demonstrate no formal marking in

polar interrogatives, such as Chalcatongo Mixtec (Mixtecan, Oto-Manguean;

Mexico) and Gooniyandi (Australian, Australia; McGregor 1990: 485, 382-3,

369-71; see Miestamo 2011).

(6) Chalcatongo Mixtec (Macaulay 1996: 126)

ñábaʔa-ró librú-ro(?) have-2 book-2 ‘You have your book. / Do you have your book?’

(6) can be interpreted as either a declarative sentence or an interrogative sentence,

with no difference in intonation associated with the two meanings.

Yet there are a number of languages, e.g. Blackfoot (Algonquian, Algic)

and Greenlandic (Eskimo, Eskimo-Aleut), both interrogatives and declaratives

are marked by special verb morphology, although not the identical ones (see

Sadock and Zwicky 1985).

1 Introduction

4

The markedness pattern of declaratives and polar interrogatives is

summarized in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1. Markedness pattern in declaratives (D) and polar interrogatives (Q)

Markedness pattern Frequency Languages attested

(i) D unmarked, Q unmarked rare Chalcatongo Mixtec

(ii) D unmarked, Q marked common Germanic, Sinitic, etc.

(iii) D marked, Q marked rare Blackfoot, Greenlandic

(iv) D marked, Q unmarked rare Dinka, Huichol, Kabardian, Puquina, Zayse

It can be seen that polar interrogatives are cross-linguistically more marked than

declaratives.

The major forms for asking polar questions in the languages of China can

be found in the three lists (1-3) mentioned above.

Interrogative intonation only

Languages form questions by interrogative intonation only (IIO) suggests

that they involve same words, morphemes and word order as the corresponding

declarative sentence, but with a distinct intonation pattern as the sole indication

signaling that it is a question.

Most languages employ a distinctive intonation in questions, in

collaboration with some other morphosyntactic strategies. Nevertheless, some of

these languages cannot form questions by a distinctive intonation only. Moreover,

the IIO languages vary in the frequency in employing the strategy. In other words,

although most languages use a distinct intonation pattern in interrogatives, only

some of them use the device as the sole indication – this is a matter of “yes” or

“no”; in the IIO languages, some use it often, others not – this is a matter of

“more” or “less”.

There are two extreme cases. One is that the distinctive intonation is in

complementary distribution with some other formal markers of interrogation (e.g.

Chrau, a Mon-Khmer language of the Austro-Asiatic family), and another is that

some languages simply do not use distinctive intonation at all (e.g. Greenlandic;

cf. Sadock and Zwicky 1985).

1 Introduction

5

There seems to be a hierarchy in the employment of interrogative intonation

cross-linguistically:

(7) Hierarchy of interrogative intonation

IIO in complementary distribution with other strategies > IIO (common > less common) > Distinctive intonation and others strategies > No distinctive intonation

In many languages of China, distinctive intonation is used to form questions,

without the participation of other strategies, although so far no language ranked

the highest in the hierarchy. For example, many Sinitic languages can form polar

questions by IIO, but not very common, e.g. Standard Chinese, where a special

context is required (see Section 2.1.1.1.2). In most Austro-Asiatic languages,

polar questions can be formed solely by a terminal rising intonation, e.g.

Bulang.1

(8) Bulang (Li et al. 1986: 73)

miʔ 2 kɔʔ

4 l aʔ 1 hɣl1? ↗

2SG also want go ‘Do you also want to go (there)?’

Question particles

Question particles are invariable items with the function of forming

questions. As a marker of sentence types, question particles signal that a certain

sentence is a question. Question particles are different from question tags

because no predicate meaning ‘is’ or ‘true’ is involved (which is typical in

question tags; see below), and different from interrogative verb inflection in that

they are not verb-related but sentence-related, i.e. such particles question the

complete statement, not the verb. They are also different from the “particles in

questions” in that the latter may not necessarily form questions (see the

introduction of Chapter 3 for more discussion on the notion “question particle”). 1 In the nine Austro-Asiatic languages in China, six languages of the Mon-Khmer group

invariably use IIO. Nevertheless, only one language from the Viet-Muong group, Lai, use such a question-signaling device, and the other two languages either do not use IIO (Jing) or is still not clear (Mang).

1 Introduction

6

Many if not most languages with question particles favor to place them

sentence-finally. In Dryer’s (2005b) 777-languages data, 272 languages use

sentence-final particles, which is much more frequent than other positions, e.g.

initial (118 lgs), second (45 lgs), other (8 lgs), etc. (Cf. Greenberg’s 1966

Universals 9-10 and Ultan’s 1978 Universal 7 on order.)

Sentence-final question particles are especially common in the languages of

China, where particles of other types of illocutionary forces are widely reported.

This brings difficulties in distinguishing the question particles and other particles,

now that they are in similar forms and occur at the same position. Take Standard

Chinese for example, controversial remains in whether final particles ne, ba, and

a are question particles or not, although ma is generally accepted to be a question

particle.

(9) Standard Chinese

a. ni shi ta gege a/ba/ma? 2SG be 3SG elder.brother FP ‘Are you the elder brother of her/him?’

b. ni shi-bu-shi ta gege a/ne? 2SG be-not-be 3SG elder.brother FP ‘Are you the elder brother of her/him or not?’

In (9a), the interrogative meaning is expressed by using a terminal rising

intonation, and (9b) relies on the X-neg-X structure. In both cases, final particles

a and ne are not indicators of polar interrogatives (but ma and ba are). In other

words, a and ne are common final particles (here, in questions), and ma and ba

are final particles signaling questions (see Section 2.1.1.1.3 for more discussion).

Interrogative verb morphology

Interrogative verb morphology covers a variety of question-signaling

devices, ranging from affixes or clitics to verb inflection as well as some minor

strategies like verb-reduplication and tonal change on the verb.

The use of affixes is a very common interrogative strategy cross-

linguistically. For example, in Dryer’s (2005a) 842-languages data, 155

languages employ such a strategy. In the languages of China, this is especially

common in the Tibeto-Burman languages. Some languages use interrogative

1 Introduction

7

infixes, which is a typological rarity, e.g. Muya (Tibeto-Burman, Sino-Tibetan),

where an infix æ55 is added between the verb stem and its suffix(es) (see Section

2.1.2.4 for more examples and discussion).

In a number of languages, polar questions can also be formed by

reduplicating the verbs or adjectives (adjective-reduplication is rare, see Section

6.2.2). This is reported in a number of Sinitic and Yi languages (Tibeto-Burman,

Sino-Tibetan).

(10) Yi (Chen et al. 1985: 94; Chen et al. 2007: 265)

a. la33 ‘come’, la44la33 ‘Come?’ b. lɔ

55pɔ 21 ‘help’, lɔ

55pɔ 21pɔ

33 ‘Help?’

In (10), the verb is reduplicated and expresses an interrogative meaning (note

that 10a is total reduplication and 10b is partial, although both are changed in

tones). A similar strategy is found in many other Sinitic and Yi languages as well,

some with tonal changes, others do not. Such verb-reduplicating polar questions

will be addressed in Section 6.2.

Interrogative verbs2 are also a kind of interrogative verb morphology. Such

words are normally composed of a verb stem and a morpheme indicating the

pronouns (cf. Idiatov and van der Auwera 2004 “interrogative pro-verb”),

although they invariably involve content questions. For example, in some Sinitic

languages and most Formosan languages, interrogative verbs are employed in

forming content questions.

(11) Colloquial Standard Chinese (Hagège 2008)

nǐ zài gànmá?2SG PROG do.what‘What are you doing?’

Interrogative verbs are synchronically unanalyzable. In (11), gànmá as a whole

cannot be analyzed as a verb plus an interrogative pronoun, that is, it is a

verb(-complex), not a verbal phrase.

The issue of interrogative verbs will be addressed in Section 6.3.

At times, the term “pre-verb interrogative marker” (for short, Q-V) is used

2 An interrogative verb is “a kind of word which both functions as predicate and questions

the semantic content of this predicate.” (Hagège 2008)

1 Introduction

8

in this thesis. It covers the interrogative prefixes and clitics which occur before

the verb, e.g. a- in many varieties of Wu (Sinitic, Sino-Tibetan) and ke- in many

varieties of Mandarin. This is unfortunate because in some languages such

interrogative markers are clearly prefixes or clitics, but hard to make the

distinction in other languages. In this sense, a more general label, though less

accurate, is employed.

X-neg-X structures

X-neg-X structures are also known as disjunctive-negative structures

(Thompson 1998, König and Siemund 2007), V-not-V structures (Chao 1968),

and A-not-A structures (Li and Thompson 1981), etc. “Disjunctive-negative” is

not precise because no disjunction, which is a feature of alternative/disjunctive

questions, is involved in the structure, although it has close affinity to disjunctive

questions both in form and meaning. (For V-not-V, A-not-A, and some others,

see Section 2.1.1.1.1.)

The label “X-neg-X” is adopted in this thesis, and “disjunctive-negative” is

used only in marginal cases to refer the structure, but not as a (sub)type of

questions. Admittedly, X-neg-X questions are semantically similar to alternative

questions in that both of them involve a choice of one item from more

possibilities, but the differences remains in that (i) the former involves only two

items, one positive and one negative, but the latter may involves more than two,

not necessarily with one positive and one negative, (ii) less restrictions are

placed on the former than the latter in syntactic alternations, (iii) the former can

be answered by a less clear statement than the latter (see Section 4.1 for more

discussion).

The X-neg-X structure seems to be a typological rarity which is exclusively

reported in the languages of China (König and Siemund 2007 also mention some

other Asian languages and languages spoken in Papua New Guinea). In the

literature of Chinese linguistics, such questions are also known as zheng-fan

wenju ‘positive-negative questions’ (sometimes also termed fanfu wenju

‘repetitive questions’). As the label suggests, such questions are characterized by

the positive-negative structure.

X-neg-X questions are used in most languages of China, although they are

not found in the Altaic languages and some Austronesian and Tibeto-Burman

languages. The following example is taken from Sulong (Tibeto-Burman,

Sino-Tibetan).

1 Introduction

9

(12) 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?’

In Sulong, the X can be a verb or an adjective. In some other languages, for

example in some Sinitic languages, like Standard Chinese and Yongxin Gan, it

can also be a noun (phrase) (see Section 2.1.1.1.4).

Alternative structures

Alternative questions (also known as disjunctive questions) are formed with

two or more constituents conjoined by disjunction(s), i.e. alternative structures.

The structure provides a list of propositions from which, the speaker suggests,

the right answer might be drawn (Sadock and Zwicky 1985).

Semantically, alternative questions are similar to content questions in the

answer set because both types seek for information, not logical polarity.

Nevertheless, the present thesis treats such structures as polar questions in regard

of three reasons. First, semantically, the addressee is requested to choose which

one in the two or more alternatives holds, i.e. alternative questions seek a yes/no

value of one disjunct among the two or more. Second, formally, alternative

questions do not employ any wh- phrases. Third, also formally, a similar type,

X-neg-X questions, is treated as polar questions.

In might be equally sensible to claim that yes/no questions are a subtype of

alternative questions because the addressee is asked to choose a “yes” or “no”

value, i.e. yes/no questions are “definite” alternative questions because there are

only two alternatives. More radically, one may claim that wh- questions are also

a subtype of alternative questions in that the addressee is asked to choose one

item from a variety of choices, i.e. wh- questions are “indefinite” alternative

questions, although the wh- phrases help to determine what kind of information

that the questioner is requested to supply, but the range of choice is not as fixed

as alternative questions. The controversial in the taxonomies of interrogatives in

Standard Chinese is discussed in Section 2.1.1.1.1.

1 Introduction

10

The differences between alternative questions and X-neg-X questions have

been addressed before, yet there is another matter deserves to be mentioned here,

namely the alternative structures conjoined by particles. The following example

is taken from Achang (Tibeto-Burman, Sino-Tibetan).

(13) Achang (Dai and Cui 1985: 78)

a. nuaŋ55 lɔ35 ma21 lɔ35? 2SG go NEG go ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

b. nuaŋ55 lɔ35 neʔ 55 la21, ma21 lɔ35 la21? 2SG go PRT QP NEG go QP ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

(13a) is a X-neg-X question, and (13b) is an alternative question because the

particle la21 functions as a disjunction. Particle disjunctions have been found in a

number of languages in China, the issue will be addressed in Section 4.3.

Special tags

Question tags are constituents consisting of an auxiliary verb plus pronoun,

attached at the end of a statement in order to convey a negative or positive

orientation, e.g. English isn’t it or innit, German nicht wahr. Question tags

normally contain a predicate with meaning like ‘is’ or ‘true’ (Sadock and Zwicky

1985; Plank 2009; see also Dehé and Braun 2013 for a detailed definition and

references given therein).

According to König and Siemund (2007), question tags are different from

question particles in that (i) “[question] tags, apart from characterizing sentences

as questions, also contribute a certain bias by raising expectations toward either a

positive or negative answer”, and (ii) “[question] tags almost exclusively occur

at the end of a sentence, quite independently of basic word order pattern”. That is,

cross-linguistically, question particles are an invariable parts-of-speech which

occur not necessarily sentence-final (see Section 3.1 for Dryer’s 2005b data),

while question tags are constituents (normally containing a predicate) attached at

the end of a sentence, although both of them characterize sentences as questions.

Nevertheless, sentence-final seems to be only a preferred position for question

tags because in natural language, e.g. English, they may take utterance-final,

sentence-final, XP-final, and XP-medial positions, though the XP-final/-medial

1 Introduction

11

positions are much less common (see Dehé and Braun 2013). Two further

possible criteria for the distinction between question particles and question tags

are (iii) prosodic separation is more frequent before (non-phrase-medial)

question tags compared to question particles, and (iv) question tags are more

complex syntactically than question particles, because question tags normally

contain verbs or modals while particles are invariable items.

In many languages of China, notably the Sinitic languages, X-neg-X

structures are frequently used as question tags.

(14) Standard Chinese

ni yao qu Beijing, dui bu dui?2SG FUT go Beijing right not right

‘You are going to Beijing, right?’

Li and Thompson claim that the tag question in Mandarin Chinese is composed

of a statement followed by an A-not-A (= X-neg-X) form, e.g. dui bu dui ‘right

not right’, hao bu hao ‘good not good’, xing bu xing ‘OK not OK’, shi bu shi ‘be

not be’ (Li and Thompson 1981: 521). Nevertheless, this is not the whole story.

There are at least two equally common strategies, namely (i) to add a final

particle at the end of a copula or an evaluation adjective, sometimes also with a

negation word before the structure, e.g. (bu) dui/hao/xing/shi ma/ba? ‘(not)

right/good/OK/be QP’, and (ii) to use a negation word after a copula or an

evaluation adjective, e.g. dui/hao/xing/shi bu? ‘right/good/OK/be NEG’.

1.1.2. Asymmetries in form and meaning

Different questions are signaled by different forms. Intonational questions,

particle questions, alternative questions, X-neg-X questions, tag questions, and

wh- questions are typically signaled by distinctive intonation, question particles,

alternative structures, X-neg-X structures, tags, and wh- phrases, respectively.

Nevertheless, a number of asymmetrical phenomenon is found in the form and

meaning of interrogatives.

Distinctive intonation

Terminal rising intonation is a common signaling device of polar questions

1 Introduction

12

cross-linguistically. In a number of languages, final rising intonation is used both

in polar and content questions, e.g. Diola (Atlantic, Niger-Congo; Sapir 1965,

Sadock and Zwicky 1985). In Puyuma (Formosan, Austronesian), terminal

falling interrogative intonation is reported in the polar questions without

interrogative particles (Huang 2000: 151-3).

(15) Puyuma (Huang 2000: 151-2)

a. sagar=yu kanku amáw?↗ like.AF=2.NOM 1 QP ‘Do you like me?’

b. a-ekan=yu Da biTénum?↘ RDP-eat.AF=2.NOM OBL egg ‘Would you like to eat eggs?’

In the particle questions (15a), final rising intonation is used, which is the same

in declarative sentences. However, in the polar questions without interrogative

particles (15b), terminal falling intonation is adopted.

Question particles

In Standard Chinese and most other Sinitic languages, (final) question

particles resemble other final particles both in form and distribution. In particular,

their phonological structures are CV, with nasal or bilabial consonants /n/ /m/ /p/

and open (mid) front vowels /a/ /ɛ/; and, as the label ‘final particle’ suggests,

they occur sentence-finally. However, only some of them form polar questions,

e.g. ma, ba, while some others cannot, e.g. a, ne.

Final particles also behave differently in wh- questions in Standard Chinese

and most other Sinitic languages as well. As they occur in polar questions, final

particles also express various pragmatic meanings in wh- questions, depending

on the context, although they are not necessary in forming wh- questions.

(16) Standard Chinese

a. shui zhidao? (wh- question) who know ‘Who knows this?’

1 Introduction

13

b. shui zhidao a/ne? (wh- question, rhetorical/‘on earth’/politeness) who know FP ‘Who knows? (I don’t know.)’ / ‘Who on earth knows this?’ /

‘(Please tell me) Who knows this?’

c. shui zhidao ma? (polar question) who know QP ‘Does someone know this?’ Note that a wh- question turns into a polar one if question particle ma is used

(16c). (16c) is a case of indefinite-interrogative affinity (see, e.g. Li 1992,

Haspelmath 1997, Bhat 2000, Gärtner 2009). In fact, in Standard Chinese the

wh-phrases turn to be indefinite pronouns if question particle ma (and the like) is

added at the end of a content question, cf. shui ‘who ~ someone’ (16c), nali

‘where ~ somewhere’, shenme ‘what ~ something’, etc.

(16c) has both a wh- word shui ‘who’ and a question particle ma, but it is a

polar question, not a wh- one. The rule is that wh- questions invariably turn into

polar questions by taking question particle ma (and sometimes ba), in other

words, polar question particles override wh- words and form polar questions.

ne is different from other final particles in Standard Chinese in that it forms

the so-called reduced wh- questions but the others cannot. In most other Sinitic

languages and a number of minority languages in China, only some final

particles can form such reduced wh- questions, and the number is much smaller

than those used in normal wh- questions, although same particles are used in

both normal wh- questions and reduced wh- questions in some languages, e.g.

Yongxin Gan (Sinitic) ne, Ningbo Wu (Sinitic) ȵi, Dulong (Tibeto-Burman) da55,

Biao (Kam) ni1, etc. Such particles are collected in Section 3.3.2.

(17) Yongxin Gan

a. Zhangsan ne? ‘Where is Zhangsan?’

b. Zhangsan a? ‘Are you talking about Zhangsan?’

(17a) is a reduced wh- question (with particle ne), and (17b) is a polar question

(with particle a, which is similar to Standard Chinese ma in this case).

Alternative structures

The form-meaning asymmetry in alternative questions can be seen at least

1 Introduction

14

in two aspects. First, in many languages, there is in fact no choice need to be

made in alternative structures. For example, in English a question in the form of

alternatives can be a yes/no question in reality, depending on intonation and

prosody, compare: Do you like [apples]↗ or [oranges]↘? (alternative question),

Do you like [apples or oranges]↗? (yes/no question) (see e.g. Han and Romero

2004 and references given therein; see also Jennings 1994: 27). Nevertheless,

such yes/no reading does not exist in Standard Chinese and most other Sinitic

languages (see the introduction in Chapter 4 for more discussion).

Second, alternative questions are hard to be neatly placed in the

polar/content taxonomy. The issue has been mentioned before in Section 1.1.1,

as such structures resemble both content questions and polar questions. The

situation becomes more complicated if wh- phrases are involved, in which the

alternative structures normally occur sentence-finally like a tag, e.g. Which

course do you like better, Syntax or Semantics?

X-neg-X structures

In the literature of Chinese linguistics, X-neg-X questions are frequently

classified as a subtype of alternative questions (see Section 2.1.1.1.1). This is

majorly because the semantic relationship between X and neg-X is also one of

disjunction.

Formally, the employment of disjunctions, a signal of alternative questions,

is not found in such structures (see Section 4.1 for more discussion on the

distinctness between the two structures). A radical formal view would claim that

X-neg-X structures are declaratives because no interrogative readings can be

directly inferred from the appearance. Nevertheless, this point is not adopted

here. The present thesis treats alternative and X-neg-X as different structures not

in regard of their forms only.

The form-meaning asymmetry in X-neg-X questions brings difficulties in

the taxonomy, namely whether it is a subtype of polar questions or content

questions. Formally, wh- phrases, a basic feature of content questions, are not

involved in X-neg-X questions. Semantically, however, it requires not a yes/no

answer but a X/not-X answer (a content information). For example, Standard

Chinese ni qu-bu-qu Bolin? (2SG go-NEG-go Berlin) ‘Will you go Berlin?’ cannot

be answered by a polar reply shi/bu ‘yes/no’, but can be answered by qu/bu qu

‘go/not go’, which provides content information.

It is obviously not an easy field to deal with the formal and

1 Introduction

15

semantic(-pragmatic) distinctions of interrogatives, as is seen in the approaches

to the taxonomies (cf. Section 2.1.1.1.1). In this thesis, ‘polar questions’ and

‘yes/no questions’ are used as general labels that cover the interrogatives formed

by the strategies listed in (18).

(18) Polar interrogative strategies in the languages of China

a. Interrogative intonation only b. Question particles c. Interrogative verb morphology d. X-neg-X structures e. Alternative structures f. Reduplicating structures g. Special tags

It can be seen that the subtypes of polar questions are basically based on the

forms, that is, the descriptive concepts being used in this thesis are formal,

although semantic-pragmatic factors are also considered.

1 Introduction

16

1.2. Motivation

Language typology studies what the languages of the world are like (Shopen

2007: xiv). In other words, typology is expected to present the diversity and its

patterns (and it is expected to find some unity as well). For the present purpose,

it is too early to conclude that a certain list of interrogative strategies covers most

or all human languages: The list becomes longer when languages with different

strategies are reported. In this sense, providing substantive structural features

of interrogatives in individual languages is a first step for further generalization.

To compare generalizations of individual structural features, or rather, to

seek to establish correlations in different structural features, is another major

interest of typology. Some earlier typological studies on interrogatives have

provided extensive results regarding the ways in which languages vary

structurally and regarding correlations among different features (e.g. Greenberg

1966 universals No. 8-12, and 23 universals proposed by Ultan 1978; see below).

Two main typological views of the unity of human languages, that it

demonstrates common features in structures, and that it correlates in structural

features, are directly applicable to interrogatives.

This work contributes to both diversity and unity. It provides structural

features of interrogativity in 138 languages in China, many of which have not

been presented or presented well in the theoretical literature (see Chapters 2-6),

and it correlates features of interrogativity with various structural features, in

particular clause order, alignment, and locus of marking (see Section 7.1). It also

contributes to areal typology by seeking to establish whether particular

geographical distributions of different values for interrogative features are the

result of contact among neighboring languages (see Section 7.2; for ‘areal

typology’, see e.g. Dahl 2001, Comrie et al. 2005, Koptjevskaja-Tamm 2011).

Correlations or unities are not self-explanatory. In other words, language

universals cannot be explained simply by claiming that a certain feature or

category has something to do with another. For example, Greenberg’s (1966)

Universal 10 notes that “Question particles or affixes, when specified in position

by reference to a particular word in the sentence, almost always follow that word.

Such particles do not occur in languages with dominant order VSO.” Curious

readers would go beyond the numbers of (un)attested languages and ask why

question particles or affixes occur later and why don’t they exist in VSO

1 Introduction

17

languages. Similar problems are found in his Universals 8-9 and 11-12

concerning interrogatives. Such correlations or universals do not make a

significant contribution to our knowledge about interrogatives without further

explanation, albeit Greenberg (1966) provides two general principles, namely

harmony and dominance, to account for such universals, but the principles need

further explanation, too.

One obvious shortcoming of macro typology is that such approach does not

tell us the history of individual languages or language groups, because it looks at

samples of unrelated languages. Micro typology or areal typology remedies the

disadvantage by examining languages that are very closely related, like

languages or dialects within one language family, or languages that are related to

each other geographically or historically.

All the history of language is areal history. For a complete understanding

of the diversities and unities in interrogatives (and other grammatical categories

as well) in a certain linguistic area (“area-versals”), several issues, namely (i)

how do languages contact and change, (ii) how do certain interrogative strategies

influence the others, and (iii) what is the origin of certain interrogative markers,

are needed to examine.

The motivation or general research questions of the present work

accordingly cover three aspects: (i) What the structural features of interrogative

strategies are in the languages of China? (ii) How do the structural features of

interrogatives correlate between themselves and with other grammatical

categories? (iii) Why there are certain interrogative features in certain groups of

languages or linguistic areas?

Interrogativity deserves more attention than it has been given by typologists.

As has been pointed out, “there have been few general, cross-linguistic

discussions of questions” (Dixon 2012: 429). The major English typological

works on interrogatives in the past 50 years are listed following. In his

pioneering work on word order universals, Greenberg (1966/1963) proposes

some patterns in interrogatives, which are summarized in his universals No. 8-12.

These universals manifest the placement of interrogative intonation (No. 8), the

relation between question particles/affixes and adpositions (No. 9) or basic word

order (No. 10), as well as the relation between question word/affixes and

constituent sequencing (No. 11-12). Moravcsik (1971) presents some

generalizations regarding yes/no questions and their answers. In a Greenbergian

1 Introduction

18

approach, Ultan (1978) examines the interrogative systems of 79 languages, and

presents altogether 23 universals with reference to interrogatives, among which 3

deal with intonation, 3 with word accent, 10 with word order, and 7 with

segmental elements. Chisholm (1984) collects information regarding

interrogativity in 7 different languages. Bencini (2003) presents a diachronic

typology of yes/no question constructions with particles. Dryer (2005a, b, c)

conducts three general surveys of polar questions, the position of polar question

particles, and the position of interrogative phrases in content questions using

worldwide language samples. Rialland (2007) examines yes/no question prosody

in 78 African languages. Miestamo (2011) focuses on polar interrogatives in

Uralic languages by examining 20 Uralic languages from a typological

perspective. Dixon (2012: 376-433) includes one chapter on the typology of

interrogatives.

The list is too short compared to the studies of other major fields of

linguistic typology, although it is by no means a complete list or a near complete

one.

1 Introduction

19

1.3. Material

There are several theoretical and practical reasons for devoting the present thesis

to the languages in China.

As noted, “China possesses rich linguistic resources which remain relatively

untapped” (Chappell et al. 2007). Except for Standard Chinese, most other

languages spoken in China have not been well represented in the theoretical

literature. This thesis attempts to present an outline of the interrogative strategies

of the languages of China, including in-depth discussions on topics related to

interrogatives, in an effort to present a comprehensive view of the interrogative

mechanisms at work in these languages.

The 138 languages with which this work is concerned include 10 Sinitic

languages, 46 Tibeto-Burman, 22 Kam, 7 Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao), 22 Altaic,

16 Austronesian, 9 Austro-Asiatic, 1 Indo-European, and 5 Creole, covering

diverse language families.

The practical reason for choosing such a focus is that the languages of

China, and the descriptive literature about them, are the languages with which I

am most familiar. Although there is a potential risk that linguists may to some

extent turn a blind eye to familiar material, the advantage of doing so are obvious,

especially in analyzing the areal skewings and historical factors of certain

structural features.

This work covers 138 languages currently spoken in China.3 Basically, they

are classified into two groups: the Sinitic languages and the ‘minority’ languages.

The classifications and names of individual languages used in this work mainly

follow those employed by Sun et al. (2007).

Sinitic languages

There are ten Sinitic languages of China: Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Hui, Jin,

Mandarin, Min, Ping, Wu, and Xiang, covering about 93% of the population of

3 Note that the 138 languages covered here do not comprise the total number of languages

currently spoken in China. More languages have been and are being discovered. Some known cases include Ainu, Bumang, Sadu, Younuo, and Zhaba, which are collected in Sun (ed.) (1997– ).

1 Introduction

20

China (according to the 2010 census, China has a population of 1.37 billion).

Their geographical distribution and number of speakers are roughly

demonstrated in Figure 1.1. Figure 1.1. The Sinitic languages (source: Wikipedia; URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language)

1 Introduction

21

Each language has various dialects or varieties. For example, Mandarin has

basically six sub-dialects, including Beijing Mandarin, Jiang-Huai (Central-East)

Mandarin, Central Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, Southwestern Mandarin,

and Lan-Yin (North-Central) Mandarin. Each sub-dialect of Mandarin has

millions of native speakers, with notable differences in phonology, lexicon, and

to some extent also in grammar (see e.g. Cao 2008). It is not precise to use the

label ‘Mandarin (Chinese)’ or ‘Beijing Mandarin’ to refer to the Sinitic languages,

nor is it proper to refer to the standard Chinese language, Putonghua (Taiwan

Guoyu).4 By definition, Putonghua’s phonological system is based on Beijing

Mandarin, its vocabulary is drawn from the large and diverse group of Mandarin

varieties spoken across northern, central, and southwestern China, and

the grammar is based on modern good literary works written in vernacular

Chinese. With regard to this, throughout this thesis, the label ‘Standard Chinese’

is used to refer to Putonghua, while individual Mandarin languages maintain

their own labels.

Some comprehensive works on Sintic languages mainly include: Li et al.

(1987), a detailed atlas of the languages of China (a revised edition will be

published soon); Li et al. (1991-2003), including 42 monographs on the lexicon

of individual Sinitic languages; Hou et al. (1995-1999), a sound archive of 40

Sinitic languages; Huang et al. (1996), a dialectal grammar of Sinitic languages,

grouping by grammatical topics; and Cao (2008), three volumes (phonology,

lexicon, and grammar) of the linguistic atlas of Sinitic languages. (See also

Chappell et al. 2007 for some studies and projects in the Western world.)

Minority languages

The minority languages of China include at least 128 languages from various

families/groups. ‘Minority’ does not necessarily imply a small number of

4 Putong-hua ‘common-language’ and Guo-yu ‘national-language’ are basically the same,

though there are some differences in the pronunciation of a small number of words (see e.g. Duanmu 2000: 263-7 for an overview of the phonology of Taiwanese accented Standard Chinese).

In fact, most Chinese people acquire their local ‘dialect’ (dialects of Sinitic languages) as their first language and Standard Chinese (Putonghua) as their second language. ‘Standard Chinese’ is a standardized artificial language that no one actually speaks, since everyone speaks it in more or less dialectal ways. In this sense, what people speak is a specific Sinitic language (or, dialect of Chinese), but not Standard Chinese. (According to Duanmu’s 2009: 86 estimation, only about 1% of Chinese people can speak Standard Chinese without any obvious accent.)

1 Introduction

22

speakers. Minority languages are spoken by 7% of the population of China,

which is a minority in comparison with the other 93% (the Han Chinese), but

China has a population of about 1.37 billion and many so-called minority

nationalities actually have a large population. For example, Tibetan has about 3.3

million native speakers, Mongolian has 5.8 million, Uighur has 8 million.

Nevertheless, many minority languages do indeed have a small number of native

speakers (e.g. Dulong, Bola, Langsu, Leqi), or are highly endangered (e.g.

Manchu, Hezhen, Gelao, Tujia, Xiandao), or died out in a recent history (e.g.

some Formosan languages in Taiwan). Sun et al. (2007) provide further

information regarding the number of speakers and areas in which individual

languages are spoken. The following table provides some basic information

about the minority languages. (Note that the classification of languages follows

Sun et al. 2007, not necessarily in accordance with the popular classifications,

especially in Kam languages, Austro-Asiatic languages, and Hmong-Mien

(Miao-Yao) languages.)

Some comprehensive studies on the minority languages of China include:

Sun et al. (1980-1987), which includes 57 monographs and documents 59

languages (revised edition in 6 volumes published 2009, with one language,

Manchu, added); Sun (ed.) (1997- ) intends to publish the newly-discovered

languages and has already produced more than 40 books; Thurgood and LaPolla

(2003), which collects dozens of Sino-Tibetan languages of China and beyond;

and Sun et al. (2007), which introduces 129 languages5 of China in one big

book.

A list of the languages of China is given in Table 1.2.

5 In Sun et al. (2007), “Chinese” is a general label for all the Sinitic languages, which is

different from the present work.

1 Introduction

23

Table 1.2. 138 languages of China (mainly based on Sun et al. 2007)

Family/Group/Branch Languages

Sino-Tibetan (85) Sinitic (10) Mandarin, Cantonese (Yue), Gan, Hakka (Kejia), Hui,

Jin, Ping, Min, Wu, Xiang Tibeto-Burman (46) Tibetan (4) Baima, Menba, Tibetan, Tsangluo Yi (15) Bai, Bisu, Hani, Jinuo, Kazhuo, Lahu, Lisu, Mo’ang,

Naxi, Nusu, Rouruo, Sangkong, Tanglang, Tujia, Yi Jingpo (Kachin)

(9) Anong, Bengni-Boga’er, Bengru, Darang, Dulong (Derung), Geman, Jingpo (Kachin), Sulong, Yidu

Burmese (6) Achang, Bola, Langsu, Leqi, Xiandao, Zaiwa Qiangic (12) Ergong, Ersu, Guiqiong, Lawurong, Muya, Namuyi,

Pumi (Primi), Qiang, Queyu, rGyarong, Shixing, Zhaba Kam (22) Biao, Bouyei, Bugan, Buyang, Caijia, Chadong, Cun,

Dai, Gelao, Kam (Dong), Laji (Lachi), Lajia (Lakkia), Li, Lingao, Maonan, Mo, Mulao, Pubiao, Sui, Mulam, Yanghuang, Zhuang

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) (7)

Bana, Bunu, Baheng, Hmong (Miao), Jiongnai, Mian (Mien), She

Altaic (22) Turkic (9) Kazak (Kazakh), Kirgiz, Salar, Tatar, Tu’erke, Tuwa,

Uighur (Uygur), Uzbek, Western Yugur Mongolian (7) Bao’an, Daur, Dongxiang, Eastern Yugur, Kangjia,

Mongolian, Tu Manchu-Tungusic (6) Evenki, Hezhen (Nanai), Korean, Manchu, Oreqen,

Xibo (Sibo, Xibe) Austronesian (16)

Formosan (14) Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Pazeh, Puyuma, Rukai, Saaroa, Saisiyat, Sedeq (Sedik), Thao, Tsou

Batanic (1) Yami Chamic (1) Huihui

Austro-Asiatic (9) Mon-Khmer (6) Bulang (Blang), Buxing De’ang, Kemu, Kemie, Mang Viet-Muong (3) Jing, Lai, Wa (Va)

Indo-European (1) Tajik (Tadzhik) Creole (5) E (Ai), Dao, Tangwang, Wutun, Za

1 Introduction

24

1.4. Methodology

The approach taken here is customary in typology. My main focus is on

cross-linguistic variation of typological parameters. In particular, this work

examines the correlations of 20 parameters in 138 languages: 9 features in

interrogative strategies, 6 features in word order, 3 features in locus of marking,

and 2 features in alignment. Nevertheless, language samples – an important

feature of typology – are not included in the present study (except for in Section

7.1.4.2., which includes a sample of 80 ERGATIVE languages).

Correlating individual parameters across languages stems largely from

Greenberg’s pioneering work on word order universals. In particular, by

observing a proper set of languages and drawing descriptive generalizations of

interrelations in individual languages, normally in a form of implicational

universals (if p, then q), the Greenbergian approach is somewhat a-theoretical, as

he notes:

The theoretical section is far more speculative and uncertain than the sections

devoted to the universals themselves. In a certain sense we would prefer to have as

few universals as possible, not as many. That is, we would like to be able to deduce

them from as small a number of general principles as possible. (Greenberg 1966)

Nevertheless, it is often difficult to draw the boundary between descriptive

accounts and explanatory generalizations. Areal factors present such a difficulty.

For example, it is both sensible to argue that geographical skewing in certain

features is related to the synchronic distribution in a certain area or such a

skewed distribution is because of geographical closeness.

The basic framework of this work is also areal typology. Areal typology is

closely linked to the study of linguistic area or Sprachbund (Trubetzkoy 1923,

1928; for a recent work, see Muysken 2008), and to dialect geography, the study

of local differentiations in a speech-area (see e.g. Bloomfield 1933: 321-345).

Recently, typologists have begun to ask questions related to the

geographical distribution of different values for structural linguistic features,

seeking to establish whether particular geographical distributions are the result of

language contact among neighboring languages (Comrie et al. 2005; see also

Dahl 2001, Campbell 2006 for general principles of areal typology). As Bickel

(2007) notes:

1 Introduction

25

…Instead of asking “what’s possible?”, more and more typologists ask “what’s

where why?”. Asking “what’s where?” targets universal preferences as much as

geographical or genealogical skewings, and results in probabilistic theories stated

over properly sampled distributions. Asking “why?” is based on the premises that (i)

typological distributions are historically grown and (ii) that they are interrelated

with other distributions. (Bickel 2007)

In short, this work adopts an area-oriented typological approach. It is

typological in that correlations in individual parameters are pursued according to

a Greenbergian approach, seeking to present “what’s possible.” It is area-oriented

in that areal distributions are provided in individual parameters, including

explanations from an areal(-historical) point of view, seeking to present “what’s

where and why.”

As to the language data dealt with in this thesis, there are basically four

sources:

First, mostly, the data are the collected from the previous literature. Several

book series are consulted very often, in particular Sun et al. (1980-1987), Sun

(ed.) (1997- ), and Sun et al. (eds.) (2007).

Second, the introspective data of two Sinitic languages, Standard Chinese

and Gan (the Yongxin variety and the Nanchang variety), are based on my

personal language expertise. Features of several other Sinitic languages,

Cantonese, Hakka, Mandarin, and Wu, are partly based on my knowledge.

Third, there are some data collected from the CCL corpus,6 though it is

used only in searching for the Modern Standard Chinese examples with polar

question particle bo (Section 2.1.1.1.3) and several verb-related interrogatives in

Classical Chinese (Section 7.2.4).

Fourth, some first-hand data are collected by fieldwork or telephone/Skype

investigation. Fieldwork has been carried out on Sinitic languages, including

some varieties of Gan (Ji-an, Leping, Taihe), Hakka (Dingnan, Huichang,

Longnan, Xinfeng, Yudu), and Hui (Qimen, Wuyuan). More data are collected

via telephone or Skype, including some other Sinitic varieties, Cantonese

(Guangzhou), Gan (Duchang, Jishui, Luxi, Nanchang, Yugan), Hakka (Nankang,

Quannan), Jin (Taiyuan, Wenxi), Mandarin (Chongqing, Lianshui, Luyi, Tianjin),

6 CCL is a free online corpus of Modern and Classical Chinese, developed by the Center for

Chinese Linguistics, Peking University. URL: http://ccl.pku.edu.cn:8080/ccl_corpus/

1 Introduction

26

Min (Tainan, Xiamen, Zhangzhou), Wu (Ningbo, Shanghai), and Xiang

(Hengyang, Qiyang). Furthermore, some features of several minority languages,

Hani, Kazhuo, Korean, Lahu, Lisu, Anduo Tibetan, Yidu, Za, and Zhuang, are

checked by native speakers or experts.

It can be seen that the work of first-hand data collection is unfortunately not

systematic. The Sinitic data is reasonably balanced except for the Ping language,

which relies exclusively on literature. For the minority languages, very limited

data-checking work has been done on nine Sino-Tibetan languages (among

which six are Tibeto-Burman). The choice of the set of languages is mainly

because of the availability of informants. This inevitably brings an unbalanced

language survey (Chapter 2) and may possibly also some flaws in the analysis of

individual (groups) of languages because the documentation of some languages

is very limited, e.g. Chadong (Kam), E (Ai) (Creole), Tu’erke (Turkic).

The collection of the first-hand data of Sinitic languages was carried out

majorly by using a questionnaire (see below; most examples are given in

Standard Chinese). Except for some native speakers of Gan, Hui, and Hakka,

most other informants have linguistics background. No electric recording was

taken throughout the data collection process.

The Questionnaire 1. Intonation – What is the intonation like in polar questions without other interrogative strategies?

(1a) Ni yao qu Beijing? (2SG FUT go Beijing) ‘Are you going to Beijing?’ (1b) Ta shi ni gege? (3SG be 2SG elder.brother) ‘Is he your elder brother?’ (1c) Dongxi bu jian le? (thing NEG see LE) ‘Is it lost/missing?’

2. Question particles – What are the common polar question particles and where do they occur?

(2a) Ta qu Beijing le ma? (3SG go Beijing LE QP) ‘Did s/he go Beijing?’ (2b) Jintian bu hui xiayu ba? (today NEG FUT rain FP) ‘Is it going to rain today?

(I hope not. / It seems not.)’ (2c) Ni kan ma dianying? (2SG watch QP film) ‘Would you like to watch the

film?’ (2d) Ni qu Beijing ma ne? (2SG go Beijing QP FP) ‘Are you going to Beijing?’

3. Alternative questions 3.1. Is there a distinction between the declarative or and the interrogative or?

(3.1a) Wo zaoshang yiban chi mifan huozhe miantiao. (1SG morning normally eat rice or noodles) ‘Normally I eat rice or noodles for breakfast.’

1 Introduction

27

(3.1b) Ni chi mifan haishi miantiao? (2SG eat rice or noodles) ‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’

3.2. The omission of disjunctions (3.2a) Ni chi fan haishi chi mian? (2SG eat rice or eat noodles) ‘Would you

like to eat rice or noodles?’ (3.2b) Ni chi fan chi mian? (2SG eat rice eat noodles) ‘Would you like to eat

rice or noodles?’ (3.2c) Ni chi fan zhu fan? (2SG eat rice cook rice) ‘Are you eating or

cooking?’ 3.3. Where do the interrogative disjunctions occur? Where do the particle disjunctions occur (if any)? (3.3a) Ni chi fan, haishi chi mian? ‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’ (3.3b) Ni chi fan haishi, chi mian? ‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’

(3.3c) Ni chi fan lao, mian? (2SG eat rice PRT, noodles) ‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’

(3.3d) Ni chi, ye/a bu? (2SG eat, PRT NEG) ‘Will you eat or not?’ 3.4. Give a list of common disjunctions. 4. X-neg-X questions 4.1. The forms

(4a) xihuan bu xihuan? (like NEG like) ‘like it or not?’ ~ xihuan bu xi? ~ xi bu xihuan? ~ xihuan bu? ~ xi xihuan? ~ a(-)/ke(-) xihuan? (Q(-)/Q(-) like) ~ xihuan ma? (like QP)

4.2. The object (4b) kan dianying bu kan dianying? (watch movie NEG watch movie) ‘watch

a/the movie or not?’ ~ kan dianying bu kan? ~ kan bu kan dianying? ~ kan dianying bu? ~ a(-)/ke(-) kan dianying? (Q(-)/Q(-) watch movie)

4.3. The negation word: What is the negation word in X-neg-X questions? 5. Wh- questions 5.1. Final particles in wh- questions

(5.1a) Ta qu le nali ne? (3SG go LE where FP) ‘Where did s/he go?’ (5.1b) Ni zai chi shenme ne? (2SG PROG eat what FP) ‘What are you eating?’

5.2. Final particles in reduced wh- questions (5.2a) Wo de shu ne? (1SG GEN book FP) ‘Where is my book?’ (5.2b) Yaoshi wo bu daying ne? (IRR 1SG NEG agree FP) ‘What if I do not

agree?’ 5.3. Island

(5.3a) Ta da le Zhangsan he shui? (3SG beat LE Zhangsan and who) (Literally) ‘S/He beat Zhangsan and whom?’

(5.3b) Ta da le shui he Zhangsan? (Literally) ‘S/He beat whom and Zhangsan?’

5.4. The reduplication of wh- phrases in questions and/or declaratives

1 Introduction

28

1.5. Outline of the work

This thesis has eight chapters. The body of the thesis (except for the introduction

and conclusion) consists of three parts: a survey, four specific studies, and an

assessment. In particular, it is organized as follows:

It first presents a survey of polar interrogative strategies7 in 138 languages

of China, trying to sketch the interrogativity profile of these languages. Two

detailed studies of polar interrogatives in individual languages, that is, Standard

Chinese and Yongxin Gan, are also provided in Chapter 2. (Readers can also

refer to Appendix I for interrogative strategies and some other morpho-

syntactical features in individual languages.)

In-depth studies of question particles and final particles, disjunctions and

alternative questions, wh-phrases and wh-questions, as well as three types of

verb-related questions, are presented in Chapters 3-6.

Particle questions are one of the most common interrogatives in the

languages of China. Nevertheless, the position of question particles varies in

individual languages. Chapter 3 compares the position of question particles in

the languages of China with a worldwide language sample by Dryer (2005b).

Also, the chapter includes a discussion of polar questions formed by two

adjacent final particles, i.e. ma ne questions, in Sinitic languages, as well as

discussion of question particles in wh-questions.

Chapter 4 focuses on disjunctions and alternative questions. It proposes

criteria to distinguish X-neg-X questions (also known as A-not-A questions) and

alternative questions, as X-neg-X questions are frequently treated as a special

type of alternative questions in the literature. This chapter also proposes two

typologies – or vs or/or?, disj-pre vs disj-post – in alternative questions and

7 Content interrogatives are not included in Chapter 2, not only because it is not the core

issue of this work, but also because the content interrogative strategies are normally different from polar interrogatives in individual languages and it is not appropriate to bring them together.

Polar interrogatives and content interrogatives may even not suitable to be labeled as “interrogatives” in general and should be classified as different sentence types. As Koptjevskaja-Tamm and Liljegren (2013) note, “Since polar interrogative and constituent [= content] interrogatives in a language seem to normally employ quite different strategies, what is the reason to ascribe them to one and the same overarching sentence type rather than to two different ones?”

1 Introduction

29

discusses what is important for such typologies. Attention is also paid to particles

that function as disjunctions and some restrictions in alternative islands in Sinitic

languages.

Chapter 5 looks into the position of wh-phrases in the languages of China,

including a comparison to Dryer (2005c), and analyzes the constraints of

pragmatic factors, i.e. definiteness and topicality, on wh-fronting in Standard

Chinese, the word order alternations and island constraints in coordinate

structures in wh-questions, as well as a special feature of wh-phrases, i.e.

reduplication.

Three types of verb-related questions, in particular, questions using a

pre-verb interrogative marker (Q-VP), verb-reduplication (VV), and interrogative

verbs (IVs) are brought together in Chapter 6. The first two types are polar

questions and the third type is a content question.

Chapter 7 is a typological and areal-historical assessment of interrogatives.

It brings 20 morphosyntactic parameters together, including interrogatives, word

order, alignment, and locus of marking, and attempts to determine some

correlations. Also, historical and areal factors are investigated for individual

types of interrogatives, namely, yes-no, X-neg-X, alternative, and three types of

verb-related questions.

1 Introduction

30

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

31

Chapter 2

A survey of polar interrogative strategies in the languages of China This chapter presents a survey of the strategies for expressing polar

interrogatives1 in the languages of China. The survey covers altogether 138

languages, that means, almost all the languages that have been reported so far are

included here. (See Chapter 1 for a general account of the languages of China.)

Typologists always find it difficult to collect data. First of all, it is

time-consuming to check one parameter or category in dozens or hundreds of

reference grammars. Second, the data in individual grammars may not be ready

for comparison as they might be documented in different frameworks (which is

one reason the following accounts are as theory-neutral as possible). Moreover,

very commonly, one grammar includes detailed discussions on certain features or

categories, but another does not.

This lengthy survey2 (which is still too short for individual languages)

serves the following purposes:

· to present a complete overview of polar interrogative strategies in the languages of China;

· to contribute to the typological literature on interrogatives, especially to assist typologists who want to include some languages in China in their own studies;

· to fine-tune some of the details in the interrogative strategies in certain (groups of) languages.

The order of language families and languages is based on Sun et al. (2007),

while in Appendix I languages are given in in alphabetical order. 1 For some features of content questions in the languages in China, see Chapter 5. 2 Fast readers can always refer to Appendix I.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

32

2.1. Sino-Tibetan languages

2.1.1. Sinitic languages

In this section, two detailed studies on polar interrogatives in Standard Chinese

and Yongxin Gan are presented first (Sections 2.1.1.1.-2.), followed by a general

survey of ten Sinitic languages (Section 2.1.1.3.).

2.1.1.1. Standard Chinese

2.1.1.1.1. Introduction: interrogative types in Standard Chinese3

Previous studies of polar questions in Sinitic languages have mainly

focused on two subjects: the classification of question types, and X-neg-X

questions in individual Sinitic languages. A difference in the classification of

X-neg-X questions directly suggests a difference in the polar question systems

by different linguists.

Chao (1968) does not give a clear classification of question types in

(Standard) Spoken Chinese, although at least two types of questions were

distinguished, i.e. disjunctive questions (including V-not-V) and those formed by

question particles (see Chao 1968: 269, 734, 800-8).

(1) Chao’s classification of questions in (Standard) Spoken Chinese

(i) Particle (ii) Disjunctive (including V-not-V4)

Li and Thompson’s (1981) classification of questions in Chinese considers

both meaning and formal representation. They distinguish particles, disjunctives,

and question words (and also tag questions).

3 The classifications introduced here are mainly made on a formal ground, in particular,

whether a question uses sentence-final particles, X-neg-X structures, [X or Y] structures, or wh-phrases, although some linguists classify wh-questions as a subtype of alternative questions (e.g. Shao 1996, see below), which is clearly a semantic-based classification. (This is one reason that content questions are also included here.)

4 Chao (1968: 669) also uses the term V-bu-V (bu ‘not’) to refer V-not-V questions.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

33

(2) Li and Thompson’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) Question word (ii) Disjunctive (including A-not-A) (iii) Particle

Zhu’s (1982: 202-4) classification is tripartite: yes/no, Alternative (including

X-neg-X), and wh-questions. X-neg-X is classified as a subtype of Alternative

questions because it seeks a choice of either X or not-X.

(3) Zhu’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) yes/no (ii) Alternative: (a) Alternative, (b) X-neg-X (iii) wh-

A binary classification is suggested by Fan (1982). He argues that the

Chinese question system includes Alternatives (including yes/no, X-neg-X, and

common Alternative) and wh-questions. Yes/no-questions are a subtype of

Alternatives because one has to choose between yes or no, X-neg-X is to choose

X or not-X, and a common Alternative is to choose X or Y (or Z…) (cf. Bolinger

1980, who argues that (English) yes-no questions are not alternative questions).

(4) Fan’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) Alternative: (a) Alternative, (b) yes/no, (c) X-neg-X (ii) wh-

The classification proposed by Lü (1985) is also binary: yes/no-questions

(including X-neg-X and Alternatives), and wh-questions. X-neg-X questions are

classified as a kind of yes/no-question because they seek a yes/no value of X, and

Alternative questions seek a yes/no value of one constituent among the two (or

more).

(5) Lü’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) yes/no: (a) yes/no, (b) X-neg-X, (c) Alternative (ii) wh-

Shao (1996: 6) proposes that all questions in Chinese are Alternatives,

which have two subtypes, namely, polarity Alternative (Alternative I), including

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

34

yes/no (one constituent) and X-neg-X (two constituents), and in/definite

Alternative (Alternative II), including common (definite) Alternative (X or Y)

and indefinite Alternative (wh- questions).

(6) Shao’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) Alternative I: (a) yes/no, (b) X-neg-X (ii) Alternative II: (a) Alternative, (b) wh-

The classification by Huang et al. (2009: 236) is tripartite: yes/no questions,

disjunctive questions, and constituent questions. Huang et al. also note that

“these question types are also known as particle questions, Alternative questions,

and wh-questions.”

(7) Huang et al.’s classification of questions in Standard Chinese

(i) yes/no (= Particle) (ii) Disjunctive (= Alternative, including A-not-A) (iii) Constituent (= wh-)

I summarize these previous classifications in the following table. Note that

the label ‘Alternative’ implies different interpretations by individual linguists

(see above).

Table 2.1. Types of questions in Standard Chinese References yes/no X-neg-X Alternative wh- Chao (1968) Particle Disjunctive / / Li and Thompson (1981) Particle Disjunctive Disjunctive Q words Lü (1985) yes/no yes/no yes/no wh- Zhu (1982) yes/no Alternative Alternative wh- Fan (1982) Alternative Alternative Alternative wh- Shao (1996) Alternative Alternative Alternative Alternative Huang et al. (2009) yes/no Disjunctive Disjunctive wh-

The present work adopts the label ‘polar question’, which is intended to

cover all non-wh-questions, including yes/no, X-neg-X, and Alternative

questions.

The term ‘X-neg-X question’ deserves a short explanation here. It covers

both VP-neg-VP and Adj-neg-Adj questions. VP-neg-VP is a reduplication of a

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

35

verb (phrase) (could be V-neg-V, V-neg-VP, VP-neg-V, or VP-neg-VP); A-neg-A

is a reduplication of an adjective (phrase).

Some other labels are equivalent to X-neg-X here, e.g. V-not-V (Chao 1968),

A-not-A (Li and Thompson 1981), VP-neg-VP (Zhu 1985), disjunctive

(-negative), positive-negative, etc. The labels V(P)-neg/not-V(P) and A-not-A are

misleading because adjectives can also enter into the X-neg-X construction, and

A is very frequently used as an abbreviation for adjectives.

In Chinese linguistics, X-neg-X questions have aroused wide attention

initiated by Zhu’s (1985) pioneering work. In his paper, Zhu claims that ke-VP

(ke- is a pre-verb interrogative marker) is a kind of VP-neg-VP question and the

two are not found to coexist in individual Sinitic languages, both diachronically

and synchronically. Nevertheless, latter studies provided evidence that ke-VP and

VP-neg-VP questions do coexist in Sinitic languages, e.g. Yangzhou Mandarin

(Wang 1985), Lishui Mandarin (Huang 1996: 714). Some subsequent studies

also propose that ke-VP is a subtype of yes/no-question (see, e.g. Liu 1991).

Neverthless, very little attention has been paid to polar questions formed by

intonation. A pioneering study is Liu (1988), who proposes that there are mainly

two types of intonation questions, one is the so called echo question, which

expresses doubt or surprise at hearing some words, and the other is somehow

resembling a biased question, by which a speaker seeks further confirmation,

though with little doubt about the answer.

2.1.1.1.2. Interrogative intonation-only

In Standard Chinese, polar questions formed by terminal rising intonation-

only are not as common as those formed by (sentence-final) question particles,

X-neg-X structures, or alternative structures. Intonation-only questions rely

heavily on context, for example, some common knowledge between addressor

and addressee.

(8) Standard Chinese

ni qu Beijing? ↗ 2SG go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing?’

The sentence makes sense only if the speaker knows that the respondent is

possibly going to Beijing, or both of them are in a public transportation.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

36

Otherwise it is strange, e.g. this is not how one asks a stranger this question at a

campus cafeteria.

Polar questions of this kind must have a terminal rising intonation. For

example, A is expecting to find a teacher at a certain classroom, but A did not

find the teacher, in this case A asks B:

(9) Standard Chinese

A: laoshi bu zai zher? ↗ teacher not be.in here ‘Is the teacher not here?’

B: (laoshi) bu zai (zher). teacher not be.in here ‘No. (The teacher is not here.)’ The sentence sounds very strange to B if A does not use a rising intonation at the

sentence end, especially in the case that A and B do not know each other well.

Except for those context-based intonation-only questions, there is another

similar polar question, that is, a repetitive one, by which a speaker seeks further

confirmation of what the other person has just said, by repeating (whole or a part

of) the person’s words and adding a rising intonation at the end of the sentence5.

(10) Standard Chinese

A: ta bayue lai deguo. 3SG August come Germany ‘S/He will come to Germany in August.’

B: ta bayue lai deguo? (repeating) 3SG August come Germany ‘Will s/he come to Germany in August?’

A: shide. (ta bayue lai deguo.) yes 3SG August come Germany ‘Yes, it is the case.’ 5 Strictly speaking, repetitive questions and context-based questions here are not intonation-

only, as they rely either on a previous sentence (to repeat) or a special context. “Repetitive” questions are a subtype of echo questions. However, considering that echo

questions also include (and commonly considered to be) content questions (e.g. English I am leaving on Sunday. → You are leaving when?), the label “echo” is hence not used here.

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In (10), respondent B’s question is a whole repetition of A’s words. Nevertheless,

B can also repeat the words partially, depending on which piece of information is

more relevant to B. For example, B can ask ta? ‘her/him?’, bayue? ‘(in)

August?’, (lai) deguo? ‘(come to) Germany?’, ta lai deguo? ‘s/he come to

Germany?’, bayue lai? ‘come in August?’, and so on.

Context-based intonation-only questions and repetitive ones exhibit

differences and similarities in their functions. Basically, a repetitive

intonation-only polar question implies that one is surprised or in doubt about the

words of a speaker and with a question s/he seeks further confirmation of some

information s/he wants to clarify. While a context-based one does not necessarily

express surprise and/or doubt, it may also function as a rhetorical question.

(11) Standard Chinese

A: nimen shang-zhou mai-le yi-liang shenme che? 2PL last-week buy-LE one-CL what car ‘What kind of car did you buy last week?’

B: (women mai-le yi-liang) baoshijie. 1PL buy-LE one-CL Porsche ‘(We bought) a Porsche.’

A: (nimen mai-le yi-liang) baoshijie? (repeating) 2PL buy-LE one-CL Porsche ‘(You bought) a Porsche?’ (surprise and/or doubt)

B: shide. ‘Yes, it is the case.’ In (11), by repeating/asking (ni maile yiliang) baoshijie?, A is surprised at B’s

words, with also a natural reading that A is doubting how B could afford a

luxurious car. This is also the case in (12), a context-based question, with B

expecting that A knows s/he bought a car and being surprised that A actually

doesn’t.

(12) Standard Chinese (context-based)

A: ni shuo shenme, nimen mai-le che? 2SG say what 2PL buy-LE car ‘What did you say? Have you bought a car?’

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B: en, ni bu zhidao? Eh 2SG not know ‘Ah, yes, don’t you know that?’ Context-based intonation-only questions are also frequently used as rhetorical

questions. For example, with (13a) a mother is asking her children to hurry up in

the morning, and with (13b) a passenger is complaining that a smoker paid no

attention to the DO NOT SMOKE sign at a railway station.

(13) Standard Chinese

a. hai bu qichuang qu xuexiao? still not get.up go school

‘Won’t you get up and go to school?’

b. ni bu (ren)shi zi? 2SG not read character

‘Can’t you read?’ Polar questions formed by intonation-only are not a much-discussed topic in

Chinese linguistics. The most salient feature is that they invariably adopt a rising

intonation at the sentence end. Two subtypes, repetitive and context-based, have

something in common, in representation (intonation-only) and function (surprise

and/or doubt), but they also differ in their representation (one by repeating,

another is not) and functions (a context-based one is more complicated in

conveying pragmatic meanings).

2.1.1.1.3. Interrogative particles6

In polar questions of Standard Chinese, (sentence-)final question particles

are frequently (although not obligatorily) used together with a rising intonation.

In fact, a polar question with final interrogative particles may take either a rising

or falling intonation, as is exemplified in (14).

(14) Standard Chinese

a. ni hui shuo deyu ma? (rising/falling) 2SG can speak German QP ‘Can you speak German?’ 6 See Chapter 3, for definition and a detailed discussion of interrogative particles.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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It can be seen that ma 吗 is a question particle because the sentence remains to

be interrogative in nature, regardless of what intonation it takes. An addressee

could respond to it properly without any difficulty in understanding.

However, this is not so clear in the case of ba 吧, with which a sentence

normally could be either declarative or interrogative.

b. ni jin-nian you sanshi-le ba? (falling)

2SG this-year have thirty-LE PRT ‘Are you not younger than thirty-years-old?’

c. ni jin-nian you sanshi-le ba. (falling) 2SG this-year have thirty-LE PRT ‘You are no younger than thirty-years-old, I think.’

A sentence ending with ba normally takes a falling intonation, although it

may adopt a rising one after verb-reduplicating structures to ask questions, in

contrast to a falling one in declarative sentences.

d. ni qu kan-kan ba? (rising)

2SG go look-look PRT ‘Will you take a look (at it)?’

e. ni qu kan-kan ba. (falling) ‘Please take a look (at it).’

ba is different from ma in that it is a part-time polar question particle,

whereas ma is always a polar question particle, which is its full-time job.

Whether the particle ne 呢 is an interrogative final particle or a common

final particle is also controversial (see Chapter 3 for details about final (question)

particles). Questions with ne invariably adopt a rising intonation, making it hard

to tell if interrogativity is carried by ne or rising intonation (or the X-neg-X

structure, because it is still a polar question without ne and/or rising intonation).

(15) Standard Chinese

a. ni hui-bu-hui shuo deyu ne? (rising) 2SG can-not-can speak German PRT ‘Can you speak German or not?’ Lu (1984) argues that ne is a question particle in Standard Chinese, because there

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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is a type of question formed by a declarative sentence (or a noun/verb phrase)

plus ne, normally semantically equivalent to a wh-question, like ‘how about …?’

or ‘where is …?’. The sentence is no longer a question if ne is dropped. In the

following examples, it turns out to be wo de shu ‘my book(s)’, which is a noun

phrase (b); or wo bu yao qian ‘I do not want money’, which is a declarative

sentence (c).

b. wo de shu ne?

1SG GEN book PRT ‘{Where is / How about} my book(s)?’

c. wo bu yao qian ne? 1SG not want money PRT ‘What if I do not accept the money?’

Lu (1984) proposes that question particles in Standard Chinese should be

understood as only including ma, ba, and ne. This is, however, not the whole

story.

First, there are some other polar question particles. For example, me 么, mo

嚜, and bo 啵 are also used in Standard Chinese, although me and mo are more

frequently found in the written language (but cf. Bloomfield 1933: 252 for mo in

echo questions), while bo is a combination of the negation word bu 不 and the

final particle o 哦 and is used more often in oral language.

In a preliminary investigation of questions containing shi me 是么 (be QP)

‘is that true?’ and zhidao me 知道么 (know PRT) ‘(do you) know (that)?’ in the

CCL corpus, 259 and 122 sentences were found to be attested, and most of them

were polar questions. As to polar questions with bo, the CCL corpus also had 172

sentences, including some questions asked in a negative way, which suggests that

bo is an independent question particle, not a negation word plus a final particle in

Modern Standard Chinese (which is what it used to be historically). In a long

modern novel (about 1,327,000 words), Shanghai-de Zaochen (Shanghai

Morning), 172 questions with bo are attested, among which I found the

following instructive questions, which are asked by a same person.

(16) Standard Chinese

A: ni bu xiaode bo? 2SG not know QP ‘You don’t know (that)?’

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B: wo bu xiaode.

1SG not know ‘I don’t know.’

A: ni zhen bu xiaode bo? 2SG really not know QP ‘You really don’t know (that)?’

B: zhen bu xiaode. really not know ‘(I) really don’t know.’

A: shi zhende bu xiaode bo? be really not know QP ‘Is it the case that you really don’t know (that)?’ In (16), A was not sure about B’s answer at the first time and asked B again, by

adding ‘really’. Then A asked the third time to seek further confirmation from B,

using shi…de ‘is it…?’. The three questions are ungrammatical if bo is changed

into the ‘full form’ bu o, or any other negation word plus a final particle.

Second, ma, ba, and ne do not belong to the same subgroup, because ne

appears only in wh-questions (and X-neg-X, alternative questions as well), but

never in yes/no-questions.

(17) Standard Chinese

a. *ni shi daxue-sheng ne? 2SG be university-student PRT Intended meaning: ‘Are you a college student?’

b. *ta qu-guo Beijing ne? 3SG go-PST Beijing PRT Intended meaning: ‘Has s/he ever been to Beijing?’ Furthermore, many final particles can be added on in X-neg-X questions, like a

啊, ya 呀, na 呐, la 啦, and so on, with a free choice in intonation.

(18) Standard Chinese

ni qu-bu-qu Beijing a/ya/na/la? 1SG go-NEG-go Beijing FP ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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Consequently, the present work does not include ne in the list of polar question

particles of Standard Chinese, but groups it with some other particles like a (and

its variants na, ya) and la as commom final particles (for more discussions on

question particles, final particles, as well as modal particles, see Chapter 3).

2.1.1.1.4. X-neg-X questions

In the category of X-neg-X, I include those disjunctive-negative questions

by reduplicating the verb (phrase), i.e. VP-neg-VP, and adjective (phrase), i.e.

AP-neg-AP, as well as noun (phrase), i.e. NP-neg-NP.

(19) Standard Chinese

a. ni qu Beijing bu qu Beijing? (VP-neg-VP, common) 2SG go Beijing not go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

b. ni qu bu qu Beijing? (V-neg-VP, common) c. ni qu bu qu? (V-neg-V, common) d. ni qu Beijing bu qu? (VP-neg-V, less common) e. ni qu Beijing bu? (VP-neg, less common, dialectal) f. ni qu bu? (V-neg, less common, dialectal) g. (?)ni bu qu Beijing? (neg-VP, less common, contextual)h. (?)ni bu qu? (neg-V, less common, contextual)

All variations of VP-neg-VP questions (a-h) are grammatical, and among them

VP-neg-VP, V-neg-V, and V-neg-VP are most common in Standard Chinese.

(e)-(f) are more characteristic of the northern dialect of Mandarin, and (g)-(h) are

highly context-based and used only in situations known between addressor and

addressee.

(20) Standard Chinese

a. zhe-ben shu hao-kan bu hao-kan? (AP-neg-AP, common) DEF-CL book good-read not good-read ‘Is the book good/interesting or not?’

b. zhe-ben shu hao-bu-haokan? (A-neg-AP, common) c. zhe-ben shu hao-bu-hao? (A-neg-A, common) d. *zhe-ben shu haokan-bu-hao? (AP-neg-A, ungrammatical)

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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e. zhe-ben shu haokan-bu? (AP-neg, less common, dialectal) f. zhe-ben shu hao-bu? (A-neg, less common, dialectal) g. (?)zhe-ben shu bu-haokan? (neg-AP, less common, contextual)h. (?)zhe-ben shu bu-hao? (neg-A, less common, contextual)

All variations of AP-neg-AP questions are grammatical except (d). In the

adjective-reduplicating questions, AP-neg-AP, A-neg-A, and A-neg-AP are used

more commonly, while (e)-(f) are characteristic of the northern dialect of

Mandarin, (g)-(h) are highly context-based.

Hence, a preliminary generalization that could be drawn is that X-neg-X

questions of Standard Chinese prefer to have two Xs of equal heaviness, or to

have a lighter X preceding. A heavy X should not appear early. In other words,

the latter X is syllabically no lighter than the preceding X.

In Standard Chinese, there is also a polar question formed by using a

NP-neg-NP structure, although not often found in formal text. This structure is

becoming more and more popular in internet language and the language of

younger generations. In parallel with those X-neg-X questions by verbs and

adjectives, I label a monosyllabic noun as N, and a non-monosyllabic one as NP,

regardless of the structure of the noun, for example, in (21), shu-nü

‘graceful-lady’ is an adjective-noun compound.

(21) Standard Chinese

a. nimen juede wo shunü bu shunü? (NP-neg-NP) 2PL feel 1SG graceful.lady NEG graceful.lady ‘Do you think I am a graceful lady or not?’

b. nimen juede wo shu bu shunü? (N-neg-NP)c. *nimen juede wo shu bu shu? (N-neg-N) d. *nimen juede wo shunü bu shu? (NP-neg-N)e. nimen juede wo shunü bu? (NP-neg) f. *nimen juede wo shu bu? (N-neg) g. (?)nimen juede wo bu shunü? (neg-NP) h. *nimen juede wo bu shu? (neg-N)

In (21), only four sentences, i.e. NP-neg-NP, N-neg-NP, NP-neg, neg-NP are

grammatical, among which neg-NP (21g) is highly context-based. This is

basically in line with the generalization about those VP-neg-VP questions and

AP-neg-AP questions, though N-neg-N questions are ungrammatical (21c).

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A question particle can be added after a NP-neg question.

(22) Standard Chinese

A: wo shunü bu a? 1SG graceful.lady NEG PRT ‘(You, tell me,) Am I a graceful lady or not?’

B1: ni cai bu shunü ne. 2SG even NEG graceful.lady PRT ‘Not at all.’

B2: ni shunü bu? ni za haoyisi wen ne? 2SG graceful.lady NEG 2SG why shameless ask QP ‘A graceful lady or not? How can you ask so shamelessly?’

NP-neg-NP questions are also found in some other Sinitic languages, like

Yongxin Gan, yin wa ji dü ng dü? (2SG say 3SG pig NEG pig) ‘(You, tell me,)

Isn’t s/he as stupid as a pig?’

In Standard Chinese and Yongxin Gan, a reduplicated noun (compound)

acquires adjectival meaning and functions as an adjective. In Standard Chinese,

shunü is ‘graceful-lady-like’; in Yongxin Gan, dü is ‘pig-like’, ‘stupid’. In this

case it is appropriate to classify them as AP-neg-AP questions. However, since

such words are never labeled as adjectives in a dictionary, I call a polar question

with a reduplicating structure containing such items a NP-neg-NP question rather

than an AP-neg-AP question.

2.1.1.1.5. Alternative questions

Alternative questions, also known as disjunctive questions, consist of two or

more constituents which are linked by disjunctions, usually conjoined by haishi

‘or’ and present an either-or choice to the respondent. For the sake of

formulization, I also call them [X or Y] questions now and then, in which X and

Y are the disjuncts (constituents) linked by the disjunction haishi.

In the literature of Chinese linguistics, alternative questions and X-neg-X

are often mixed up (see above for the classification of question types).

Nevertheless, the distinction between alternative questions and X-neg-X

questions is clear if alternative ones are called “X or Y”. Misunderstanding only

occurs when Y happens to be not-X and the disjunction is dropped. In the

following questions, (a)-(b) are alternative questions, while (c) is a X-neg-X

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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question.

(23) Standard Chinese

a. ni chi mifan haishi chi miantiao? (VP or VP) 2SG eat rice or eat noodle ‘You’d like to eat rice or noodles?’

b. ni chi mifan haishi bu chi mifan? (VP or not-VP) 2SG eat rice or NEG eat rice

c. ni chi (mifan) bu chi mifan? (V(P)-neg-VP) Alternative questions resemble content questions in that the latter can

always express similar meanings. For example, in English, instead of Are you

going to France or Germany? one may simply ask Where are you going? The

meaning of a X-neg-X question, which seeks a polarity value of either a

confirmation or a negation, however, cannot be conveyed by a content question,

although there is a somewhat close translation Are you going to France or not?

Huang et al. (2009: 242-3) propose that in Standard Chinese, a variety of

constituent types, i.e. S(entence) or S(entence), VP or VP, PP or PP, NP or NP

(subject position), V or V, can form an alternative question. In fact, every type of

constituent can be used in such questions.

(24) Standard Chinese

a. ni chi mifan haishi miantiao? (NP or NP7) 2SG eat rice or noodle ‘You like rice or noodles?’

b. ta chi de kuai haishi man? (A or A) 3SG eat RES fast or slow ‘Does s/he eat fast or slow?’

c. ta man-man-di haishi fei-kuai-di chifan? (Adv or Adv) 3SG slow-slow-ly or fly-fast-ly eat ‘Did s/he eat very fast or slowly?’

7 Note that the NPs here are in object position. In alternative questions in Standard Chinese,

alternative disjuncts in subject position are not grammatical or odd. Cf. Section 4.4.

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haishi is a marker of alternative questions in Standard Chinese, although it

is not necessarily obligatory in some colloquial cases. As Huang (1988, 1991)

has proposed, haishi can be dropped if two alternatives being juxtaposed “retain

certain degrees of phonetic or phonological similarity”; by this he means in a

[VP haishi VP] structure, haishi can be dropped if there is a common V or a

common O, e.g. ni chi fan chi mian? (2SG eat eice eat noodles) ‘Would you like

to eat rice or noodles?’ ni mai biao xiu biao? (2SG sell watch repair watch) ‘Do

you sell watches or repair watches?’ (see also Huang et al. 2009: 243).

Two comments can be added here. First, those alternative questions without

haishi are only found in colloquial conversations, never in written texts. Second,

there should be a sufficiently long pause between the juxtaposed constituents,

whether they share some phonetic/phonological similarity or not. In fact,

Huang’s examples sound strange to native ears if there is no pause in between.

What’s more, some alternative questions are formed by juxtaposed constituents

that share no phonetic or phonological similarities, e.g. ni mai shu xiu biao? (2SG

sell book repair watch) ‘Do you sell books or repair watches?’, which are

regarded as ungrammatical (see Huang et al. 2009: 243), but are in fact

acceptable in Standard Chinese, provided there is a pause long enough between

the constituents.

In this sense, a phonation pause is equivalent to haishi in Standard Chinese.

This can be seen even clearer in some other Sinitic languages, like in Yifeng Gan:

here the final particle a is always used between the disjuncts, while haishi is not

needed, e.g. ni xi jiao a xi tang? (2SG wash feet PRT wash hot.water) ‘Would you

like to wash your feet or have a bath?’ (Shao et al. 2010: 238). Similarly, in

Yongxin Gan, the question particle mang is used in between, e.g. yin qie Beijing

mang Shanghai? (2SG go Beijing QP Shanghai) ‘Are you going to Beijing or

Shanghai?’ In Shicheng Hakka and Xinhua Xiang, one can even drop a

disjunction between the constituents and simply have a rising intonation after the

first constituent and a falling intonation after the latter (or final) constituent.

ne is also used very frequently in alternative questions in Standard Chinese,

often together with haishi: shi X ne haishi Y ne (be X PRT or Y PRT) ‘Is it X or

Y?’, which is usually found when an adult is talking to a child, or when an

addressor has no more patience for an addressee and requires her/him to make a

clear response. However, more frequently an alternative question is found to use

only one ne, either after the first disjunct (b) or at the final (c).

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(25) Standard Chinese

a. ni shi chi mifan ne, haishi chi miantiao ne? 2SG be eat rice QP or eat noodle QP ‘Would you like to have rice or noodles? (Please tell me.)’

b. ni shi chi mifan ne, haishi chi miantiao? c. ni shi chi mifan, haishi chi miantiao ne?

2.1.1.1.6. Summary

This section has briefly discussed polar questions in Standard Chinese.

Emphasis was laid on four types of polar questions in Standard Chinese and in

some other Sinitic languages, namely, intonation, particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative.

In Standard Chinese, polar questions formed by intonation-only are either

contextual or repetitive, and are also commonly accompanied by final particles.

As to polar questions formed by particles, it should be noted that ne is

different from ma and ba (and me, mo, bo, etc) in that ne is a question particle in

wh-questions which is equivalent to particles like nandao, nanbucheng, and

hechang, while the others are polar question particles.

Basically, three subtypes of X-neg-X questions are found in Standard

Chinese, i.e. VP-neg-VP, AP-neg-AP, and NP-neg-NP. VP-neg-VP is used most

commonly and all varieties of it are grammatical; AP-neg-AP is also common,

although AP-neg-A is ungrammatical; NP-neg-NP questions, however, are not

common, and N-N, NP-N, neg-N are all ungrammatical.

Alternative questions do not include X-neg-X questions because the former

is meant to choose an either-value of X or Y, while the latter is to choose a

polar-value of X or not-X. All types of constituents can be used to form a

X-neg-X question, including [S or S], [VP or VP], [PP or PP], [NP or NP]

(subject or object position), [Adv or Adv], [A or A], and so on.

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2.1.1.2. Yongxin Gan

2.1.1.2.1. Introduction

Yǒngxīn 江西省永新县 is a county located in the southwest of the Jiāngxī

Province (also known as Gàn for short), which has 23 townships and covers an

area of about 2,200 squarekilometers. The Yongxin County has a population of

about 520,000, of which most are Gan speakers, but there are also some Hakka

speakers in the southern mountainous districts.

Roughly, Yongxin Gan consists of four dialects, west, east, north, and south,

showing some differences in phonology, but with no great difference in grammar.

The language spoken in the county town (Hechuan Township 禾川) and some

neighbouring townships is regarded as standard. This section introduces the

interrogative system in Yongxin Gan, particularly, the language in the county

town and its west dialect spoken in the townships Wenzhu 文竹, Gaoxi 高溪,

Longtian 龙田, and some villages in Shashi 沙市.

Yongxin Gan is the first language of the author. So far, there is no

descriptive literature on this language.

2.1.1.2.2. Interrogative intonation-only

Quite like Standard Chinese, intonation-only polar questions in Yongxin

Gan are mainly used in two cases: repetitive and context-based. In the repetitive

use (cf. Section 2.1.1.1.2 for a distinction between “repetitive” questions and

echo questions in Standard Chinese), an addressee asks an addressor for

confirmation or otherwise by repeating a non-interrogative sentence and taking a

final rising intonation (26). Nevertheless, context-based intonation-only

questions can convey various pragmatic meanings, like a strong sense of

questioning (27), or somehow behave like a rhetorical question (28), or even

commands (29).

(26) Yongxin Gan

A: ŋə tɕinman tɕhiε pεtɕin. 1SG today go Beijing ‘I am going to Beijing today.’

B: jin tɕinman tɕhiε pεtɕin? (repeat) 2SG today go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing today?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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(27) Yongxin Gan

A: ŋəkiε tæxə kiε foɕε o xau. 1PL.INCL university GEN food very good ‘Our university’s food is very good.’

B: jin sε tæxə-səŋ? (strong questioning) 2SG be university-student ‘Are you a college student? (I doubt.)’ (28) Yongxin Gan

jin-kiε næli ɕiε-li xæ nεn thoɕü? (surprise) 2sg-GEN child ten-years.old still not read.book‘Is it true that your ten-years-old son still hasn’t gone school?’ (Why?!)

(29) Yongxin Gan

xæ ŋ tɕhiε feŋkau? (command) still NEG go sleep ‘You still don’t go sleep?’ (Go sleep!)

2.1.1.2.3. Question particles

In Yongxin Gan, there are two subtypes of polar questions formed by

question particles, i.e. (i) common ones, which end with the particles mang,

mangne, or mangla, where a speaker knows nothing about the topic and asks an

addressee to answer; and (ii) confirmation-seeking ones, that end with the

particles ba or a, where a speaker already knows something about the topic and

seeks confirmation from an addressee.

Different question particles convey subtle differences. By using mang, with

a final rising intonation, which is most common, an addressor signals that s/he is

not skeptical in anticipating an answer; by mangne, also with a final rising

intonation, an addressor implies that s/he needs a clear yes/no response; by

mangla, with a final falling intonation, an addressor shows that s/he is losing

patience and requires a response immediately.

(30) Yongxin Gan

a. jin ɕiautε maŋ? ↗ 2SG know QP ‘Do you know that?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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b. jin ɕiautε maŋnε? ↗

‘Do you know that or not?’

c. jin ɕiautε maŋla?! ↘ ‘Do you on earth know that or not?’ In its Standard Chinese equivalents (31), the structure of the sentence (31a) is the

same, while sentences (31b-c) are asked in different ways, that is, by a X-neg-X

structure, together with a question particle. Note that the intonation patterns in

(31a-c) are the same as in (30a-c), respectively.

(31) Standard Chinese

a. ni zhidao ma? ↗ 2SG know QP ‘Do you know that?’

b. ni zhi bu zhidao ne? ↗ 2SG know not know QP ‘Do you know that or not?’

c. ni zhi bu zhidao a/ya? ↘ 2SG know not know QP ‘Do you on earth know that or not?’ The questions that seek further confirmation can be classified into two subtypes:

(i) questions that end with ba, normally with falling intonation, are used in

positive utterances, while (ii) questions that end with a, normally with rising

intonation, are used in doubting utterances.

(32) Yongxin Gan

a. jin tɕia-li fan pa? ↘ 2SG eat-asp rice QP ‘Have you eaten? (I suppose so.)’

b. jin tɕia-li fan a? ↗ 2SG eat-ASP rice QP ‘Have you eaten? (I doubt.)’

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2.1.1.2.4. Alternative questions

In Yongxin Gan, alternative questions are asked in three ways: (i) X maŋ Y,

(ii) X hæsε Y, and (iii) sε X hæsε Y. (i) is the native form, and maŋ is a question

particle; hæsε in (ii)-(iii) is borrowed from Standard Chinese and is not used by

elder generations. (33) Yongxin Gan

a. tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn? eat rice PRT eat noodle ‘(Would you like to) eat rice or noodles?’

b. tɕhia fan xæsε tɕhia miæn? eat rice or eat noodle

c. sε tɕhia fan xæsε tɕhia miæn? be eat rice or eat noodle Note that in Yongxin Gan, the question particle mang /maŋ/ cannot co-occur with

the disjunction haishi /xæsε/ in one question.

d. *tɕhia fan maŋ xæsε tɕhia miæn? eat rice QP or eat noodle Intended reading: ‘(Would you like to) eat rice or noodles?’

e. *sε tɕhia fan maŋ xæsε tɕhia miæn?

be eat rice QP or eat noodle Huang (Huang 1986, 1991; Huang et al. 2009: 243-4) proposes that disjunctions

can be dropped in alternative questions if there is some “phonetic or

phonological similarity” between the disjuncts (cf. Chao 1968: 265, 269). By

“phonetic or phonological similarity”, he means that if an alternative question is

of [VO or VO] structure, and the verb or the object happens to be the same, then

the disjunction can be dropped. In Yongxin Gan, however, the rule is not valid, as

the disjunction (or question particle) between the disjuncts can never be dropped

in alternative questions. (34) Yongxin Gan

a. *tɕhia fan tɕhia miæn? eat rice eat noodle Intended reading: ‘(Would you like to) eat rice or noodles?’

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b. *tɕhia fan tɕü fan?

eat rice boil rice Intended reading: ‘(Would you like to) eat rice or cook rice?’ As in polar questions, the final particles ne and la can also be used in alternative

questions, although pragmatically both ne and la show some impatience (la is

even stronger) and hence cannot be used in low-to-high dialogues, like son to

father, student to teacher, etc.

(35) Yongxin Gan

a. (sε) tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn nε?/la?! be eat rice part eat noodle QP ‘(Will you/Shall we) Eat rice or noodles?’

b. (sε) tɕhia fan xæsε tɕhia miæn nε?/la?! be eat rice or eat noodle QP ‘(Will you/Shall we) Eat rice or noodles?’ The question particle ne /nε/ is normally found with the second person,

occasionally with first person plural, and rarely with first person singular or third

person.

(36) Yongxin Gan

a. jin/jinkiε tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn nε? 2SG/2PL eat rice PRT eat noodle QP ‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’

b. ŋəkiε/?ŋə tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn nε? 1PL/1SG eat rice PRT eat noodle QP Intended reading: ‘Shall we / ?I eat rice or noodles?’

c. ??tɕi /??tɕi kiε tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn nε? 3SG/3PL eat rice PRT eat noodle QP Intended reading: ‘Will she/he/they eat rice or noodles?’ ne with second person singular (b) is only found in one’s murmuring, while ne

with third person is ungrammatical (c), regardless if it is singular or plural. (To

make it grammatical, the particle ne has to be dropped.)

la, however, is only found with second person. This is because la expresses

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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impatience to an addressee and requires a response immediately and naturally is

not used in questioning oneself or a third party that is not present.

(37) Yongxin Gan

a. jin/jinkiε tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn la? 2SG/2PL eat rice PRT eat noodle QP

‘Would you like to eat rice or noodles?’

b. *ŋə/*ŋəkiε tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn la? 1PL/1SG eat rice PRT eat noodle QP Intended reading: ‘Shall we / ?I eat rice or noodles?’

c. *tɕi/*tɕikiε tɕhia fan maŋ tɕhia miæn la? 3SG/3PL eat rice PRT eat noodle QP Intended reading: ‘Will she/he/they eat rice or noodles?’ As has been pointed out previously, in Yongxin Gan, mang /maŋ/ cannot

co-occur with haishi /xæsε/ in a question sentence, regardless of whether or not

there is a final particle (ne/la).

(38) Yongxin Gan

*sε tɕhia fan maŋ xæsε tɕhia miæn (nε/la)?be eat rice PRT or eat noodle QP ‘(Would you like to) eat rice or noodles?’

2.1.1.2.5. X-neg-X questions

In Yongxin Gan, verb (phrases), adjectives, and some noun phrases can

enter into the formation of X-neg-X questions.

The most common varieties of VP-neg-VP questions in Yongxin Gan are

V-neg-V and V-neg-VP, although VP-neg-VP and VP-neg-V questions are also

found. VP-neg and V-neg questions, however, are ungrammatical.

(39) Yongxin Gan

a. jin tɕhiε ŋ tɕhiε? (V-neg-V) 2SG go not go ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

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b. jin tɕhiε ŋ tɕhiε pεtɕin? (V-neg-VP) 2SG go not go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

c. jin tɕhiε pεtɕin ŋ tɕhiε pεtɕin? (VP-neg-VP) 2SG go Beijing not go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

d. jin tɕhiε pεtɕin ŋ tɕhiε? (VP-neg-V) 2SG go Beijing NOT go ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

e. *jin tɕhiε pεtɕin ŋ? (VP-neg) 2SG go Beijing not Intended reading: ‘Are you going Beijing or not?’

f. *jin tɕhiε ŋ? (V-neg) 2SG go not Intended reading: ‘Are you going (there) or not?’ (39e) and (39f) become grammatical if a question particle mang /maŋ/ is added

before the negation word ŋ.

e'. jin tɕhiε pεtɕin maŋ ŋ?

2SG go Beijing QP not ‘Are you going Beijing or not?’

f'. jin tɕhiε maŋ ŋ? 2SG go QP not ‘Are you going (there) or not?’ In fact, the question particle mang /maŋ/ can be inserted before the negation

word ŋ in all varieties of X-neg-X questions, although it is not necessary in

(a)-(d). (a)-(d) are grammatical because they take a V(P)-neg-V(P) construction,

in which question particles are not obligatory. Nevertheless, (e)-(f) are

ungrammatical because the construction V(P)-neg itself expresses no

interrogative meaning, and hence needs an additional question particle mang.

mang /maŋ/ is used only in a non-final position of X-neg-X questions in

Yongxin Gan. Final positions are reserved only for ne and la. a, however, is not

found in any X-neg-X questions.

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(40) Yongxin Gan

a. ɕiautε maŋ iautε ne/la/*a? know QP know.NEG QP ‘Do you know that or not?’

b. ɕiautε iautε ne/la/*mang/*a? know know.NEG QP ‘Do you know that or not?’

Adjectives can also enter into the formation of X-neg-X questions in

Yongxin Gan, though they require the full form X-neg-X, that is, no syllable of a

non-monosyllabic adjective can be dropped (partly or completely). As seen in the

examples, only the full form sentence (41a) is grammatical, while the others are

not (though 41b is acceptable in marginal cases).

(41) Yongxin Gan

a. tɕi piautsi ŋ piautsi? (AP-neg-AP) 3SG beautiful not beautiful ‘Is she beautiful or not?’

b. ??tɕi piau ŋ piautsi? (A-neg-AP) c. *tɕi piautsi ŋ? (AP-neg) d. *tɕi piautsi ŋ piau? (AP-neg-A) e. *tɕi piau ŋ piau? (A-neg-A) f. *tɕi piao ŋ? (A-neg)

I mentioned that the pre-negation particle mang /maŋ/ helps some ungrammatical

sentences (41) to become grammatical if a X is a verb (phrase); however, this is

not helpful if the X is an adjective: the pre-negation particle mang does not

improve the grammaticality of sentences (b)-(f).

The ungrammaticality of (b)-(f) is very different from Standard Chinese and

many other Sinitic languages (especially the varieties of Mandarin), in which

adjectives can be used much more freely in a X-neg-X question (see Section

2.1.1.1.).

For the examples of N(P)-neg-N(P) in Yongxin Gan, see Section 2.1.1.1.4.

2.1.1.2.6. Summary

The polar interrogatives of Yongxin Gan and Standard Chinese are

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summarized in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2. Polar interrogatives in Standard Chinese and Yongxin Gan Languages Intonation Q particles Alternative X-neg-X

Standard Chinese limited ma, (ba /pa/) X disj Y X-neg-X, (X-neg)Yongxin Gan limited maŋ, (pa),

maŋnε X prt Y, (X disj Y)

X-neg-X

2.1.1.3. Comparative Sinitic

Mandarin

In Mandarin (also known as guan-hua ‘official-language’), four common

interrogative strategies of polar questions in Sinitic languages – i.e., intonation-

only, question particle, X-neg-X, and alternative structures – are found widely

across its dialects.

Polar questions formed by terminal rising intonation are reported in two

Southwest Mandarin languages, Tianmen Mandarin (Lu 2009: 10) and Xíshuǐ

Mandarin (Fan 2010: 22).

Final question particles are found widely in the dialects of Mandarin,

though individual dialects may have different inventories. For example, Taixing

uses a, ŋa, and pa (Zhu 2011); Changyang uses a, tie/lie, pa, and sa (Zong 2012:

77-83); Enshi uses mo, o, ʂa, e, and in marginal cases also pe (Pi 2011: 41); and

so forth.

Alternative questions in Mandarin are very frequently found to be of (disj1)

X disj2 Y (prt) structure, which is very similar to Standard Chinese. For example,

the Fuyang dialect (Wang 2008a, 2008b: 69) of Central Mandarin, and the

Changyang (Zong 2012: 80) and Tianmen dialects (Lu 2009: 14) of Southwest

Mandarin, are all of this type. Nevertheless, in Xíshuǐ, a variety of Southwest

Mandarin, X prt Y alternative questions are more common than (disj1) X disj2 Y

(prt) (see Fan 2010: 29-30).

The forms of X-neg-X questions vary among the dialects of Mandarin. In

colloquial Northeast Mandarin, the second X is dropped, leaving a X neg (prt)

question. In Jiao-Liao Mandarin, X-neg-X questions are rare. Instead, questions

of similar meanings are conveyed by some other strategies, such as shibu/shimei

X (shi-bu ‘yes-no’, shi-mei ‘yes-not’) in Muping (Luo 1981) and Weihai (Qi

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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1990), or a pre-predicate question marker, e.g. ʃi in Longkou (Ma 2007: 19-20).

In Central Mandarin, Jiang-Huai Mandarin, and Southwest Mandarin, however,

the same meaning of X-neg-X questions is conveyed via Q-X questions, in which

ke, ge, and hai are the most common forms of Q before the predicate. Q-X

questions in Central Mandarin are reported in the dialects like Yǐngshàng (Wu

2006: 60), Fuyang (Wang 2008a, 2008b: 69), and Suining (Yang 1989). In

Jiang-Huai Mandarin, Q-X questions are found in the Taixing dialect (Zhu 2011)

and many other dialects collected in Wang (2008b: 72-3). For Southwest

Mandarin, Q-X questions are reported in 24 dialects in Yunnan Province (He

2010: 21). For a detailed analysis of Q-X questions, see Sections 6.1 and 7.2.4.2.

Gan

Gan polar interrogatives use terminal rising intonation, question particles,

X-neg-X, and alternative structures. Literature on Gan interrogatives is rare (for

a study on Yongxin Gan, see Section 2.1.1.2), and the following is based on the

author’s personal knowledge (Yongxin Gan and Nanchang Gan) and data

collected from native speakers.

Terminal rising intonation-only relies heavily on context. In particular, an

addressor has to know something about the content s/he asks about. For example,

in Yongxin Gan, when aksing jin jiao tɕhiɛ peitɕiŋ? (2SG FUT go Beijing) ‘Are

you going to Beijing?’, the addressor must have known that the addressee might

go to Beijing or at least leave for some time. That polar questions formed by

terminal rising intonation only are context-restricted is also found in many other

dialects of Gan, e.g. Nanchang, Duchang, Jishui, Leping, Luxi, Taihe, Yugan, etc.

Question particles show big differences across the varieties of Gan. For

example, some common question particles in Nanchang Gan include a55, po44;

and Yongxin Gan maŋ55, maŋ55nɛ 55, maŋ55la51; Luxi Gan mo44, la51; Leping Gan

pei44; Jishui Gan mɔ 21, po21; etc.

In Gan, both verb (phrases) and adjective (phrases) can enter into the

formation of X-neg-X questions. Nevertheless, full forms of X-neg-X questions,

i.e. VP-neg-VP and AP-neg-AP, are not used as frequently as the shortened forms,

i.e. V-neg-VP and A-neg-AP. In some varieties of Gan, V(P)-neg and A(P)-neg

questions are also found (although not very commonly), e.g. Nanchang Gan,

Jishui Gan, Luxi Gan, Leping Gan, but never in Yongxin Gan.

Alternative questions in Gan are of [X disj Y] structure, which is the same

as in Standard Chiense. Nevertheless, there are two differences from Standard

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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Chinese that deserve to be mentioned here. One is that some varieties of Gan use

disjunct-final particles as disjunctions, e.g. Yongxin Gan maŋ is also a question

particle (see Section 2.1.1.2). Another is that Gan does not have a one-one

correspondence of disjunctions in alternative questions and alternative

declaratives as Standard Chinese does. In particular, in Standard Chinese, huozhe

(and huoshi) ‘or’ is used in alternative declaratives, and haishi ‘or’ is used in

alternative interrogatives. In Gan languages there is no huozhe (or huoshi), and

equivalent meanings are expressed in four ways, (i) absence of disjunctions,

which is common, (ii) coordinations, e.g. tong(dao) ‘and’ (Luxi Gan, Yongxin

Gan), gen(dao) ‘and’ (Nanchang Gan), he ‘and’ (Duchang Gan), (iii) disjunctions

in pairs, e.g. yaobei…yaobei ‘either…or’ (Leping Gan), yaome…yaome,

busi…qiu ‘either… or’ (Taihe Gan), and (iv) huozhe ‘or’ borrowed from

Standard Chinese (Jishui Gan, Yongxin Gan, and Yugan Gan).

I summarize the some features of interrogative sytems of the dialects of Gan

in the following table (personal knowledge and native speaker sources). Note

that in the dialects Yongxin, Leping, and Luxi, polar questions can be formed by

particle complexes (see Section 3.2 for more discussion).

Table 2.3. Interrogatives in the dialects of Gan8 Dialects FP-YN FP-WH FP-RWH Into. X-n-X Alter.

Nanchang a, la, po o, ne li (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYDuchang mo – ne (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYYugan le, lao a, ne ne, tsa (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYJishui mɔ, po (jɛ) ne (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYTaihe (pa) ni, ne ni (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYYongxin maŋ, maŋne, maŋla la ne, la (+) X-n-X (d)XdYLeping pei, peine, peila – ne (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdYLuxi mo, la, mone – ne44 (+) X-n(-X) (d)XdY

Cantonese

Cantonese (also known as Yue) polar interrogatives use intonation-only,

final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures.

In Guangzhou Cantonese, which is considered as standard Cantonese,

spoken in the capital city of the Guangdong Province, polar questions formed by

8 Abbreviations: FP-YN/WH/RWH: final particles in yes-no/wh-/reduced wh-questions, Into.:

terminal rising intonation, X-n-X: X-neg-X questions, Alter.: alternative questions.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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intonation-only can adopt either a rising or a level one (Peng 2006). In Beiliu

Cantonese, spoken in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, intonation-only

polar questions are also found (see Xu 2008: 28, 30).

Question particles in polar questions vary across the dialects of Cantonese.

For example, Guangzhou Cantonese frequently takes the question particles ma33

and mε55, and also kua33, lε13, lε21, hɔ35, and so on (Peng 2006; see also Fang

2003: 152-6), while the most common question particles in Siyi Cantonese (si-yi

‘four-towns’) are not exactly the same. For example, Taishan Cantonese

frequently uses me33, Xinhui Cantonese uses mə33, Kaiping Cantonese and

Enping Cantonese use mɔ21. Some other question particles used in Siyi

Cantonese include tseʔ 5, ha35, la21, wo13, and kua33 (see Gan 2002: 62-3). In

Beiliu Cantonese, some common final question particles include ma, pha35, a,

mε55, wɔ55, and lɔ55 (Xu 2008: 58, 69-71), and there are even some particle

combinations.

(42) Beiliu Cantonese (Xu 2008: 59) 王老师请着假嘛呢？

a. wang laoshi qing zhao jia ma ne? Wang teacher ask PAST leave QP PRT ‘Did teacher Wang ask for a leaving (or not)?’ 你想去北流嘛咯？

b. ni xiang qu beiliu ma lo? 2SG want go Beiliu QP PRT ‘Do you want to go to Beiliu (or not)?’ For further discussion of mane questions and the like, see Section 4.2.

Guangzhou Cantonese uses disjunctions jɪk55wak22 and tɪŋ22 to combine the

disjuncts in alternative questions, which normally take a X disj Y (prt) structure

(Fang 2003: 153-4). In Siyi Cantonese the disjunctions are mə11 (Taishan

Cantonese), mu31u55 or haixi (Kaiping Cantonese), haixi (Enping Cantonese)

(Gan 2002: 74), and Beiliu Cantonese uses shixi (Xu 2008: 61), though all of

them use an alternative question structure like Guangzhou Cantonese.

X-neg-X questions in Cantonese are of X-neg-X or X-neg structure. For

example, Guangzhou Cantonese takes X m21 X and X-mεi22 (Fang 2003: 154-6),

which is similar in Siyi Cantonese (Gan 2002: 72, 78-9). However, Beiliu

Cantonese takes X (shi)mau X (prt) structure (shi ‘yes’, mau ‘not have’), which is

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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similar to Guangzhou Cantonese jɐu13mou14 (have-not.have) questions (it has

two variations: jɐu13mou14 X, and jɐu13 X mou14).

Cantonese wh-questions can take question particles at the sentence-end, and

there are also so-called “semantic wh-questions” (or, reduced wh-questions, see

Section 3.3.2), which are of NP/VP-prt structure.

For a study of Early Cantonese interrogative construction, see Cheung

(2001).

Wu

Interrogatives in the dialects of Wu share many common features. Taking

Shanghai (Central Wu), Suzhou (North Wu), and Ningbo (South Wu) as

examples, final question particles and alternative structures are all found. They

also use similar structures in wh-questions, which resembles Standard Chinese.

However, some strategies in polar questions do differ.

One is that there is a Q-X polar question in Shanghai and Suzhou, but not in

Ningbo. Q-X questions (Q is normally a) can be a normal yes/no-question or a

question of X-neg-X meaning, depending on the context. In fact, there is no

X-neg-X question in Suzhou (Liu 1991) and all the questions of

disjunctive-negative meaning are expressed by a-X questions, though Shanghai

Wu has both a-X and X-neg-X questions9.

Another difference is that intonation-only questions are found in Shanghai

(Xu and Tang 1987: 466) and Ningbo (Ruan 2006: 140), but not in Suzhou (Li

1998: 124).

Furthermore, as mentioned above, X-neg-X questions are reported in

Shanghai and Ningbo, but not in Suzhou. The structure of these questions,

nevertheless, shows some differences. If a verb (phrase) enters into the question

structure, for example, Shanghai takes V-neg-VP, and sometimes VP-neg-VP, but

never VP-neg-V (Xu and Shao 1998: 214), while Ningbo takes VP-neg-VP (prt)

or VP-neg (prt) (Ruan 2006: 152-3).

In Suzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo, wh-questions can take a sentence-final

particle, e.g. Shanghai Wu sanjin lae leq a? (what.person come PST QP) ‘Who has

come?’, and there is also a semantic wh-question, i.e. a NP/VP prt question, e.g.

Suzhou Wu uÃsɿvu nəʔ ? (Wang Shifu PRT) ‘{Where is / How about} Wang

Shifu?’ (Li 1998: 106).

9 Note that a is not used the perfective aspect in Shanghai Wu, cf. *xii a(q) tseu leq? (3SG Q

go PST) Intended meaning: ‘Has he gone?’ (Zhu 2006: 169).

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The interrogative strategies of Shanghai, Suzhou, and Ningbo are

summarized in Table 2.4. (For a brief discussion on Shanghai Wu interrogatives,

see also Zhu 2006: 167-70.) Table 2.4. Interrogative strategies in Wu (Shanghai, Suzhou, and Ningbo)

Shanghai Suzhou Ningbo

Intonation-only + - +

Q particle + + + a-X + + - X-neg-X + - +

Alternative + + + wh- + Q particle + + + Semantic wh- + + +

Hakka

In Hakka (also known as Kejia), some common interrogative strategies in

polar questions, like final-intonation-only, final question particle, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures are found widely across its dialects, although there are

some differences among individual dialects.

Polar questions formed by rising intonation-only are reported in Nankang

Hakka (Liu 2006: 42), Shangyou Hakka (Liu 1999: 747), and Xīnfēng Hakka

(Zhou 1992). Ninghua Hakka has no such questions (Zhang 2004: 262).

Final question particles vary among Hakka dialects. Some common final

question particles in individual dialects are summarized in Table 2.5. Table 2.5. Question particles in comparative Hakka

Province Hakka dialects Question particles References

Jiangxi Shangyou mã55, nẽ55, mã55nẽ55 Liu 1999: 740 Jiangxi Nankang mɔ33, pha213 Liu 2006: 42 Guangdong Meixian mo Huang 1994 Guangdong Xīnfēng mɔ, lei, tsa Zhou 1992 Guangdong Longchuan a, ma Wu 2009 Guangdong Dabu mɔ He 1993: 81-2 Guangdong Wuhua mo13, a, au13, ne Li 2009: 47-8 Fujian Ninghua pha, ha, lie, maʔ, mau, maŋ Zhang 2004: 262Guangxi Binyang mau Qiu 2008: 136 Guangxi Lingui Xiaojiang maŋ13, a35, pa21 Chen 2008: 108

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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It seems that m- is shared among the question particles in the dialects of Hakka.

Alternative questions by the (disj1) X disj2 Y structure, which is the same as

in Standard Chinese, are used most commonly in the dialects of Hakka.

Nevertheless, the disjunctions can be different. Standard Chinese uses (shi) X

haishi Y (be X or.be Y), while (shi) X haishi/yishi Y is adopted in many Hakka

dialects, such as those of the South Jiangxi Province, like Nankang, Wan-an,

Shicheng, Shangyou, Chongyi, Xunwu. Moreover, a simplified form through

omitting the disjunction pair, and adding a pause or particle in between, is also

adopted in some dialects. For example, the structure of alternative questions in

Dabu Hakka is X a Y (He 1993: 82). In Lingui Xiaojiang, a Hakka speech island

in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, however, X haishi Y is found (Chen

2008: 109), which is very likely to be influenced by the neighboring Ping

language.

The most common structure of X-neg-X questions in Hakka is V-neg-V(P)

or A-neg-A(P), depending on whether X is a verb (phrase) or an adjective

(phrase), although individual dialects may adopt some slightly different

structures. For example, VP-neg-V(P) and AP-neg-A(P) are also found in

Ningdu, Tianlin (Huang 2006: 66), Ninghua (Zhang 2004: 267), and Lingui

Xiaojiang (Chen 2008: 109); VP-neg-VP and AP-neg-AP questions are also

found in Ninghua (Zhang 2004: 267) and Binyang (Qiu 2008: 136); X-neg is

also found in Meixian (Huang 1994) and Dabu (He 1993: 81).

Some Hakka dialects also use Q-VP questions and verb-reduplicating

questions, and both express disjunctive-negative meaning. Those languages also

take Q-VP questions, including Wan-an, Nankang, Xingguo, Dayu, Anyuan,

Shangyou, Chongyi (Liu 1999: 748), and Longchuan (Wu 2009). The languages

that are also found to have verb-reduplicating questions include Yudu, Huichang,

Changting, and Liancheng (Xinquan dialect) (see, for example, Xiang 1990;

Zhang 1990; Liu 1999: 748, 2001: 335).

Xiang

Interrogatives in the dialects of Xiang have much more commonalities than

differences. Basically, final question particles 10 , X-neg-X, and alternative

questions are found in the polar questions of Xiang, while intonation-only is

avoided. The so-called “semantic wh-questions” can be formed by having a

10 For ma ne questions in Shaoyang Xiang and Chengbu Xiang, see Section 3.2.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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question particle at the end of a NP/VP, and a normal wh-question can take a

final question particle.

Individual dialects vary in some interrogative strategies, especially in the

choice of final question particles, and in the structuring of X-neg-X questions.

In Changsha, the capital city of the Hunan Province, the question particle lo

is used very often (Li 1991: 559-60). In fact, lo can also be used in every kind of

question.

(43) Changsha Xiang (Li 1991: 576, 585, 582)

他肯不肯讲啰？ a. tha33 khən53 pu24 khən42 kan42 lo33? (X-neg-X)

3SG will not will say QP ‘Will s/he say something or not?’

等一下下子再去好不啰？ b. tən53 i24xa21xatsɿ tsai55 khə55 xau42 pu lo33? (yes/no)

wait a.while then go good not QP ‘Is it okay to go there a little bit later?’

你是吃烟呢，还是吃茶啰？ c. li53 sɿi21 tɕhia35 iē33 ȵie33,

2SG be eat cigarette QP

xai13sɿ21 tɕhia13 tsa13 lo33? (Alternative) or eat tea QP ‘Would you like to smoke a cigarette, or have a cup of tea?’

要好多才够啰？ d. iau55 xau53to33 tsai13 kəu55 lo33? (wh-)

want how.much/many then enough QP ‘{How much / How many }is enough?’

Xiangtan, however, very frequently uses pu and pa (Zeng 2001: 91), and

Hengyang uses a (Peng 2002: 98), Yiyang uses po and pai (Xu 2001: 297), and

all these are neighboring dialects of Changsha. In Lianyuan Gutang, a is also the

most common final question particle (Wu 2006: 11).

As to the structure of X-neg-X questions, the situation is also complicated,

though X-neg-XP is favored in all Xiang dialects. In Changsha (Li 1991: 576-7),

Xiangtan (Zeng 2001: 91-2, 108, 110), and Hengyang (Peng 2002: 102-3),

X-neg-XP and X-neg structures are favored when asking disjunctive- negative

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

64

questions (see the references mentioned above). Nevertheless, in Yiyang, their

neighboring dialect, XP-neg-X questions are also favored (see Xu 2001: 305-6).

In its Gutang dialect of Lianyuan Xiang, it seems that all the variations of

X-neg-X question are grammatical (Wu 2006: 17-8).

Min

The Min language (the southern dialect spoken in Taiwan is also known as

Taiwanese) is classified into five sub-groups, namely, Southern, Northern,

Eastern, Middle, and Pu(tian)-Xian(you) (Chen and Li 1991: 1), or seven

subgroups, if Shao(wu)-Jiang(le) and Qiong(hai)-Wen(chang) are added (LAC).

This section mainly concerns Southern Min and Eastern Min.

In Southern Min, interrogative intonation-only, final question particles,

X-neg(-X), and alternative structures are used widely across its dialects.

Nevertheless, some dialects do not use all these strategies, while some other

dialects use more.

In the Xiamen variety of Southern Min, final interrogative intonation, final

question particles, X-neg-X, alternatives, and tag questions are reported (Zhou

1999; Gan 2007). A declarative sentence turns into an interrogative if a rising

intonation is used at the sentence-end. Some common final question particles

include [m], [bo], [bue], [be], and [ne]. X-neg-X questions are not used as often

as the reduced form X-neg. Alternative questions are of (disj) X disj Y structure.

In the Zhangzhou variety of Southern Min, final question particles, Q-X (not

found in Quanzhou Southern Min), X-neg-X, alternatives, and tag questions are

reported (Li 2001). The two most commonly used final question particles are

[hẽ32] and [hɔ32], with no rise in intonation. An X-neg-X question normally takes

a particle [A] before the negation word, forming a X-prt-neg-X structure.

Alternative questions are of [X or Y] structure.

In Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, polar interrogatives mainly use final

question particles, X-neg, Q-X, and alternative structures (Feng 1999; Chen 2011;

but see Wang and Lien 2001 for a discussion on X-neg-X questions).

Tag questions are also found across Southern Min languages. For example,

a X-prt-neg-X tag is found in Zhangzhou, e.g., …, xau A m xau? 好啊[不]好？

(good PRT NEG good) ‘…, okay?’ (Literally, ‘…, is it good or not?’) (Li 2001);

and a positive-negative tag is found in Xiamen, e.g. …, shi bo? 是[不] (be

NEG-be) ‘…, okay?’ (Literally, ‘…, is it like this or not?’) (Gan 2007).

The polar interrogatives of Southern Min languages are summarized in the

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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following table.

Table 2.6. Polar interrogatives of Min Xiamen Quanzhou Zhangzhou Taiwan

Intonation + ? + (+) Q particle + + + + X-neg-X X-neg X-neg X-(prt-)neg X-neg Q-X (kã53-/kam53-X)11 - kã53-/kam53-X kam53-X

Alternative X disj Y X disj Y X disj Y X disj Y (prt) Tag S, pos-neg S, pos-neg S, X-prt-neg-X ? It can be seen from the table that Xaimen Min and Quanzhou Min lack an Q-X

question as found in Zhangzhou Min and Taiwan Min.

In Fuzhou Min, an Eastern variety of the Min language, which is spoken in

the capital city of Fujian Province and its neighboring districts, polar

interrogatives use final rising intonation-only, final question particles, X-neg-X,

and alternative structures (Gan 2007). X-neg-X questions are commonly found in

a full form rather than a reduced X-neg form, and the negation constituent is

phonologically merged with its preceding syllable, for example, khoŋ55 ŋɔ213 <

khɔ213 ŋ55 ŋɔ213 (go not go), paŋ21 ma53 < pa53 ŋ55 pa53 (scrawl not scrawl), khaŋ55

ŋaŋ213 < khaŋ213 ŋ55 khaŋ213 (look not look), phaŋ55 maʔ23 < phaʔ23 ŋ55 phaʔ23 (pat

not pat) (see Li 1987; Gan 2007). This is different from Southern Min, where the

reduced form, X-neg, is prevalent.

Hui

Polar interrogatives in the dialects of Hui often use terminal rising

intonation, final question particles, and alternative structures, which is basically

the same as in Standard Chinese.

One big difference in the dialects of Hui is found in the X-neg-X questions.

Most dialects of Hui use X-neg questions, not the full form X-neg-X (although it

is also used, notably among young generations). This is found in Jìxī, Shèxiàn;

Túnxī, Xiūníng, Yīxiàn, as well as some Hui dialects spoken in the Zhejiang

Province, e.g. Chún-ān, Jiàndé, Shòuchāng, Suì-ān (Meng 2005: 121, 215, 412).

However, the dialects Qímén and Wùyuán are different. In particular, Qímén and

Wùyuán usually use X-neg-X(P) to express the disjunctive-negative meaning

11 Q-X in Xiamen Min is only found in rhetoric questions.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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(fieldwork notes).

Another difference is that the Jīng-Zhàn subdialect of Hui, e.g. Kēcūn,

Jīngdé, and Zhàndà, usually do not use X-neg(-X) questions, but Q-X questions

(here is ke-X; Meng 2005: 329-35). This is because these Hui dialects borrowed

such a question from their neighboring areas, i.e. Jiang-Huai Mandarin speaking

districts (see LAC map B10), which is rich in Q-X questions (see this section

above and Sections 6.1.1, 7.2.4.2).

Some interrogative strategies of Hui are summarized in the following table

(based on Meng 2005: 124-8, 218-25, 276-81, 330-5, 414-20, and native speaker

sources on Déxīng, Fúliáng, Qímén, and Wùyúan). Note that the table does not

include terminal rising intonation and alternative structures, two common

strategies in Hui.

Table 2.7. Interrogative strategies in Hui Sub-dia. Dialects FP-YN FP-WH FP-RWH X-n(-X) Q-VP

Ji-She Shexian a, ba a, lai, ai lai + – Jixi a, ba, wa a, le, ne ne + – Xiu-Yi Tunxi a, wa a, le a + – Xiuning a, le a, le le + – Yixian a, ba ne ne + – Wuyuan a, ma a, ne ne + – Qi-De Qimen wa, na, ba a, ne, na ne + – Fuliang a, ma, ba a, ne ne + – Dexing a lai, ne lai + – Jing-Zhan Jingde a, ma a, ye, ne ne – + Kecun a, ba, la an, yo, la, ne ne – + Zhanda a, ma an, yo ne – + Yanzhou Chun-an a, ma lei ne + – Jiande a, ba li ne + – Suining a, wa a, la ne + – Shouchang a a, ne ne + –

Jin

Polar interrogatives in the Jin language use terminal rising intonation, final

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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question particles, X-neg-X, alternative structures, Q-X, and verb-reduplication.

The first four strategies are common in Sinitic languages, while Q-X is not so

common, and verb-reduplication is rare.

The polar interrogatives strategies in the dialects of Jin in the Shānxī

Province山西 are summarized in Table 2.6 (mainly based on Hou and Wen 1993,

Guo 2005, Guo 2010, Li 2005, and informants from Taiyuan and Yuncheng).

Table 2.8. Interrogative strategies in the dialects of Jin Strategies Dialects of Jin attested

Intonation Changzhi, Datong, Dingxiang, Jincheng, Loufan, Wenshui

Q particle Changzhi, Datong, Guangling, Heshun, Jincheng, Linfen, Linxian, Loufan, Taiyuan, Xinzhou, Yuncheng

Q-X Linxian, Loufan, Pingyao, Shanyin, Taiyuan, Wutai verb-redu. Daixian, Pianguan, Pinglu, Shuozhou, Wutai X-neg-X X-prt-neg: Fenyang, Hequ, Lishi, Loufan, Pianguan, Pingyao,

Wutai, Xiaoyi, Yangquan X-neg: Daixian, Datong, Ningwu, Yangquan, Yuncheng X-neg-prt: Changzhi, Guangling, Heshun, Linfen, Linxian,

Taiyuan, Xinzhou X-prt-neg-(X)-prt: Fenyang, Jiaocheng, Taigu, Wuxiang, Xiaoyi X-neg-X-prt: Datong, Fenyang, Lishi, Loufan, Taiyuan, Wutai,

Wuxiang, Xiaoyi X-neg-X: Changzhi, Datong, Jincheng, Lishi, Taiyuan

Alternative X prt Y prt / X (prt) disj Y (prt): Changzhi, Fenyang, Jincheng, Loufan, Yangquan, Yuanping

It can be inferred from the table that some varieties of Jin use more

sub-types of polar questions than others, especially in the case of X-neg-X

questions.

However, the table does not present the whole picture of the polar question

system in Jin. Taking the dialects spoken in a neighboring province – the Shǎnxī

Province 陕西 - for example, Q-X questions are also found in Qingjian and

Yanchuan; X-neg is found in Shenmu and Wubao; X(-prt)-neg-X is found in

Yanchuan; X-prt-neg is found in Shenmu, Wubao, Yanchuan, and Shuide (Xing

2005). Verb-reduplicating questions, which are rare in Sinitic, are also reported

in Shanbei Jin (Xing 2002).

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Ping

The Ping language is mainly spoken in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous

Region, and is divided into two main dialects, the Northern and the Southern.

Northern Ping is spoken sporadically in the neighboring areas of Guilin and

Hezhou, and Southern Ping is spoken in contiguous geographical areas around

Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi. The two dialects are separated by Liuzhou.

This section focuses on the interrogatives in the 11 dialects of Northern Ping,

namely, Yongfu Tangbao, Lingui Liangjiang, Lingui Yining, Yangshuo Putao,

Fuchuan Xiushui, Guanyang Guanyinge, Quanzhou Wenqiao, Hezhou

Jiudusheng, Xing-an Gaoshang, Zhongshan, and Ziyuan Yandong.

Four common strategies – that is final question particles, X-neg-X,

alternative structures, and wh-questions – are all found in Northern Ping. The

interrogative system shares many similarities across the dialects of Northern

Ping, though some studies show that interrogatives by verb-reduplication and

intonation-only are not adopted widely, but only in some dialects.

Polar questions formed by intonation-only are reported from Lingui Yining,

Quanzhou Wenqiao, Guanyang Guanyinge, Hezhou Jiudu, and Ziyuan Yandong.

The intonation pattern of the latter three is still unknown, while the first two

dialects take a slight rising intonation (Zhou 2005: 267; Tang 2005: 276).

All 11 dialects use final question particles to ask polar questions, although

the inventories of final question particles may not be the same. For example, the

final question particles in Yongfu Tangbao include a31, au31, lie35, nie35, and ba31

(Xiao 2005: 221-2); Lingui Liangjiang include æ33, le13, le35, and pæ33 (Liang

2005: 208); Xing-an Gaoshang include po22 and mo22 (Lin 2005: 226-8); and so

on.

X-neg-X questions are also common across the dialects of Northern Ping. In

the 11 dialects of the present study, the first X reserves only the first syllable if X

happens to be a non-monosyllabic word (or phrase). Taking a verb phrase for

example, the most common structure is V-neg-VP, not VP-neg-V or V(P)-neg,

though the latter two are also found. That is, σ1-neg-σ1(σ2…) is a basic

phonological structure in the 11 dialects of Northern Ping.

Two matters deserve to be mentioned here. One is the negation word in

X-neg-X questions. Among the 11 dialects, three use mau 冇 only, three use mau

and bu/mei, the other five use uŋ, bu, and mo. That is to say, mau is the most

common negation word in X-neg-X questions in Northern Ping. In the tradition

of Chinese linguistics, a selection of bu or mei are reckoned to be an important

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parameter in classifying the subtypes of X-neg-X questions (see Xing 2005, and

references cited therein). Here, it seems that a third possibility is also reasonable.

Ping, as an individual Sinitic language, adopts a different negation word in its

X-neg-X questions.

Another matter is that there are verb-reduplication questions in Quanzhou

Wenqiao and Ziyuan Yandong, because of phonological abridgement in

conversation.

(44) Quanzhou Wenqiao Ping (Tang 2005: 280, 244-5)

星期日你去（不）去开会？ xingqiri ni qu(-bu-)qu kai-hui? Sunday 2SG go-not-go attend-meeting ‘Are you going to attend the meeting on Sunday or not?’

(45) Ziyuan Yandong Ping (Zhang 2005: 247)

考试唔考试？→ 考唔考试？→ 考考试？ kaoshi ŋ53 kaoshi? > kao ŋ53 kaoshi? > kaokaoshi?take.exam not ‘Are you going to have an exam or not?’

Alternative questions in Northern Ping normally take a (shi) X haishi Y (be

X or Y) structure, which is the same as in Standard Chinese and many other

Sinitic languages. Also, the question particle ne can be added after each disjunct,

and the disjunctions shi and haishi can be dropped, with only a short pause in

between.

Like most other Sinitic languages, some question particles can also be added

at the end of a wh-question in Northern Ping, which are very frequently found to

be lie or ne. Nevertheless, Lingui Yining is an exception of this: here

wh-questions take no final question particles. Semantic wh-questions, i.e. those

formed by a noun (phrase) or a verb (phrase) plus a question particle, are also

found in every dialect of Northern Ping.

(46) Guanyang Guanyinge Ping (Bai 2005: 192)

个个东西有好重咧？ kuo24 kuo24 taŋ53si53 iao33 xu33 thən33 lie? DEF DEF thing have how heavy QP ‘How heavy is this stuff?’

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(47) Lingui Liangjiang Ping (Liang 2005: 208, 211)

ləu33tʃē35 lie13/le35? 老张咧？

Old.Zhang QP ‘{Where is / How about} Old Zhang?’

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2.1.2. Tibeto-Burman languages

2.1.2.1. Tibetan languages

Tibetan

The Tibetan language spoken in China mainly consists of three dialects (or,

groups), Weizang, Kang, and Anduo (see, e.g., Jin 1983: 114-5; Gesang and

Gesang 2002: 3). Strategies of polar questions vary in different varieties of

language, though final question particles are widely applied, as it is summarized

in the table below. Tibetan (and three other Tibetan languages, Menba, Baima,

and Tsangluo) normally does not phrase polar questions by interrogative

intonation-only or X-neg-X structures.

Table 2.9. Polar interrogatives in Tibetan varieties Dialects Varieties Q particles Alternative IVM References

Weizang Lhasa pεʔ (kεʔ, ŋεʔ) X Y n/i Jin 1983: 81-2, 102-3

Rikaze pa (wa, na, ŋa,ta, ka)

X prt Y prt n/i Gesang and Gesang 2002: 61, 68

Kang Dege do, ji, le X prt Y e Gesang and Gesang 2002: 160-1, 167

Gaize ne n/i ə Qu and Tan 1983: 95

Anduo Labulen ni, ko, ri X Y ə Gesang and Gesang 2002: 264-5

Purik a n/i n/i Bailey 1915

Gesang and Gesang (2002: 160, 264) classify e in Dege Tibetan (Kang

group) and ə in Labulen Tibetan (Anduo group) as question particles.

Nevertheless, Sun (1995), Sun, Chirkova and Liu (2007: 85-6, 130-1, 190-1)

propose that ə, a, e and the like in Tibeto-Burman are interrogative prefixes, now

that such constituents are in vowel harmony with the verbs in some languages,

e.g. Baima, a language of the Tibetan subgroup (Sun, Chirkova and Liu 2007:

85).

The distribution of the interrogative prefixes is uneven in individual Tibetan

varieties. In Qu and Tan’s (1983: 95) comparative study of seven dialects of the

Ali district of Tibet, i.e. Ge’er, Ritu, Pulan, Zhada, Geji, Lecuo, and Gaize (the

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first six are of the Weizang group of Tibetan, and the final, Gaize, belongs to the

Kang group of Tibetan), Gaize is different in that it has a pre-verbal interrogative

constituent ə, which is not found in the other six dialects. In other words, a polar

question formed by having a ə (or its variants) before a verb is an important

feature of Anduo Tibetan and Kang Tibetan.

Note that in Labulen Tibetan, one could also ask a polar question by only

having a rising intonation at the end of a declarative sentence (Gesang and

Gesang 2002: 265).

Menba

In (Cuona) Menba, polar interrogatives normally use final question particles

(mA31) or X disj Y (prt) alternative structures (Sun et al. 1980: 58-9; Lu 1986:

106-8).

(48) Menba (Sun et al. 1980: 59)

ʔi43 zA13 tA

13 mA23 zA

23? 2SG eat or not eat ‘Will you eat or not?’

Baima

In Baima, polar interrogative strategies include final question particles,

alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology. The most commonly

used question particles are ua53 and tε53, but frequently they are used in

collaboration with some other strategies, like interrogative verb morphology,

although verb morphology itself can form a polar question alone (Sun, Chirkova,

and Liu 2007: 130-4).

(49) Baima (Sun, Chirkova, and Liu 2007: 131)

tɐ13 rɐ35 na13 nɔ13 e53 ndʑi53 gɐ13 i53 tε53?today mountain LOC Q go want FUT PRT ‘{Are you going / Shall we go} to the mountain?’

An alternative question takes a particle (ɦa13 or ia13) between the two (or

more) disjuncts, rather than disjunctions like ʑe341rε35, or xue13(tʃe53) (loan word

from Chinese), which are used in declarative sentences.

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(50) Baima (Sun, Chirkova, and Liu 2007: 131)

ʑo13 ko53 ndʑi53 ʃa53 ɦa13 ʃɔ13 ʃa53? 1PL go IMP PRT rest IMP ‘Shall we go or take a rest?’

The interrogative morpheme a53 added before a verb is in vowel harmony

with the verb. Their harmony pattern is summarized in the following table (based

on Sun, Chirkova, and Liu 2007: 85).

Table 2.10. Vowel harmony in Baima interrogative verb morphology Vowels a varieties Examples

i e ndʑi53 ‘go’ e53 ndʑi53 ‘go?’ e, ε ε tʃe53 ‘cut (tree)’

ȵε35 ‘sleep’ ε53tʃe53 ‘cut?’ ε35ȵε35 ‘sleep?’

a, ɑ, ɔ ɑ dʑa341 ‘sew’ tɔ35 ‘wrap’

a53dʑa341 ‘sew?’ a35tɔ35 ‘wrap?’

o ɔ kho35 ‘carry (firewood)’ ɔ53kho53 ‘carry?’ u o phu35 ‘rub’ o53phu35 ‘rub?’ y ø ȵy341 ‘sniff’ ø53ȵy341 ‘sniff?’ ə, ɿ, ɐ, ø, and

compound vowels

ə khɐ53 ‘warm (by fire)’ ndʐø53 ‘harvest’ dzuε341 ‘dig’

ə53 khɐ53 ‘warm (by fire)?’ə53ndʐø53 ‘harvest?’ ə53dzuε341 ‘dig?’

Sun, Chirkova, and Liu (2007: 86) propose that interrogativity by

verb-prefixing in Tibeto-Burman languages and Sinitic languages are of a

common origin, and not accidental later-developed grammatical features in

individual languages, since the phenomenon is widely attested.

Tsangluo

Tsangluo (also known as Motuo Menba; see e.g. Sun et al. 1980) is reported

to use final question particles and alternative structures to form polar questions

(Sun et al. 1980: 106-7).

(51) Tsangluo (Sun et al. 1980: 106-7)

a. nai ba ju dʑammo mo? 2SG PL alcohol drink PRT ‘Do you want to drink some alcohol?’

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b. dytʂaŋ lekpu la mo, ma la ja?

chief good be PRT not be PRT ‘Is the chief a good man or not?’ Alternative questions in Tsangluo are of X prt disj Y or X prt Y prt structure, and

the disjunction in (51b) is not a normal disjunction but a particle (see also Zhang

1986: 156-7).

2.1.2.2. Yi languages

Yi

The most outstanding feature of the polar questions in Yi (and many other

Yi languages) is the reduplicating structure, i.e. a verb (phrase) or an adjective is

reduplicated to ask the polarity value of a certain action or feature.

Yi mainly consists of six dialects, namely, the North, South, East, West,

Southeast, and Central (Chen et al. 1985: 172-216), sharing many similarities in

their polar question systems, though there are also some differences among

individual dialects as well.

The Northern dialects (e.g. Liangshan Yi 凉山) use final question particles,

VV, V-prt-neg-V, AA, A-prt-neg-A, and alternative (X prt Y) structures. Note that

the reduplicating structure, VV, or AA, is always accompanied by a change of

tone. The rules of tonal change are summarized in the following (Chen et al.

1985: 94; see also Chen 1996).

Table 2.11. Rules of tonal change in North Yi reduplicating questions (Last) syllable tone Syllable structure Examples

55, 44, 21 σ σ33 lɔ55pɔ21 ‘help’ → lɔ55pɔ21pɔ33 ‘help?’33 σ44σ la33 ‘come’ → la44la33 ‘come?’ It is noteworthy that in the Northern dialect of Yi, the rule is to reduplicate the

last syllable if the verb has more than one syllable.

In Weining Yi 威宁, an East dialect of Yi, VV prt, V (prt) neg V, AA prt, and

A (prt) neg A questions are attested. The difference between using/omitting a

question particle (no33) in a V (prt) neg V and A (prt) neg A question is pragmatic

one, in particular, a sentence sounds more polite if no33 is adopted.

A question particle (ɪ or e) must be tagged after a reduplicated

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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mono-syllable verb or adjective, e.g. lɤ31 ‘go’, lɤ31lɤ31ɪ ‘go?’; ɖo33 ‘like’,

ɖo33ɖo33e ‘like?’. If verbs or adjectives that have two or more syllables should be

reduplicated, the rule is to reduplicate the last syllable, tagged also with an ɪ or e.

An interesting feature in the serial verb construction in Weining Yi is that one

can reduplicate a certain verb that s/he wants to emphasize (Chen et al. 1985:

186). In the following examples, (a) is to emphasis the action play, while (b) and

(c) are to emphasis the action go.

(52) Weining Yi (East dialect of Yi; Chen et al. 1985: 186)

a. na31 lɤ33 go31 go31 e? 2SG go play play PRT ‘Do you want to go and play?’

b. na31 go31 lɤ33 lɤ33 ɪ? 2SG play go go PRT ‘Do you want to go and play?’

c. go31 na31 lɤ33 lɤ33 ɪ? play 2SG go go PRT ‘Do you want to go and play?’ In Luquan Yi 禄劝, another East dialect of Yi, V (disj) neg V and A (disj)

neg A questions are also reported (Chen et al. 1985: 187).

In some of the Southern dialects of Yi, V-neg-V and A-neg-A questions are

reported (e.g. E’shan 峨山). For example, questions formed by reduplicating

monosyllabic verbs/adjectives, i.e. VV (prt) and AA (prt) structures are very

frequently found in E’shan, Xinping 新平, and Qiubei 邱北. When it is the case

that the predicate consists of two verbs (be it an action verb or some other type,

e.g. a modal one), the rule is to reduplicate the first (action) one, e.g. tsha55 ka42

(drink can) ‘(someone) can drink’, tsha55 tsha55 ka42? ‘can (someone) drink?’ in

Xinping Yi (Chen et al. 1985: 192-3).

In a general account of South Yi, however, Li (1996: 77-8, 86-7) concludes

that to reduplicate a non-monosyllabic verb, one could either reduplicate the first

syllable or the last one. Some examples of final question particles (e.g. mo33, nu33,

pa55, lo33) and alternative questions (X prt Y) are also included in his monograph

(Li 1996: 136, 138-41, 213).

In Pula Yi (仆拉 a South dialect of Yi), a polar question can be formed by

AA and a final question particle. The final syllable of an adjective is reduplicated

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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if it has more than one syllable, e.g. ne13 ‘short’ > ne13ne13 ‘short?’, dɪ33 ‘low’ >

dɪ21dɪ33 ‘low?’ (noting a change in tone) (see Wang 2004).

An example of an alternative question reported in Pula Yi is of X disj, Y prt

structure (Wang 2004), in which the disjunction is adhered to the first disjunct,

which is very special in the languages in China (another language that has this

structure is Tujia, see below).

(53) Pula Yi (Wang 2004)

ŋa22 mɤ21khɪ33 lε55 nɤ33, ɕɪ33ȵɪ33 lε33 nɪ33?1SG evening come or tomorrow come PRT ‘Shall I come tonight or tomorrow?’

In West dialects of Yi, however, VV or AA questions are not grammatical.

Instead, V(prt)-neg-V and A(prt)-neg-A questions are used, e.g. ʑi55 (a31li31) ma31

ʑi55? (go (PRT) not go) ‘go or not?’, tʂhɿ55 (a31li31) ma31 tʂhɿ55? (sweet (PRT) not

sweet) ‘sweet or not?’ (Chen et al. 1985: 199-200).

In Weishan Yi (巍山 a Western dialect of Yi), when a verb/adjective has

more than one syllable, it takes a V/A prt question, i.e. simply takes a question

particle (a31li31) after the verb/adjective that is questioned, e.g. ʂa55kho33 a31li31?

(apologize PRT) ‘apologize?’, dʐu55di31 a31li31? (happy PRT) ‘happy?’ (Chen et al.

1985: 200).

In Mile Yi (弥勒 a Southeastern dialect of Yi), questions like VV and AA are

reported when a verb/adjective is monosyllabic. When a verb/adjective has more

than one syllable, the paradigm is a more complicated. The following table is

based on Chen et al. (1985: 208).

Table 2.12. Syllable structure of reduplicating polar questions in Mile Yi Syllable Classes Syllable structure Examples

mono verb/adj. σ σ tu33 ‘drink’→ tu33 tu33 di/multi common verb σ1 σ2 σ2 go33na55 ‘lose’ → go33na55na55 direction verb σ1 σ1 σ2 du33du11 ‘go (out)’ → du33du33du11

adjective σ1 σ2 σ2 prt prt ni33gɤ11 ‘red’ → ni33gɤ11gɤ55ʑie33ʑie33

The situation in verb complexes of Yiliang Yi (宜良 another Southeast

dialect of Yi) seems to be more flexible. It is both grammatical to reduplicate the

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

77

first syllable or the final one. However, when a verb complex is consisted of a

major (action) verb and a modal one, the rule is to reduplicate the first syllable

or the major verb. This is similar in Wenshan Yi 文山 (Chen et al. 1985: 208-9).

In Yao’an Yi (姚安 a Central dialect of Yi), questions like VV, V-disj-neg-V,

AA, and A-disj-neg-A are attested, while V-neg-V and A-neg-A are ungrammatical.

Polar questions formed by reduplication are always found to have the first

syllable reduplicated if a verb/adjective has di/multi-syllables, though in

marginal cases it is also grammatical to reduplicate the final syllable of a

di/multi-syllabic verb (Chen et al. 1985: 214).

Polar questions in Dayao Yi (大姚 another Central dialect of Yi) are very

different from Yao’an. A polar question normally uses V-neg-V, or A-neg-A

structures, or simply has a question particle tagged after a verb/adjective (Chen

et al. 1985: 214-5).

Interrogative strategies in Yi are summarized in the following table.

2 A

sur

vey

of p

olar

inte

rrog

ativ

e st

rate

gies

78

Tabl

e 2.

13.

Int

erro

gati

ve s

trat

egie

s in

Yi P

olar

que

stio

ns

Dia

lect

s of

Yi

Par

ticl

e A

lter

nati

ve

V-n

eg-V

A

-neg

-A

Syl

labl

es r

edup

licat

ed in

Q

Nor

th

da31

, pa55

X

prt

Y

VV

, V-p

rt-n

eg-V

A

A, A

-prt

-neg

-A

verb

: fin

al (

syll

able

)

E

ast (

Wei

ning

威宁

) ɪ,

e n/

i V

V-p

rt, V

(-di

sj)-

neg-

V

AA

-prt

, A(-

disj

)-ne

g-A

ve

rb: f

inal

Eas

t (L

uqua

n禄劝

) n/

i n/

i V

(-di

sj)-

neg-

V

A(-

disj

)-ne

g-A

n/

i

Sou

th (

E’s

han峨山

,

Xin

ping

新平

, Qiu

bei邱

北)

n/i

n/i

VV

, VV

-prt

A

A, A

A-p

rt

gene

ral:

eit

her

Xin

ping

: ver

b: f

irst

Sou

th (

Pul

a 仆拉

) na

33, ȵ

ɪ13, n

o33X

dis

j, Y

prt

n/

i A

A

adje

ctiv

e: f

inal

Wes

t n/

i n/

i V

(-pr

t)-n

eg-V

A

(-pr

t)-n

eg-A

N

o

C

entr

al (

Yao

’an姚安

) n/

i n/

i V

V, V

-dis

j-ne

g-V

A

A, A

-dis

j-ne

g-A

ve

rb/a

djec

tive

: fir

st

Cen

tral

(D

ayao

大姚

) ε31ε33

V-n

eg-V

A

-neg

-A

n/i

Sou

thea

st

(Mil

e弥勒

, Yil

iang

宜良

) n/

i n/

i V

V, V

-neg

-V

AA

, A-n

eg-A

M

ile:

com

mon

ver

bs: f

inal

di

rect

ion

verb

s: f

irst

ad

ject

ives

: fin

al

Yil

iang

, Wen

shan

: co

mm

on v

erbs

: eit

her

verb

com

plex

: fir

st/m

ajor

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

79

Lisu

Lisu uses final question particles, X-neg-X structures, as well as verb-

reduplicating structures to form polar questions. Some common question

particles include uε, ŋε, ma5…ε, ŋa ha, and mo, and a X-neg-X question could be

V(P)-neg-V or A-neg-A (Zhongguo Kexueyuan Shaoshu Minzu Yuyan Yanjiusuo

1959: 48, 54, 56, 112-4; Xu and Gai 1986: 88, 102-3). Roop (1970: 243-7)

reports that Lisu also uses intonation-only to form polar questions.

Differences do exist in polar questions in individual varieties of Lisu. For

example, the question ‘Can you speak (or not)?’ is very different in Nujiang Lisu

怒江, Yongsheng Lisu 永胜, and Luquan Lisu 禄劝 (Xu et al. 1986: 113).

(54) Lisu (Xu et al. 1986: 113)

a. the33 ku55 the33 ma31 ku55? (Nujiang Lisu) speak can speak not can

b. the33 n31 the33 kɯ33? (Yongsheng Lisu) speak not speak can

c. bε44 sε44 sε44? or, bε44 bε44 sε44? (Luquan Lisu) speak can can speak speak can ‘Can you speak (or not)?’ Lahu

Lahu polar questions often use final question particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures. Some common final question particles are la3, le1, and

le1na2, and the structure of an alternative question is X prt disj Y prt (Matisoff

1973: 371-7; Chang 1986: 26, 30, 52, 70-1). An X-neg-X question is nothing

special except that its answer can be in a very short form. In the following

example, an adjective plus a particle is enough to answer an A-neg-A question.

(55) Lahu (Chang 1986: 70)

A: sɿ4ve6 tshi1 te3 ve6 ni1 ma3 ni? flower DEF one CL red not red ‘Is the flower red or not?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

80

B: ni1 a2. red PRT

‘It is red.’

Nevertheless, according to Mu (2003: 210, and p.c.), Lahu also has a

verb-reduplicating polar question, although it is not included in Chang’s

description.

Hani

Hani polar questions use final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative

structures.

Two common question particles used in polar questions are la31 and a31 (Li

and Wang 1986: 103, 127; equals laq and aq in Li 1990: 137, 187, respectively).

In some varieties of Hani, there is a further division in the use of final question

particles in polar questions. For example, in Bika Hani 碧卡, the particle used in

second person is le55, and in third person is ai55 (Li and Wang 1986: 150).

(56) Bika Hani (Li and Wang 1986: 150)

a. nʏ55 sɔ31kɔ31 tsu55 mɤ31 le55? 2SG book read want PRT ‘Do you want to go studying?’

b. je31 kɔ31 sɔ31kɔ31 tsu55 mɤ31 ai55? 3SG.M book read want PRT ‘Does he want to go studying?’ Alternative questions in Hani always take a X (prt) disj Y (prt) structure. If it

happens to have more than two disjuncts, then the disjunction occurs just before

the very final one (Li 1990: 187-9).

Jinuo

Jinuo polar interrogative strategies include final question particles, X-neg-X,

and alternative structures.

Polar questions formed by final question particles (e.g. la42, ȵa44) are

always accompanied by a change of tone in the verb, while a verb in X-neg-X or

alternative question keeps its original tone. The rule of tonal change in Jonuo

verbs are summarized as follows (Gai 1986: 54-6; Gai 1987).

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

81

Table 2.14. Tonal change in verbs in Jinuo polar questions Original tone Interrogative tone

Falling-tone verbs1 42 → 35 Even-tone verbs 33, 44 → 35 High-even-tone verbs 55 → 55 (57) Jinuo (Gai 1986: 54)

a. ɕe33 ɤ33 do55tshi44 ŋə44 ε la42? (ŋə42 > ŋə44) DEF LNK poison be PRT PRT ‘Is it poison?’

b. nə42 phɔ35 fa44 la42? (phɔ42 > phɔ35) 2SG buy PRT PRT ‘Did you buy it?’ Tonal change in Jinuo is regarded to be a morphological strategy, Gai (1987)

calls this ‘verb inflections’. However, tonal change is not (or no longer?) a strict

rule in Jinuo, some verbs keep their original tone in questions, with a question

particle at the sentence-end, which shows that the final question particle is taking

the place of tonal change. For example, in (57a-b), ŋə44 could also be pronounced

as ŋə42.

The X-neg-X questions in Jinuo mainly include VP neg V, V neg V, and A

neg A. A verb normally keeps its original tone, whereas some adjectives are

found to have their tones changed.

(58) Jinuo (a-b, Gai 1987; c-d, Gai 1986: 62)

a. nə42 zo44 zo44 mɔ44 zo44? 2SG go go NEG go ‘Are you going there or not?’

b. nə42 pjo55 ε mɔ44 pjo55? 2SG write PRT NEG write ‘Are you going to write or not?’

c. xə44mε44 ɬo42 a mɔ44 ɬo42 a? meal hot PRT NEG hot PRT

‘Is the food (still) hot?’ 1 Copula ŋə42 ‘be’ is an exception, which changes to be ŋə44 in interrogative.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

82

d. lo42si33 ma35 a mɔ44 ma35 a?

screw tight PRT NEG tight PRT

‘Is the screw tight or not?’ (a) is VV neg V, (b) is V neg V, both with no tonal change in verb; (c) has no

tonal change in adjective, while (d) changed (ma55 > a35).

Some differences of polar questions do exist among individual dialects.

(59) Jinuo (Gai 1986: 143-5)

a. ŋɔ42 phɔ35 fa44 la42? (Youle Jinuo 攸乐) 1SG buy PRT QP ‘Had I bought that?’

b. ŋuε33 ε vu13 tɔ13 mja33? (Buyuan Jinuo 补远) 1SG PRT buy PRT QP ‘Had I bought that?’

c. kha55 ɤ33 lɔ44mɔ33 mə44 ŋə44 ε la42? (Youle Jinuo) DEF LNK tiger one be PRT QP ‘Is that a tiger?’

d. jE31 lɔ33mɔ33 lã55? (Buyuan Jinuo)

DEF tiger QP ‘Is that a tiger?’ In (a), the tone of the verb changed, i.e. phɔ42 > phɔ35; in (b), both the pronoun

and the verb changed, i.e. ŋɔ31 > ŋuε33 (note that not only the tone is changed),

vu31 > vu13. In (c), the tone of the verb changed, i.e. ŋə42 > ŋə44; in (d), the

copular is dropped.

Alternative questions in Jinuo are found to be of X prt disj Y prt structure

(Gai 1986: 118; Gai 1987).

Naxi

Polar interrogative strategies in Naxi include final question particles,

X(-neg-)X, interrogative verb morphology, and alternative structures.

Some common sentence-final particles in Naxi polar questions are la55, le33,

and ʂə55. X-neg-X questions are found to be V(P) (neg) V(P) or Adj neg Adj

structure, depending on X being a verb or an adjective. Alternative questions are

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

83

of X (prt) disj Y prt (see He and Jiang 1982: 54, 79, 85, 98, 102; He 1987: 76).

Verb-reduplicating questions normally take the question particle le33 after

them, and the first verb keeps a high even tone (55). It keeps only a trivial role in

Colloquial Naxi (see He 1987: 63).

(60) Naxi (He and Jiang 1982: 49)

a. bɯ55 bɯ33 le33? b. phiə55 phiə33 le33? go go PRT like like PRT ‘go or not?’ ‘like (it) or not?’

ke-VP-like questions are found in Naxi. An adverb, el (recorded also as ə55),

which behaves like a prefix is placed before a verb or an adjective predicate to

question an action or the polar value of a certain feature (He and Jiang 1982: 78;

He 1987: 88, 115).

(61) Naxi (He 1987: 115)

a. el bbee? b. el ga leiq? Q go Q good PRT ‘go?’ ‘good?’ Tanglang

In Tanglang polar questions, final question particles, alternative structures,

and verb-reduplication structures are often used (Gai 2002).

(62) Tanglang (Gai 2002)

a. næ53 ȵi31 dʑe33 læ? 2 ox have PRT

‘Do you have an ox?’

b. thæ33 ȵi31 mʌ33 thæ33? sharp PRT not sharp ‘Is (the knife) sharp or not?’

c. mv 53 χã33 χã33? rain drop drop ‘Will it rain (or not)?’ Note that the negative answer of (b) is mʌ33 mthæ13 ‘not sharp’, with a change in

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

84

the tone of the adjective, in other words, tonal change can change the

positive/negative value of an adjective.

Mo’ang

Mo’ang is an endangered language spoken in the Yunnan Province, in

Southwest China, with about 5,000 native speakers (Wu 2007: 379). The polar

question system of Mo’ang is not clear due to the fact that very limited literature

is available, though Wu (2007: 389-90) included two examples of polar

questions in his brief account of the language; both use final question particles.

(63) Mo’ang (Wu 2007: 389-90)

a. ʑa51 so33 sa33 ȵa33? 3SG.M leave PST PRT ‘Has he already left?’

b. na51 mjaˀ33 sa33 sa33 ȵa33? 2SG meal eat PST PRT ‘Have you eaten?’ Sangkong

Final question particles, V neg V, and alternative structures are reported in

the polar question system of Sangkong. The most frequently used question

particle is wa55, which is also used after every disjunct in an alternative question,

with also a disjunction after the first disjunct. The following is an alternative

question example of VP prt neg V structure (Li 2002: 201-3).

(64) Sangkong (Li 2002: 160)

mɯŋ31ŋe33 e55 wa55 a31 e55 wa55?town go PRT not go PRT ‘(Will you) go to the town or not?’

Bisu

In Bisu, polar interrogative strategies include final question particles (e.g.

la31), V(P) neg V(P), and alternative structures (disj X Y).

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

85

(65) Bisu (Xu 1998: 78, 146)

a. ʑa31ki33 xa33sɿ31 tsa31 phɤ31 ba31 tsa31 phɤ31 ga33 la31? child banana eat can not eat can PRT QP ‘Can a baby eat bananas (or not)?’

b. xai31sɿ55 ga33 e55 lai55 la31? ʑaŋ33 e55 lai55 la31? or 1SG go PRT QP 3SG.M go PRT QP ‘Shall I go or he go (there)?’ Note that in Bisu the disjunction xai31sɿ55 ‘or’ is borrowed from Chinese haishi

/xaiʂʅ/ ‘or, rather’ and can be omitted freely in alternative questions.

Kazhuo

Strategies reported in Kazhuo polar questions include final rising intonation

and/or question particles, and alternative structures (X disj Y).

A special method in Kazhuo’s polar questions is reduplication, i.e.

reduplicating a verb predicate or an adjective predicate, bringing a VV or AA (prt)

structure.

(66) Kazhuo (Mu 2003: a, 85; b, 88; c-d, 209)

a. nε33 to323 to323? 2SG drink drink ‘Do you want to drink (or not)?’

b. xɤ33 tε33 kɤ24 khua55 khua55? room DEF CL wide wide ‘Is the room big (or not)?’ If a predicate verb has more than one syllable, the rule is to reduplicate the final

syllable; if the predicate is a verb complex, e.g. a resultive construction, then the

rule is to reduplicate the word (syllable) that affiliated to the major one.

c. nε33tshε31 sa33lia33 lia33?

2PL discuss ‘Have you discussed?’

d. nε33 na35tɕa31 tɕa31? 2SG hear.RES ‘Did you hear (that)?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

86

For a comparison of verb-reduplicating questions in Kazhuo and other Yi

languages, see Mu (2003: 208-66), in which he includes some interesting

findings, e.g. verb-reduplicating questions are also attested in Hani, Lahu, Lisu,

and Naxi (pp. 210), and adjective-reduplicating questions are only found in Yi

and Kazhuo (pp. 246). For a discussion on verb-reduplication in Yi languages

and their genetic relations, see Section 6.3.

Rouruo

In Rouruo, final question particles, X neg X, alternative structures, and

interrogative verb morphology are used to form polar questions.

Some common question particles are ȵi55, la53, ɣa55, and ne35; X neg X

includes V neg V and A neg A; and alternative questions always take a X prt Y

(prt) structure (see Sun 2002: 148-9).

Interrogative verb morphology in Rouruo is to have an affix ta53 before a

predicate verb or adjective (Sun 2002: 90-1, 148, 171).

(67) Rouruo (Sun 2002: 91)

a. ȵo33 mia33 xo33 ta53 tso33 ku55? 2SG take meat Q eat PRT ‘Did you ever eat horse meat?’

b. ȵo33 io33 xɯ31 ta53 li33? 2SG take Q heavy ‘You take this. Is it heavy?’ Nusu

Polar questions in Nusu can be formed by final question particles, V(P) neg

V, and alternative structures.

Some common question particles include ne55/le55, ɕi55, lo55, and vi55, and

the structure of alternative questions is X (prt) Y (prt) (see Sun 1986: 86-7,

102-5).

(68) Nusu (Sun 1986: 103)

a. la53a31 ɕi35 khɹɯ35 gu31 ɣa55a31 lε55 gu31 ma55 ɣa55a31 ɕi55? cable DEF CL pass can PRT pass NEG can Q ‘Is the cable strong enough to step on?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

87

b. ȵo55 tʂə35a31 dza55 nɤ31 zui35 lε31 phə 35a31 dza55 nɤ31 zui35 lε31?

2SG sour eat PRT want PRT hot eat PRT want PRT ‘Do you want to eat something sour or something hot?’ Tujia

Tujia uses final question particles, X X neg, and alternative structures to

phrase polar questions.

Some common final question particles include a21, mã21, and so55; the

structure of the X neg X question is X X neg; and an alternative question always

takes the structure of X disj, Y (Tian et al. 1986: 105-9). The following is an

example of an alternative question.

(69) Tujia (Tian et al. 1986: 105-9)

ni35 tsi55kɨe55 ma55 tɕi55 xo21, tha55ne55 ma55 tɕi55? 2SG front horse ride or back horse ride ‘Do you want to sit on the front part of the horse or the back?’

Alternative questions in Tujia are similar to those in Pula Yi (see Wang 2004),

the disjunction is also a postposed one (see Sections 4.2.3, 4.3 for discussions on

the position of disjunctions).

Bai

In Bai polar questions, final interrogative particles and alternative structures

are often used.

The three most common question particles in polar questions are mo33, nε55,

and ma35, alternative questions are of X (prt) disj Y structure. Note that in such

particle questions there is a lengthening in articulation on the predicate

verb/adjective, and the tone turns to be 35, when the monosyllabic predicate

verb/adjective is not in a 35 or 55 tone. This is a strategy of interrogative verb

morphology and question particles (see Xu and Zhao 1984: 87-90).

(70) Bai (Xu and Zhao 1984: 88)

a. no31 pe35 mo33? (pe35 < pe44) 2SG go QP ‘Are you going (there)?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

88

b. na55 ka35 mo33? (ka35 < ka31)

2PL go QP ‘Are you cold?’

Different dialects prefer different final question particles. As Xu and Zhao

(1984: 125-6) pointed out, one can easily judge where a speaker comes from by

the particles in one’s polar question sentence.

Table 2.15. Final polar question particles in three Bai dialects Bijiang Bai 碧江 Jianchuan Bai 剑川 Dali Bai 大理 Standard Chinese

ua21 mo33 ni55mu33 ma35 (QP)

ua21 nε55 ni55pio33 shi51ma35 (be QP)

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 n31ni51? 2SG PRT health good ‘Do you have good health?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

89

b. khji33 naŋ33 eʔ 55 kum55phaʔ 55lai31ka33

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?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

90

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. a31tia55nn53 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

91

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.

2.1.2.4. Burmese languages

Achang

In Achang, strategies of polar questions mainly include final question

particles, V-neg-V structures, and alternative structures.

The two most frequently used final question particles are la21 and ne21.

Alternative questions normally take X prt (disj) Y prt structure (Dai and Cui 1985:

74-5, 78-9). In the examples that follows, (a) is a X-neg-X question, and (b) is an

alternative question, in which a disjunction ma55ʂə35 ‘or’ can be added at the

initial position of the latter disjunct.

(80) Achang (Dai and Cui 1985: 78)

a. nuaŋ55 lɔ35 ma21 lɔ35? 2SG go NEG go ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

b. nuaŋ55 lɔ35 neʔ 55 la21, ma21 lɔ35 la21?

2SG go PRT QP NEG go QP ‘Are you going (there) or not?’ Zaiwa

In Zaiwa, final question particles and alternative structures are used to form

polar questions.

The most common final particle in a polar question in Zaiwa is luʔ 31, others

include lu55, khai55, ti55/li55, ti51/li51, and la31. Alternative questions always take X

prt Y prt structure (Xu and Xu 1984: 116-8, 146, 150-1).

The question particles ti55/li55 and ti51/li51 are used in questions without

doubt or if one asks for a suggestion. Questions ending by ti51/li51 are somewhat

tag-like.

(81) Zaiwa (Xu and Xu 1984: 151)

a. naŋ51 tʃoŋ31 e51 le51 ti55/li55? 2SG school go 2SG.PRS QP ‘Are you going to school? (I suppose so.)’

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b. jaŋ55moʔ55 pan51 thoʔ55 lo55 pe51 ti51/li51? 3PL all out MV 3PL.PST QP ‘They all went out, didn’t they?’ Langsu

Polar questions formed by final question particles and alternative structures

are reported in Langsu.

la31 is the most common final question particle. X-neg-X questions in a

strict sense (V neg V, A neg A) are not found, although Langsu has questions

formed by two positive-negative clauses. Alternative questions take X prt Y prt

structure, which are also composed of two (or more) disjuncts (Dai 2005: 118-9).

(82) Langsu (Dai 2005: 119)

a. khauŋ35 tsɔ35 la31? mə 31 tsɔ35 la31? corn eat QP NEG eat QP ‘(Will you) Eat corn or not?’

b. a31vɔ31/51 jε35 la31? na31 jε35 la31? uncle go QP aunt go QP ‘Will uncle or aunt go (there)?’ Xiandao

In Xiandao, final question particles and alternative structures are used to

form polar questions.

The most common final question particle is la51, and alternative questions

normally take X prt disj Y prt structure (Dai et al. 2005: 127-8, 136-41; Wang

2005: 99-101). There is no X-neg-X question in a strict sense. A disjunctive-

negative meaning is conveyed by normal polar questions, or questions in a X prt,

neg X structure.

(83) Xiandao (Dai et al. 2005: 140)

a. mε31, nɔŋ55 ŋɔ31 te55 tsai55 tsi31 ʂuʔ55/35 sε55la51? mother 2SG 1SG wine permit drink PRT ‘Mother, am I permitted to drink achohol (or not)?’

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b. nɔŋ55 tat55 nεʔ31la51, n31 tat55 la51? 2SG can/know PRT not can/know PRT ‘Do you know (how to do) that (or not)?’ Bola

In Bola, polar questions can be formed by final question particles, X-neg-X,

and alternative structures.

Some common question particles are la51, i55, and khai55. The structure of

alternative questions is [X disj Y disj]. (Dai et al. 2007: 249-254).

(84) Bola (Dai et al. 2007: 249, 252)

a. ŋa55 ʒɛ 31 ai55 nɛ 55 la51?

1SG also go need QP ‘Do I also need to go (there)?’

b. nɔ 55 pɛ 55 ʃauʔ 55 nɛ 

55 i35/31phai55 la51 tʃha51 la51? 2SG what drink want wine or tea or ‘What do you want to drink? Wine or tea?’ Leqi

In Leqi, final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures are

used to form polar questions.

Some common final question particles are la53, lε33, and khai53. Alternative

questions normally use no disjunction between the disjuncts, but take a topic

marker after the first disjunct (see the example below) (Dai and Li 2007:

248-57).

(85) Leqi (Dai and Li 2007: 253)

naŋ53 wɔm33 lɔː55 tsɔː33 mə55ke33 lɔː55 juːp55 la53? 2SG meal go eat TOP go sleep PRT ‘Are you going to eat or sleep?’

2.1.2.5. Qiangic languages

Qiang

The strategies of Qiang polar questions include final question particles

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(always accompanied by a rising intonation), X-neg-X structures (only in

Taoping Qiang)2, and alternative structures.

The most common polar question particle in Qiang is a; in alternative

questions, disjunctive elements are used between disjuncts are not real

disjunctions but particles. Different varieties of Qiang differ a great deal (Liu

1998: 2), the following table summarizes the polar question system in the

dialects of Qiang.

Table 2.16. Polar questions in five varieties of Qiang Varieties Q particles X-neg-X Alternative References

Taoping (Li County)

mi, ma, ȵi, ua V neg V X prt Y Sun (1981: 144, 167-8)

Puxi (Li County)

a, me, ba – X prt Y Huang (2007: 156, 168-71)

Mawo (Heishui County)

ŋu, a – X prt Y (prt) Liu (1998: 204-5, 232-4)

Yadu (Mao County)

a, ŋua, ja, tɕa, ŋui, luʁua, wa

– X prt Y prt LaPolla with Huang (2003: 179-86)

Qugu (Mao County)

a, tɕi – X prt Y prt Huang and Zhou (2006: 171-3, 228-30)

Question particles are not phonologically clear-cut. They are fused with the

previous syllable, and make it difficult to tell the boundary between a

grammatical morpheme and a question particle. The final question particle ŋua in

Yadu Qiang is an example of this kind, which does not seem to be derived from

the copula ŋuə plus a, or from the third person non-actor marker ŋuə plus a

(LaPolla with Huang 2003: 179).

In polar questions of Qiang, final question particles are found to be

accompanied by a terminal rising intonation, however, it is the opposite in

guesses, for example, in Puxi Qiang, final polar question particle ba is used

together with terminal falling intonation, not a rising one as a or ma applies

(Huang 2007: 168).

Pumi (Primi)

In Lanping Pumi 兰坪 (Pumi is also knonwn as Primi) polar questions, final

question particles, alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology are

used.

2 X-neg-X questions are very rare in Qingic languages.

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Two common question particles are ma13 and a13. Alternative questions are

of X disj Y structure (see Lu 1983: 81-2, 88; Lu 2001: 196-7, 204; Fu 1998:

71-4).

Interrogative verb morphology seems to vary among individual dialects of

Pumi. For example, Lu (1983, 2001) reports that in the Jinghua 菁花 dialect of

Pumi, it uses a prefixing ε13; whereas Fu (1998) reports that in the Dayangcun 大

阳村 dialect of Pumi, it uses both a prefix ε55 and a suffix, which is a mixture of

interrogative mood, person, and number, e.g. -siε31, -ʒuε(ŋ)55, and -ʒuε31, though

both Jinghua and Dayangcun are spoken in the same town, i.e. Hexi Township

(Lanping County, Yunnan Province).

(86) Lanping Pumi (a, Lu 1983: 54, 2001: 165; b-c, Fu 1998: 71, 73)

a. nε13 ŋãu55 ε13-bõ35? (Jinghua dialect) 2SG money Q-have ‘Do you have money?’

b. ȵe24 ŋəuŋ55 ε55-boŋ31? (Dayangcun dialect) 2SG money Q-have ‘Do you have money?’

c. ȵe24 dʒɿ24to55 ʃɿ55-ʃuε31? (Dayangcun dialect) 2SG market go-Q.2SG.FUT ‘Are you going to the market?’

In the Dayangcun dialect, alternative questions vary according to tenses; in

particular, a V dia31 mə55 V structure is used in the past tense, while a V dia55

ma55 V structure is used in other tenses.

(87) Lanping Pumi (Dayangcun dialect; Fu 1998: 74)

a. tə55gə55 ʃɿ55 dia55 mə55 ʃɿ55? 3SG.M go or NEG go ‘Did he go (there)?’

b. sʉ24 diuŋ55 dia31 ma55 diuŋ31? fruit have or NEG have ‘Are there any fruits in the tree?’

There is a further division in interrogative strategies in the Dayangcun

dialect, mainly because of honorific. Compare the following questions:

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(88) Lanping Pumi (Dayangcun dialect, Fu 1998: 74)

a. ȵe24 dzi55 ε55-dziu31-si55? (high to low) 2SG meal Q-eat-PST ‘Have you eaten?’

b. ε55pu55, dzi55 dzɿ55qu31 dia55 mə55-qu55? (low to high) grandfather meal eat- HON or NEG-HON ‘Grandfather, have you had your meal?’

c. ȵe24 dzi55 dziu55 dia55 mə55 dziu55? (equal) 2SG meal eat or NEG eat ‘Have you eaten?’ rGyarong

Polar interrogative strategies in rGyarong include question particles,

alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology.

The structure of alternative questions is X prt? Y, and the most common

question particle is mə, which does not necessarily appear at the sentence-end, it

can also take a pre-predicate position (in this case, changed into mo; see Lin

1993: 391-2), normally next to the final place, because rGyarong is a SOV

language.

(89) rGyarong (Lin 1993: 391-2)

a. no kə pa tə-ŋos mə? 2SG Han people 2-be QP ‘Are you Han (nationality)?’

b. no kə pa mo tə-ŋos? 2SG Han people QP 2-be ‘Are you Han?’

c. no na-pu mə mʃor? 2SG child QP beautiful ‘Is your child beautiful?’

An interrogative prefix, mo-, can also be placed before a verb stem to form

a polar question.

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(90) rGyarong (Lin 1993: 391-2)

a. no mo-tə-pu-u? 2SG Q-2-do-2SG ‘Are you going to do that?’

b. no məʃer mə-nɐ -tə-rmɐ-n? 2SG yesterday Q-PST-2-sleep-2SG

‘Did you sleep yesterday?’ Note that in (b), mo- changed into mə- because it is in past tense.

Muya

In Muya, an infix æ55 is added between the verb stem and its suffix(es) (see

examples b-d below); when it is perfective second person, the perfective prefix

of the verb will have its tone changed into 15 (the vowel in the prefix is also

changed in some cases); when it is third person perfective, an infix æ55 is added

between the verb stem and its suffix sə33, or an infix a55 is added in between if

there is a final question particle ra55 (see examples e-h; Huang 1991b: 120-1).

(91) Muya (Huang 1991b: 121, 2007c: 917)

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

t‘ɐ53βə53 t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pæ33?t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pe33? t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pi33? t‘æ15βy33? t‘æ15βe33? t‘u33βə55æ55sə33? t‘u33βə55a55ra33?

‘to do’ ‘Will youSG do (this)?’ ‘Will youPL do (this)?’ ‘Will he/they do (this)?’ ‘Have youSG done (this)?’ ‘Have youPL done (this)?’ ‘{Has he/Have they} done (this)?’ ‘{Has he/Have they} done (this)?’

If the polarity value of a copula (ni53/33 or ŋɐ24/33 ‘be’) is questioned, æ55

functions as an interrogative prefix.

(92) Muya (Huang 1991b: 121, 2007c: 917)

næ mə33ȵæ53βə33 æ55ŋɐ33 / æ55ni33?2SG Muya Q-be / Q-be ‘Are you Muya people?’

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Ergong

Interrogative verb morphology is also reported in Ergong. In future and

present tenses, the prefix a- is attached; in the past tense, the vowel of the prefix

turns to be eː, and the verb takes a high rising tone (Huang 1991a: 37; Sun

2007b).

(93) Ergong (Huang 1991a: 37)

a. b. c.

a-xi-gu?

xi-gu a-ɟji-n? reː -xi?

‘Do you want to wear (it)?’‘Are you wearing (it)?’ ‘Did you wear (it)?’

a- is also used as an interrogative suffix, assimilated into the preceding syllable,

cf. a-ra-gu and ra-ga (< gu-a) ‘Do you want to write?’, a-lʒe-n and lʒe-na ‘Did

you come?’ (Huang 1991a: 38).

Ersu

Sun (2007c: 966) reports that Ersu uses final question particles, X-neg-X,

alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology in its polar question

system, though he included only two real examples of interrogative verb

morphology (noting the difference in word order between them).

(94) Ersu (Sun 2007c: 962)

a. tiã55jĩ55 thε55wo55 nε55 dzo55ro55-a55-gε55? film DEF 2SG watch-Q-FUT ‘Would you like to watch this film?’

b. tiã55jĩ55 thε55wo55 nε55 kha55-a55-dzo55ro55? film DEF 2SG PST-Q-watch ‘Did you watch this film?’

Namuyi

In Namuyi (also known as Namuzi /næ55mu33zɿ31/), polar questions can be

formed by final question particles (e.g. ja33), interrogative prefixes (e.g. a33-) on

a verb (complex), and alternative structures.

(95) Namuyi (a-c, Huang and Renzeng 1991a: 169; d, Liu 2007: 981)

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a. nuo31 dzæ35 dziu53ji55 ja31? 2SG meal eat QP ‘Do you want to eat?’

b. nuo31 ʁuo53dzʉ31 mo31 a33-dʑi55? 2SG Tibetan people Q-be ‘Are you Tibetan?’

c. nuo31 mo33 ʂɿ31 dzi53 a33-ntɕhi55 mæ55-ntɕhi55? 2SG horse meat eat Q-have NEG-have ‘Did you ever eat horse meat?’

d. no53 jy53qo31 vu55 dʐɿ31 be53 ja55, 2SG home wine eat go PRT

ŋa55 jy53qo31 vu55 dʐɿ31 be53 se55? 1SG home wine drink go or ‘Shall we drink some wine at your home or my home?’

Note that (c) also uses a V neg V structure, which is very economic in expressing

an interrogative meaning; and in (d), the alternative question takes a disjunction

at the end, i.e. of structure X prt, Y disj, which is different from most languages in

China.

Shixing

Interrogative verb morphology a in Shixing is used according to the

following rules (based on Huang and Renzeng 1991b: 190-1). Table 2.17. Shixing interrogative verb morphology

Person Tense Form Examples

2 Future -gæ (< gɜ + a) ni55 dzɜ33-gæ53? ‘Do you want to eat?’ Present -a ni55 ri33 hao55 dzə35-ji55a33? ‘Are you eating?’ Past -a-PRT ni55 dzə35 a33sɿ33 (a33dzə35sɿ33)?

‘Have you eaten?’ 3 Future -a-ɦũ33 thi53 hao55 dzɜ33-gɜ55pɜ33tɕi33a33ɦũ33?

‘Does he want to eat?’ Present -a-ɦũ33 thi53 hao55 dzɜ33-ji33tɕi33a33ɦũ33?

‘Is he eating now?’ Past -a-PRT thi53 hao55 dzɜ33 tsha35-wu33a33dʑõ33?

‘Had he eaten?’

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Zhaba

Final question particles are so far the only strategy reported in Zhaba polar

questions. mɪ33 is frequently used, and mε33 is used only in the future tense of the

third person. The following is an example of kə55tsɿ13 ‘eat’ (Huang 1991c: 84).

Table 2.18. Final particles in Zhaba polar questions Person Question particles

2 nʊ55 tsiε13 (< tsɿ33 jε55) mɪ33? (2SG eat QP) ‘Do you want to eat?’ nʊ55 kə55-tsɿ13 mɪ33? (2SG eat QP) ‘Did you eat?’ nʊ55 tsɿ13-tʂə55 mɪ33? (2SG eat-PROG QP) ‘Are you eating?’ 3 ŋʊ55ʐʊ55 tsɿ33-tʂə55 mε33? (3SG.M eat-FUT QP) ‘Does he want to eat?’ ŋʊ55ʐʊ55 kə55-tsɿ33-tʂə55 mɪ33? (3SG.M eat-PST QP) ‘Did he eat?’ ŋʊ55ʐʊ55 tsɿ33-tʂe55 mɪ33? (3SG.M eat-PROG QP) ‘Is he eating?’ When the predicate happens to be a copula, then mɪ33and mε33 are flexible and

can be used interchangeably in the second person, but not in the third person, in

which mɪ6 is used, with a change in tone.

(96) Zhaba (Huang 1991c: 89)

a. nʊ55 te53wu33 ʐε33 mɪ53 / tʃi33 mε55? 2SG te53wu33 be QP be QP ‘Are you te53wu33?’

b. ŋʊ55ʐʊ55 ndʐa33pi55 ʐε33 mɪ6? 3SG.M ndʐa33pi55 be QP ‘Is he ndʐa33pi55?’ Guiqiong

Guiqiong is spoken in the Luding County and the Tianquan County in the

Sichuan Province, southwest China, with roughly 7,000 native speakers. This

language is a “family language” or “village language”, as Guiqiong people (a

subgroup of Tibetan) mainly use the language among family members or

villagers. Most Guiqiong people also speak Chinese (Sun 2007d: 1019).

According to Sun (2007d: 1029-30), Guiqiong polar questions can be

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formed by final question particles, X-neg-X structures, though no real examples

are given.

Lawurong

In Lawurong, polar interrogative strategies include final question particles,

alternative structures, and interrogative verb morphology.

A common final question particle is ɕu53 if the previous syllable ends with a

vowel, which turns to be tɕhu53 if the previous syllable ends with a consonant.

Alternative question take X prt disj Y prt or disj X disj Y structure (see Huang

2007: 87-8, 127-8).

(97) Lawurong (Huang 2007a: 127, 132)

a. ȵe53 ja33le33 ɕə55 dzi-n33, bre33 ɕə55 dzi-n33? 2SG steamed.bread or eat-2SG rice or eat-2SG ‘Do you want to eat steamed bread or rice?’

b. ŋgə33ɟji53 so55 rə33-və-j53 ɕu33? mə33rə53 ni-j55 ɕu33? 1PL continue DIR-go-1PL QP or rest-1PL QP ‘Shall we keep on going or take a rest?’

An interrogative morpheme ji55-/ɕə55- could also be added onto a verb or a

modal verb to form a polar question (Huang 2007a: 87-8).

(98) Lawurong (Huang 2007a: 127)

a. ȵe53 dʑa55 nə33-ji55/ɕə55-the-n53? 2SG tea PFT-Q-drink-2SG ‘Did you drink tea?’

b. ȵe53 cçə55mȵi33 dʑa55 tə33 nə33-the-n53 nε33-ji55/ɕə55-zdir55? 2SG this.kind tea DEF PFT-drink-2SG ever-Q ‘Did you ever drink this kind of tea?’ Note that in (b), ji55/ɕə55 is placed inside the modal verb nε33zdir55 ‘ever’.

Queyu

Queyu has an interrogative morpheme a55, which is used according to

different tenses and/or aspects (Wang 1991: 59-60), as the following table shows.

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Table 2.19. Queyu interrogative verb morphology Tense Formation Examples

Future a55-V ȵe13 a55pɕε13ro? ‘Do you want to watch?’ V-a55-PRS ȵe13nə pɕε13re55 a55ʒo? ‘Are youPL watching?’ Present V- PRS-a55ɕtə

/ a55shi31 ȵe13nə pɕε13re55ʒo a55ɕtə / a55shi31?

‘Are youPL watching?’ Past FUT-a55-V ȵe13ka55 (< kɯ55a55) pɕε13ro55? ‘Did you watch?’

Alternative questions in Queyu are found to take a X disj, Y structure.

(99) Queyu (Lu 2007: 1074)

ȵe35 tshõ55di53 ɕõ53tʂɿ35 da35nə53, tsε35 tshõ55di53 ɕõ53tʂɿ35? 2SG meeting go or 3SG.M meeting go ‘Will you or he attend the meeting?’

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2.1.3. Kam languages

Zhuang

Zhuang shares many similarities with Standard Chinese in its polar question

system. In particular, Zhuang uses terminal rising intonation, final question

particles, X-neg(-X), and alternative structures.

Some common question particles include lwi/ma, la, luma, and ba; the latter

X in X-neg-X question can be dropped, followed (very commonly ne) or not

followed by a question particle; alternative questions are of X disj Y (prt)

structure (see Wei and Qin 1980: 69-73; Wei 1985: 217-29; Zhang and Qin 1993:

209-12).

Two matters deserve to be mentioned here. One is that there is a question

formed by taking a tag-like ne, resulting a [S ne?] question, which seeks a polar

value but not in a X-neg-X question as it normally does.

(100) Zhuang (Wei 1985: 224)

sou cungj bae lo, daegngeih ne? 2PL all go PRT Daegngeih PRT ‘You all want to go. Does Daegngeih also like to go or not?’ Literally, ‘and Daegngeih?’

It is equally grammatical to ask daegngeih bae mbouj bae ne? (mbouj ‘not’),

although it is not used very frequently.

Another matter is that, in Standard Chinese, the disjunctions huo(zhe) and

haishi both mean ‘or’, tough the previous one is mainly used in declaratives, and

the latter is used in interrogatives. In Zhuang, however, roxnaeuz ‘or’ is used in

both cases, which resembles many Indo-European languages, e.g. Catalan o,

English or, and German oder (see Chapter 4 for a typology of or and or/or?).

Bouyei

In Bouyei, polar questions are formed by intonation change, final question

particles, X-neg(-X), and alternative structures. The most common question

particles include ma and ni; the latter X in X-neg-X question can be dropped; an

alternative question always takes a X mɯ5 Y (mɯ5 ‘or’) structure, followed (very

commonly ni) or not followed by a question particle (Yu 1980: 60-1).

The answer of a X-neg-X question could be a bare form X, be it a (modal)

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verb or an adjective, which is the same in Standard Chinese.

(101) Bouyei (Yu 1980: 23-4)

a. mɯŋ2 kaːm3 mi2 kaːm3? kaːm3. you dare not dare dare ‘Do you dare (to do that) or not?’ ‘Dare.’ (Yes, I do.)

b. diŋ1 mi2 diŋ1? diŋ1. red not red red ‘Is it red or not?’ ‘Red.’ (Yes, it is red.)

S ne? questions in Zhuang are also reported in Bouyei, by which a speaker

seeks a polarity value like a X-neg-X question (see Yu 1980: 55).

Dai

In Dai polar interrogatives, intonation change, final question particles,

X-neg-X, as well as alternative structures are used. There are some differences

among the dialects of Dai. For example, in Xishuangbanna Dai, polar question

particles include a5, lε3, and tsam2, whereas in Dehong Dai, hɯ1, hau5, and pɔ2

are used respectively (Yu and Luo 1980: 75). (In Standard Chinese, they are ma,

nema, and ba, respectively).

Alternative questions always adopt X prt Y (prt) structure, without any

disjunction in between (Yu and Luo 1980: 60, 99).

(102) Dai (Yu and Luo 1980: 99)

noi5 niʔ 8 di1 a6, noi5 nan4 di1 a6?CL this good PRT CL that good PRT

‘Is this one better, or that one is better?’ Lingao

In Lingao polar questions, terminal intonation change, final question

particles, X-neg(-X), and alternative structures are often used. The most

frequently used question particles are ma, ba, and ni, the structure of alternative

question is X ən4ti4/ha3ti4 Y (ən4ti4/ha3ti4 ‘or’) (Zhang et al. 1985: 186, 190-2;

Liang and Zhang 1997: 81-92).

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Biao

The Biao language is spoken in some places in the Huaiji County and in the

Fengkai County of the Guangdong Province, south China, with a small number

of native speakers (the number is approximately 200,000 according to Chen

1990, but is around 80,000 according to Liang and Zhang 2002: 1).

In Shidong Biao, polar interrogatives use question particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative questions. Final question particles in polar questions are very

frequently found to be mε6, lau6wa6, and ni1; an alternative question is of X disj Y

(prt) structure; the answer to a X-neg-X question in Shidong Biao could be the

bare form X (Liang and Zhang 2002: 108-26).

(103) Shidong Biao (Liang and Zhang 2002: 108, 111)

a. poi1 m6 poi1? poi1! go not go go! ‘Are you going (there) or not?’ ‘I go!’

b. ɵam3 m6 ɵam3? ɵam3. sour not sour sour ‘Is it sour or not?’ ‘It is sour.’

In Dagang Biao, however, there is no X-neg-X question. An equivalent

meaning is conveyed by interrogative verb morphology, i.e. a42, which can be

used before a verb (phrase) or an adjective to form a polar question (Chen 1990). (104) Dagang Biao (Chen 1990)

a. a42 ʔɔ42 tsiːə44 pui31? Q buy meat fat ‘Do you want to buy some fat?’

b. mɐn51 ke42 mɐ44 a42 pui31? 3SG.M GEN pig Q fat ‘Is his pig fat or not?’

c. noi44 tsu51 mia132 a42 jɔt44 lɐi55 fai44? DEF CL horse Q run RES fast ‘Does that horse run fast?’

d. noi44 tsu51 mia132 jɔt44 lɐi55 a42 fai44? DEF CL horse run RES Q fast ‘Does that horse run fast or not?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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There is a hypothesis that Wu and Kam languages share genetic relationship

(Jing 1988; see also Chen 1990). As it has been discussed in Section 2.1.1.3, Wu

is rich in a V(P) questions, e.g. Suzhou Wu, Ningbo Wu, and Old Shanghai Wu,

and prefixing a42 in Dagang Biao seems to be further evidence that supports the

hypothesis.

Kam (Dong)

In Kam (also known as Dong), polar interrogatives use final rising

intonation, final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures. Some

frequently used question particles include a1, i1, a4, ni1, le6, and pa4; X-neg-X

questions are found to take a X-neg(-X) (prt) structure, and the structure of an

alternative question is X disj Y. (Liang 1980a: 74-6; Yang and Zhang 1993:

130-1).

Shui

Shui consists of three dialects, Sandong, Yang’an, and Pandong (Zhang

1980: 75). There are some differences in polar questions between Sandong Shui

and Pandong Shui, though Yang’an Shui is not well documented so far and its

polar question system is not clear.

Sandong Shui polar interrogatives use final question particles, e.g., a6, ɣo3,

ni6, va2, and X disj Y (prt) alternative questions. Full form X-neg-X questions are

rare, more commonly, questions with the latter X dropped are used (Zhang 1980:

43, 57-8).

In Pandong Shui, however, the full form X-neg-X and the abbreviated form,

X-neg, are used interchangeably (Xia 1989).

(105) Pandong Shui (Xia 1989)

a. ȵia42 mjat55 mje42 mjat55 man35? 2SG love NEG love 3SG.F ‘Do you love her or not?’

b. ȵia42 tɕiə12 tjaŋ35 ljeu42 mei44? 2SG eat full PST NEG ‘Are you full or not?’ Note that there is a tonal change on the final word in the examples above, that is,

man12 > man35, mei53 > mei44. As Xia (1989) has already pointed out correctly,

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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tonal change has been proved to be a good compensation of questions formed by

question particles, as there are not many particles in Pandong Shui. Nevertheless,

if a question ends with a question particle, e.g. j53, a44, ma44, ndje44, ni44 (e.g.

105c), or ends with a short and checked tone (cùshēng, e.g. 105d), then the rule

of tonal change usually does not apply.

c. ȵiə42 paːi12 ho35 man12 lieu42 a44? 2SG go see 3SG.M PST PRT

‘Did you see him or not?’

d. ȵiə42 mjat55 man12 mje42 mjat55? 2SG love 3SG.M not love ‘Do you love him or not?’

Mulam

In Mulam, intonation change, question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative

structures are all reported in its polar question system. In particular, polar

questions are formed by taking a terminal rising intonation; particle questions

use final particles ma5, nε5, and pə; X-neg-X questions can have the latter X

dropped, or have a disjunction (sɿ ‘or’) between the disjuncts, i.e. X-(disj)-neg-X;

alternative questions are of X (prt) disj Y structure (Wang and Zheng 1980: 92-6).

Note that question particles ma5 and nε5 are used together with a final rising

intonation, whereas pə always goes hand in hand with a falling intonation (Wang

and Zheng 1980: 96), which is similar to most Sinitic languages.

Maonan

Maonan polar interrogatives strategies include final particles, X-neg(-X),

and alternative structures. Some common question particles include ma0, lε5, ni0,

and pa6, and the structure of alternative questions is X wo3 Y (wo3 ‘or’) (Liang

1980b: 51-65).

Mo

Mo polar interrogatives strategies include intonation change, final particles,

X-neg-X, and alternative structures. Specifically, a declarative sentence turns

into a polar question by using a terminal rising intonation, or final particles like

ma4 and mə5. X-neg-X questions in Mo are very flexible, cf. V(P)-neg(-V) and

A-neg(-A), and the alternative question structure is X disj Y (Yang 2000: 97-118,

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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143-9).

(106) Mo (Yang 2000: a-b, 100; c, 103)

a. ŋ2 ȡai1 kau5 man1 me2 kau5? 2SG like see 3SG.M NEG see ‘Do you like to meet him or not?’

b. an5 ŋ2 kau5 man1 me2? like 2SG see 3SG.M NEG ‘Do you like to meet him or not?’

c. lə2it7 au1 si5 zok8 məi2 (zok8)? grape above DEF ripe not ripe ‘Are the grapes there ripe or not?’ (a) and (b) can be used interchangeably, with no difference in meaning. In (c),

the latter adjective zok8 ‘ripe’ could be omitted freely.

Yanghuang

Yanghuang is reported to have rising intonation, question particles, X-neg-X,

and alternative structures in its polar question system. The most frequently used

final particles are ma0, pa0, and ȵi0, and alternative questions take X disj Y

structure, with also a short stop after the first disjunct (Bo 1997: 95-6, 130-3).

A feature of Yanghuang polar question deserving to be mentioned is that it

has no X-neg structure. That is, the latter X in X-neg-X can not be dropped, be it

a verb (phrase) or an adjective (Bo 1997: 131).

Lajia (Lakkia)

In Lajia (also known as Lakkia), polar question strategies include final

question particles, X-neg-X structures, and alternative structures.

A common final question particle is ŋa4 (Liu 2007: 1318, 1322), X-neg-X

questions can be either V neg (V) or A neg (A), and alternative questions are of X

disj Y structure.

(107) Lajia (Liu 2007: 1322)

a. in3 na:ŋ4 ni2 o:n5 huãi1 o:n5? CL clothes DEF beautiful NEG beautiful ‘Are the clothes beautiful?’

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b. tε:n1jεŋ1 lai1lo:m1 huãi1?

film interesting NEG ‘Is the film interesting?’ Chadong

Chadong is spoken in the Chadong Township and the neighboring

Liangjiang Township in the Lingui County, as well as some villages in the

Longjiang Township in the Yongfu County, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous

Region, located in southwest China, with roughly 20,000 native speakers (Li

2001; 2007: 1325).

The polar question system of Chadong is still not very clear owing to very

limited documentation, although Li (2001; 2007: 1335) reported two examples of

final question particles and VP neg questions.

(108) Chadong (Li 2001; 2007: 1335)

a. ȵi2 pə1 ta6 pak7kiŋ1 ma6? 2SG go PFT PN QP ‘Have you been to Beijing?’

b. mən2 pə1 tsi4 kə2 θaŋ3? 3SG.M go PST NEG PFT ‘Did he go (there) or not?’ Li

Polar question strategies in Li include final particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures.

Li is rich in question particles. In some cases, a sentence can even take two

particles, e.g. tsau2 tsu1 pa3? (have PRT PRT) ‘(still) have?’ (Ouyang and Zheng

1980: 45; see also Ouyang 1983: 551). Alternative questions are always found to

be of a X disj Y (prt) structure.

In Li a polar question is seldom asked by using sentence-final rising

intonation (Ouyang and Zheng 1980: 70; Ouyang 1983: 552; Yuan 1994: 160).

X-neg-X questions in Modern Li are a result of language contact with

Chinese. An earlier form is X(-disj)-neg, which is still kept in the language of

senior people (see Ouyang 1983: 569; Yuan 1994: 76-7). Variants of V-neg-V

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questions (and verbal alternative questions) in five dialects of Li are summarized

in the following table (based on Ouyang 1983: 568-9).

Table 2.20. Variants of V-neg-V question in the dialects of Li Baoding Tongshi Baisha Xifang Jiamao V-neg + + + + V-neg-V + + +

V-disj-neg + + V-disj-neg-V + +

Similar differences also lie in adjectival predicates.

(109) Li (Yuan 1994: 76-7)

a. ʔaː u1za1 haɯ2 fei1 kuːn1 zɯːn3 ta1 zɯːn3? old.man DEF walk road fast not fast ‘Does that old man walk fast or not?’

b. ʔaːu1za1 haɯ2 fei1 kuː n1 zɯː n3 tsha3ta1 ta1? old.man DEF walk road fast or not The traditional structure of Li, sentence (b), is used much more often than the

Chinese-like sentence (a) (see Yuan 1994: 76-7, 183).

Cun

In Cun, polar question strategies include final particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures.

Some frequently used question particles include vε3, ai, nə, and ni. X-neg-X

questions can have the latter X dropped, leaving a X-neg construction, or have a

disjunction inserted between the first X and the negation word, resulting in a

X-disj-neg construction (cf. German … oder nicht? ‘… or not’?), which is

similar to the Li language. Alternative questions are of X disj Y structure

(Ouyang 1998: 150-1, 181-2, 189).

(110) Cun (Ouyang 1998: 189)

a. na5 bən4 vεn3 bən4? 3SG.M come not come ‘Will he come or not?’

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b. na5 bən4 si5 vεn3?

3SG.M come or not ‘Will he come or not?’

c. mɔ5 zai3 vεn3? 2SG go not ‘Are you going (there)?’ Gelao

Polar interrogative strategies in Gelao include final question particles,

X-neg-X, and alternative structures.

There are many dialects of Gelao (see Zhang 1993: 294-372 for detailed

discussion), which share many common features in polar questions, and some

differences as well. For example, in almost all dialects of Gelao, the structure of

the X-neg-X question is invariably X-X-neg, although there are some differences

among individual dialects, which are summarized in the table below.

Table 2.21. Polar questions in the dialects of Gelao Particle V-neg-V A-neg-A Alter. Reference

Wanzizhai,

Anshun 安顺湾子寨

ni44, mɒ44 V(P)-V-neg A-A-neg X disj Y He 1983: 30, 42,

44, 58

Puding 普定 V(P)-V(P- neg(-prt)

A-A-neg Zhang 1993: 93-6

Niupo, Liuzhi 六枝牛坡

VP-neg-V Zhang 1993: 101

Pingba 平坝 mɒ55, la55, mei33

V(P)-neg A-A-neg X disj Y Zhang 1993: 140-72

Note that the blanks are situations unknown, which does not necessarily mean

that certain dialects lack such interrogatives. This also applies to polar questions

having a terminal rising intonation in a declarative sentence, as there are no clear

statements in literature whether Gelao has a certain question or not.

The following X-neg-X questions are taken from Puding Gelao, all are of

the same meaning.

(111) Puding Gelao (Zhang 1993: 94)

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a. ka55 maɯ13 ka55 maɯ13 ʔa13?

eat meal eat meal not ‘Do you want to eat or not?’

b. c. d.

ka55 maɯ13 ka55 ka55 ʔa13? ka55 maɯ13 ka55 ʔa13? ka55 ka55 ʔa13?

The structure of (b) is VP V V-neg, in which the first VP behaves somewhat

topic-like. A negative answer to these questions is ʑi33 ka55 ʔɒ13 (1SG eat NEG) ‘I

don’t want to eat.’, with a change on the vowel of the negator. Note that ʔa13 is

used in questions and ʔɒ13 is used in declaratives (Zhang 1993: 96).

In Pingba Gelao, X-neg-X takes the structure of V(P) (disj) V-neg or A (disj)

A-neg, depending if X is a verb (phrase) or an adjective. To have a disjunction in

between is not the original form, which is known from the fact that it is used

among younger generations, and not aged people (Zhang 1993: 156).

Buyang

In Buyang, strategies like intonation change, final question particles, and

X-neg-X are all reported in the polar questions.

Some common question particles include hε0, ȵo0, and nε0. X-neg-X

questions are always of X(-disj)-X-neg structure, although X could be a verb and

sometimes also an adjective (Li 1999: 54-6, 64, 77).

There are also some structural differences in X-neg-X questions among

individual dialects. For example, to ask Is it cold today or not?, the structure of

Baha Buyang 巴哈 is A-neg-A, E’cun Buyang 峨村 is A(-disj)-A-neg, and Yalang

雅郎 Buyang is AA-neg.

(112) Buyang (Li 1999: 132)

a. van11ni55 koŋ24 pi54 koŋ24? (Baha Buyang) today cold NEG cold ‘Is it cold today or not?’

b. vɯːn24ni33 ˀbɔt55 nou33 ˀbɔt55 naːi53? (E’cun Buyang) today cold or cold NEG

c. van33naːi31 net53 net53 la31? (Yalang Buyang) today cold cold NEG

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Pubiao

In Pubiao, polar interrogative strategies include terminal rising intonation,

final particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures.

Some common polar question particles include han213, na213, na45, na0, and

ʔa0, etc. X-neg-X questions take V(P-)neg-V structure if X is a verb. Alternative

questions normally take a X disj Y structure (Liang 2007: 76-8).

(113) Pubiao (Liang 2007: 77)

a. mi33 ŋaːi213 kɯ53 nam45 ŋaːi213? 2SG love 3SG.M NEG love ‘Do you love him or not?’

b. kɯ53 mie53 nam45 mie53? 3SG.M come NEG come ‘Will he come or not?’ Laji (Lachi)

Polar interrogative strategies in Laji (also known as Lachi) include terminal

rising intonation, question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures.

Some common question particles include la44, ua35, pa31, and nε44. X-neg-X

questions takes V V(P) neg and A A neg structures, which are similar to the Li

language. Alternative questions are of X disj Y structure (Li 2000: 134, 146,

183-5).

(114) Laji (Li 2000: 112, 201)

a. m55 mua13 kje31 a44ɕo44 mua13 ljo31? 2SG love 3SG.M or love NEG ‘Do you love him or not?’

b. m55 mua13 mua13 kje31 ljo31?

c. m55 ɕi33 tja44 qa55 kjaŋ55 (a44ɕo44) kjaŋ55 ljo31? 2SG try weigh look heavy or heavy not ‘Try it. Is it heavy or not?’

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Bugan

Owing to the fact that adequate descriptive works are not available, the

polar question system of Bugan is still not very clear. In a brief sketch, Li

(1996/2007) reports that final question particles (e.g. ni55) and alternative

structures are used.

(115) Bugan (Li 1996; see also Li 2007a: 1446)

mtse33tso33 kai33 ma33 mtse55/31?banana have or not.have ‘Are there any bananas or not?’

Mulao

Mulao’s polar question strategies include terminal rising intonation,

question particles (e.g. ai33), and X-neg-X structures. A X-neg-X question takes

V(P)-neg-V structure in a verb complex, or A-neg-A in an adjective complex. In

both cases, the latter X can not be dropped, in other words, Mulao lacks a X-neg

question (Mu 2003: 96-7, 124-5), which is similar to Caijia (see below).

Caijia

Caijia uses final rising intonation, question particles, and a X-neg-X

structure to form polar questions. A X-neg-X question takes V(P)-neg-V structure

in a verb complex, or A-neg-A in an adjective complex. In both cases, the latter X

can not be dropped, that is, Caijia lacks a X-neg question (Bo 2004).

(116) Caijia (Bo 2004)

a. ɣan31 (wu33tshu33) pu33 ɣan31? have people NEG have ‘Are there some people or not?’

b. o33 sɿ55 tsɿ33 san33 pu33 san33? DEF water CL deep NEG deep ‘Is the river deep or not?’

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2.1.4. Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages

Miao

Polar interrogatives by intonation change, final question particles, V-neg(-V),

A-neg-A, and alternatives are reported in the Yangsong dialect of Miao (Wang

1985: 70, 83, 101-2).

In some districts of Qiandong (east Guizhou Province, which includes

Yangsong), a sentence can take two question articles.

(117) Qiandong Miao (Wang 1986: 90)

Mongx seix maix haib ad?2SG also have QP QP ‘Do you also have (that)?’

Alternative questions of Qiangdong Miao adopt the disjunction hot (Wang

1985 records it as ho in Yangsong Miao) between the disjuncts, or add a hui after

each disjunct, bringing a X hot Y or X hui Y hui structure (Wang 1985: 66; Wang

1986: 163).

In Baiwu Miao (a dialect of Qiandong Miao), there is a verb-reduplicating

question, which comes via omitting the negation constituent in between. In the

following examples, the first verb of the reduplicating structure invariably takes

the tone (55) of the negation constituent (a55) (Hu 2008).

(118) Baiwu Miao (Hu 2008)

a. ti33a55ti33 → ti55ti33 ‘Hit or not?’b. men22a55men55 → men55men22 ‘Eat or not?’c. ma53a55ma53 → ma55ma53 ‘Cut or not?’

Verb-reduplicating questions are reported in many Sinitic and Yi languages (see

Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2.2, 6.2.1-2 for more discussions).

Bunu

In Bunu, polar interrogatives by terminal rising intonation, final question

particles (e.g. lɣ 6, ni2), V(P)-neg-V(P), and alternative questions (X disj Y) are

reported (Mao et al. 1982: 98-9, 102-3, 113, 115). The following is an example

of a polar question by terminal rising intonation only.

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(119) Bunu (Mao et al. 1982: 115)

tuŋ4 tuŋ1 nau3 pa1 tɣ 2 fen1? ↗

CL child DEF know sing song ‘Can the child sing?’ Baheng

Terminal intonation change, final question particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures (X disj Y) are reported in Baheng’s polar questions (Mao

and Li 1997: 49, 62, 68, 81-2).

Unlike action verbs, modal verbs can not be used in a V-neg-V structure;

instead, a pa31 neg V structure is adopted (action verbs can also be used in

questions of this type).

(120) Baheng (Mao and Li 1997: 51)

a. ȵɦɪ33 ŋɦ33 ȵɦɪ33? go NEG go ‘Go or not?’

b. pa31 ŋɦ33 mɦɪ44? PRT NEG sell ‘Sell or not?’

c. pa31 ŋɦ33 pɪ35 ĩ55sε31? PRT NEG can sing ‘Can (you) sing or not?’

d. *pɪ35 ŋɦ33 pɪ35 ĩ55sε31? In Baheng, a V-neg-V question can also be formed by adding a negator a31ȵʉ55 at

the end of a declarative sentence (Mao and Li 1997: 82).

e. mɦʉ33 ɕi53 pa31ŋŋ35 a31ȵʉ55?

2SG be Baheng NEG.be ‘Are you Baheng (people) or not?’ Jiongnai

Jiongnai polar interrogative strategies include terminal rising intonation,

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final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures (X disj Y) (see Mao

and Li 2002: 68, 80, 82). Unlike Baheng, adverbs can also be used in V-neg-V

questions in Jiongnai.

(121) Jiongnai (Mao and Li 2002: 55)

maŋ33 kwan44 ŋ53 kwan44 naŋ33 nen44 ŋkai33?2SG dare not dare eat snake meat ‘Do you dare to eat snake meat or not?’

Mian (Mien)

Mian (also known as Mien) has four dialects, Mian, Jinmen, Biaomin, and

Zaomin, all have polar interrogatives formed by intonation change, final question

particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures. Descriptive work on polar

questions has been conducted on Dapingjiang Mian (Mao et al. 1982: 43, 59-60),

Biaomin Mian (Mao 2004: 209-300), and Zheshan Mian (Zhao 2004).

Some differences in interrogative strategies do exist among individual

dialects. For example, there is a verb-reduplicating question in Biaomin Mian,

which is very similar to Baiwu Miao.

(122) Biaomin Mian (Mao 2004: 239)

n31nwai33 nin33 ta31 n24 ta31 ȵin42 naŋ24?today 3SG.M come NEG come eat meal ‘Will he come to eat today or not?’

It is equally grammatical to say n31nwai33 nin33 ta24 ta31 ȵin42 naŋ24? That is, to

omit the negation word n24 and have the tone shifted onto the previous verb. This

rule also goes for in modal verbs (see Mao 2004: 239-40, 299).

A matter deserving to be mentioned is the borrowing of question particles

from Chinese (e.g., ma33, ba33), although Biaomin Mian has some question

particles of its own (e.g., dza3).

(123) Biaomin Mian (Mao 2004: 270)

məi31 i33 tau31 min31 ta31 ma33?2SG one CL person come QP ‘You came here alone?’

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In Zheshan Mian (a dialect of Mian subgroup spoken in the Jinxiu County,

in Guangxi), it is also common to drop the latter verb (phrase) and have a

V(P)-neg question, although a full form is equally grammatical.

(124) Zheshan Mian (Zhao 2004)

muei2 tai2 mei3? 2SG come NEG ‘(Will) you come or not?’

Alternative questions are similar to other Hmong languages, i.e. take a X

disj Y structure, and the disjunction in between ha6tsei4 is very likely to be

borrowed from Chinese (Mao et al. 1982: 43, 47, 49).

She

In Huidong (and Boluo) She, interrogative strategies like intonation change,

final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures (X disj Y) are all

reported (Mao and Meng 1986: 81, 84, 92). Question particles in Huidong She

are mainly borrowed from Chinese, for example, ma1/ma6 is from Chinese ma55,

nji6/ne1/e1 is from Chinese ne55 (Mao and Meng 1986: 62).

(125) Huidong She (Mao and Meng 1986: 62)

muŋ2 tɔ5 ŋ1 ne3 se6 ŋɔŋ5 hɔ3 ma1?2SG foot pain now cure PST PRT ‘Is your sore foot getting better?’

In Boluo She, X-neg-X questions always keep a full form; nevertheless, the

latter X can be dropped freely in Huidong She (Mao and Meng 1986: 91-2).

(126) Boluo She (Mao and Meng 1986: 92; see also Mao and Meng 1982)

muŋ2 ŋŋ4 ha6 ŋŋ4? 2SG go NEG go ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

(127) Huidong She (Mao and Meng 1986: 91)

muŋ2 ŋŋ4 ha6 ŋŋ4? or muŋ2 ŋŋ4 ha6?2SG go NEG go 2SG go NEG

‘Are you going (there) or not?’

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Bana

Bana is a highly endangered language spoken in some villages in the

Chengbu County and in the Suining County, in the Hunan Province, located in

central China, with about 1,000 native speakers. The ancestors of the Bana

people migrated from the Guizhou Province (a neighboring province of Hunan),

southwest China. The Bana language is no longer used among younger

generations, who adopt Xiang or Standard Chinese instead, but is only spoken

among some elderly people (see Chen 2001, 2007: 1602).

Polar interrogative strategies of Bana are unknown, though, Chen (2001,

2007: 1609) points out that Bana syntax shares more similarities with Standard

Chinese than with other Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages.

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2.2. Altaic languages

2.2.1. Turkic languages

Uighur (Uygur)

In Uighur (also known as Uygur), polar interrogative strategies include final

question particles, interrogative verb morphology, and alternative structures. No

X-neg-X questions are reported in Uighur (and other Altaic languages).

Interrogative verb morphology is mainly used in the future tense. In

particular, -m is attached after a verb stem with volwel ending, and -am/-εm is

attached after one with consonantal ending. Question particles, e.g. mu, ʁu/qu,

tʃu, du/tu, sεn, very commonly, are phonologically assimilated into the sentence-

final verb (the clause order of Uighur is SOV), and are not as independent as

they are in many Sino-Tibetan languages.

(128) Uighur (Zhao and Zhu 1985: 77)

søzlε ‘say’, søzlε-m-siz? ‘Do you want to say something?’tʃiq ‘go out’, tʃiq-am-sεn? ‘Do you want to go out?’ kør ‘look’, kør-εm-du? ‘Does he want to have a look?’ oqu ‘read’, oqudiŋiz mu? ‘Did you read (it)?’

Alternative questions in Uighur use a X-prt Y-prt structure. In the following

example, there is even a third question particle, hε, attached after the second

particle sεn.

(129) Uighur (Zhao and Zhu 1985: 140)

sεn bara-m-sεn barma-m-sεn-hε?2SG go.2-Q-QP go.2.NEG-Q-QP-QP

‘Are you on earth going there or not?’ Kazak (Kazakh)

Kazak (also known as Kazakh) polar questions often use a question particle,

together with a sentence-final rising intonation. The particle ma (and its variants,

me, ba/be, and pa/pe), is changed into -mə/-mɨ, -bə/-bɨ, -pə/-pɨ when it is placed

before a second person morpheme of a verb (see Gen and Li 1985: 119-20, 172;

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

123

Gen 1989: 257).

(130) Kazak (Gen and Li 1985: 120)

a. sen de bara-səŋ ba? 2SG also go-2 PRT

‘Are you also going (there)?’

b. sen de bara-mə-səŋ? 2SG also go-PRT-2 ‘Are you also going (there)?’ Kirgiz

Like Kazak, polar questions in Kirgiz normally take a question particle bə

(and its variants, like bi, bu, by, pə, pi, pu, py) or a tag-like particle beken (< bə

eken). Question particles are also used in alternative questions, which adopt a X

prt disj Y prt structure.

(131) Kirgiz (Hu 1986: 155, 152)

a. bul roman qəzəq beken? DEF novel interesting yes.or.no ‘The novel is interesting, isn’t it?’

b. kitep alasəz-bə dʒe dʒurnal alasəz-bə? book buy-PRT or magazine buy-PRT ‘Do you want to buy a book or a magazine?’ Uzbek

In Uzbek, interrogative strategies in polar questions include a final question

particle (mi, added onto declarative sentences or X-neg-X ones) and an

alternative structure (X, disj Y) (Cheng et al. 1987: 70, 76, 148).

(132) Uzbek (Cheng et al. 1987: 76)

a. kel-dik-mi? come-POS-PRT ‘Did we go (there)?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

124

b. jʌz-mæ-di-mi? write-NEG-POS-PRT ‘Didn’t he write (something)?’ Tatar

Two common question particles in Tatar are mə and mi, used at the

sentence-end to form polar questions (Chen et al. 1986: 30, 125), which is

similar to many other Altaic languages.

Salar

In Salar, polar questions are often formed by sentence-final question

particles (e.g. mu/mo/mi, u. o, i; Lin 1985: 70, 90, 108).

Questions by intonation change are also reported. In the following example,

du (or do) is the past tense marker, though it resembles a question marker (cf.

Standard Chinese past tense maker le).

(133) Salar (Lin 1985: 71)

sen iʃ-du/do? 2SG drink-PST ‘Did you drink (that)?’

There seems to be no alternative question in Salar in a strict sense, although

a real example of X prt? Y? structure is reported, which behaves somewhat like

two questions instead of one.

(134) Salar (Lin 1985: 65)

sen aʃ iʃ-gur mu? emex ji-ɣur?2SG noodle drink QP steamed.bread eat ‘Do you like to eat noodles, or steamed bread?’

Western Yugur

Polar interrogative strategies in Western Yugur include intonation change,

final question particles, and alternative structures. Some common final question

particles include me/be, mu/mo, and ba/va. Alternative questions use a X cop? Y

cop? structure, in which the copular drəm ‘be.Q’ is attached at the end of each

disjunct; and tag questions often use the tag jam ‘okay’ (Chen and Lei 1985:

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

125

123-52; Zhong 2009: 220).

(135) Western Yugur (Chen and Lei 1985: 136, 132, 138)

a. batər jyde bar me? batər home have QP ‘Is batər at home?’

b. gol dodi gelɣəʂ drəm? gelɣəmes drəm? 3SG.M on.earth come COP come.NEG COP ‘Will he come or not?’

c. bu menekdə daaaɣa diadəp ber, jam? DEF money uncle give to okay ‘Give the money to your uncle, okay?’ The pattern of inflectional morphology in Western Yugur polar interrogatives is

summarized in Table 2.22.

2 A

sur

vey

of p

olar

inte

rrog

ativ

e st

rate

gies

12

6

Tabl

e 2.

22.

Wes

tern

Yug

ur in

terr

ogat

ive

verb

mor

phol

ogy

Pas

t P

rese

nt

Fut

ure

D

ecla

rati

ve (

posi

tive

) V

+ -

də/-

di

V +

-p/

-əp/

-op

+ b

ar

V +

-ɢəʂ

/-ɣə

ʂ/-gəʂ

Exa

ct

Dec

lara

tive

(ne

gati

ve)

V +

-m

a/-m

e/-b

a/-b

e +

-də

/-di

V +

-v/

-əv/

-o(v

) +

joq

V +

-ɢəm

es/-ɣə

mes

/-gə

mes

In

terr

ogat

ive

V +

-də

m

V +

-p/

-əp/

-op

+ b

ar +

me

V +

-ɢəʂ

/-ɣə

ʂ/-gəʂ

+ m

e

In

terr

ogat

ive

(no

doub

t)V

+ -

ma/

-me/

-ba/

-be

+ -

dəm

V

+ -

v/-ə

v/-(

o)v

+ jo

q +

me/

beV

+ -ɢəm

es/-ɣə

mes

/-gə

mes

+ m

e

D

ecla

rati

ve (

posi

tive

) V

+ -

p/-ə

p +

dro

V

+ -

v/-ə

v/-o

(v)

+ d

ro

V +

-ɢəʂ

/-ɣə

ʂ/-gəʂ

+ d

ro

Non

-exa

ct

Dec

lara

tive

(ne

gati

ve)

V +

-m

en/-

ben

+ d

ro

V +

-v/

-əv/

-o(v

) +

joq

+ d

ro

V +

-ɢəm

es/-ɣə

mes

/-gə

mes

+ d

ro

In

terr

ogat

ive

V +

-p/

-əp

+ d

rəm

V

+ -

v/-ə

v/-(

o)v

+ d

rəm

V

+ -ɢəʂ

/-ɣə

ʂ/-gəʂ

+ d

rəm

In

terr

ogat

ive

(no

doub

t)V

+ -

men

/-be

n +

drə

m

V +

-v/

-əv/

-(o)

v +

jaq

+ d

rəm

V

+ -ɢəm

es/-ɣə

mes

/-gə

mes

+ d

rəm

D

ecla

rati

ve (

posi

tive

)

V

+ -ɢ

o/-ɣ

o

Exa

ct

Dec

lara

tive

(ne

gati

ve)

/ /

V +

-ɢəm

/-ɣə

m

pred

icat

ion

Inte

rrog

ativ

e

V

+ -ɢəʂ

/-ɣə

ʂ/-gəʂ

+ m

e

In

terr

ogat

ive

(no

doub

t)

V

+ -ɢəm

es/-ɣə

mes

/-gə

mes

+ m

e

D

ecla

rati

ve (

posi

tive

)

V

+ -

j/-e

j + d

ro

Non

-exa

ct

Dec

lara

tive

(ne

gati

ve)

/ /

V (

nega

tion

) +

s +

drə

m

pred

icat

ion

Inte

rrog

ativ

e

V

+ -

j/-e

j + d

rəm

In

terr

ogat

ive

(no

doub

t)

V

(ne

gati

on)

+ s

+ d

rəm

Not

es:

1. T

he ta

ble

is b

ased

on

Che

n an

d L

ei (

1985

: 91-

105)

(se

e al

so Z

hong

200

9: 1

26-4

3).

2. d

ro ‘

be’,

drə

m ‘

be?’

; bar

‘ha

ve’,

joq

‘not

hav

e’; m

e/be

par

ticl

e;

drəm

is li

kely

to b

e a

fusi

on o

f də

r (d

ur-

‘sto

p’)

and

the

ques

tion

par

ticle

mu

(Che

n an

d L

ei 1

985:

94)

.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

127

Tuwa

Tuwa polar interrogative strategies include intonation-only, final question

particles, and alternative structures. Some common question particles include

ba/be, pa/pe, and εle, and alternative questions always take X prt disj Y prt

structure (Song 1985; Wu 1999: 146, 151).

(136) Tuwa (Wu 1999: 151)

sen baː rsen be, dʒoq, men barajən ba?2SG go PRT or 1SG go PRT

‘You go (there) or I go (there)?’ Tu’erke

Tu’erke is a highly endangered language spoken in the Yili grasslands of the

Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, with a population of only about two

hundred.

The strategies of Tu’erke polar questions are not clear because of a very

limited documentation, although the language is known to share many common

morphosyntactic features with Uighur, Kazak, Kirgiz, and Uzbek (see Zhao and

Aximu 2007: 1799).

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

128

2.2.2. Mongolian languages

Mongolian

In Mongolian, polar question strategies include final question particles and

alternative structures.

Some common question particles include b(ee), used in normal questions;

and jɷɷ/juu, ɷɷ/uu, used in no-doubt questions (jɷɷ/juu in vowel-ending words,

and ɷɷ/uu in consonantal-ending ones); and biddəə/baa, used in guesses or

situations when a speaker has already known something and seeks for more

information, e.g. assertion. Questions formed by final question particles are

normally in falling intonation (see Daobu 1983: 99-100, 135).

(137) Mongolian (Daobu 1983: 100)

tʃii nεεrd jabsā biddəə?you PN go PRT ‘Did you attend the nεεrd (festival)?’

The structure of alternative questions in Mongolian is X prt? Y prt? with a

pitched accent on each particle, and also a falling intonation after each of them

(Daobu 1983: 135-6), rather than a rising one as it is found in many other

languages. (138) Mongolian (Daobu 1983: 99)

tər bus sεεn ɷɷ, mɷɷ jɷɷ?DEF cloth good PRT bad PRT ‘Is that cloth good or bad?’

Tu

The polar question system of Tu shares some similarities with Mongolian. It

mainly uses final question particles and alternative structures. The structure of

alternative questions is X prt Y prt (Zhaonasitu 1981b: 56-8). (139) Tu (Zhaonasitu 1981b: 57)

tɕərm seer ii jiuu, guii jiuu?you money have prt not.have prt ‘Do you have money or not?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

129

Nevertheless, the usage of question particles in Tu is complicated. Some most

frequently used question particles include uu, nuu, jiuu, laii, and sa. uu is used

after declarative sentences and usually brings about syllable assimilation (140a).

nuu is used after a or va ‘be’, which together (a/va nuu) mean ‘is it?’ (140b). jiuu

is used only after the -ii-ended copula, like ii, guii, nəmbii, and puɕii (140c). The

usage of sa is similar to uu, though it does not cause any syllable assimilation

(140d).

(140) Tu (Zhaonasitu 1981b: 56-8)

a. tɕə mudev(a) uu? 2SG know PRT

‘Do you know (that)?’

b. nadnə xanadʑ(ə) a nuu? illness cure be PRT ‘Has he recovered (from the illness)?’

c. tɕə dordʑə nəmbii jiuu? 2SG dordʑə be PRT ‘Are you dordʑə?’

d. duiidʐaŋ mudedʑ(ə) a sa? chief know be PRT

‘Did the chief know (that)?’ Daur

The final question particle jəə is used very common in Daur polar questions.

jəə is also used in tag questions.

(141) Daur (Zhong 1982: 60, 85)

a. ʃii id-bəi-ʃii jəə? 2SG eat-FUT-2SG PRT

‘Are you going to eat?’

b. tʃinguruŋ dʒinguruŋ təgər bəi, biʃiŋ jəə? Qin Jin equal be not.be PRT

‘Qin and Jin are equal countries, aren’t they?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

130

Dongxiang

The most frequently used question particles in Dongxiang are u (nu) and ba.

u is very easily assimilated into the previous syllable (142a), nu is used after the

copula wo ‘be’ (142b), and ba bears more or less assertion and is used both in

questions and imperatives (142c).

(142) Dongxiang (Liu 1981: 82, 104)

a. tʂɯ maɣaʂə irənu? (irənu < irənə u) 2SG tomorrow come ‘Are you coming tomorrow?’

b. tʂɯ bədʑinsə irəsən kun puʂɯwo nu? 2SG Beijing come people not.be PRT

‘Aren’t you from Beijing?’

c. ənə tʂɯni ʂu wo ba? DEF 2SG.GEN book be PRT ‘Is this your book?’ Literally, ‘This is your book? (I suppose so.)’

Alternative questions in Dongxiang normally take X prt Y structure.

(143) Dongxiang (Liu 1981: 105)

mini kiəliəsənni tʂɯ tʂənliən(ə) u, uliə tʂənliənə?1SG say 2SG listen PRT not listen ‘Will you listen to me or not?’

Bao’an

Bao’an has three question particles, u, ʂa, and ba. Like Tu and Dongxiang,

u also brings about phonological assimilation in a recursive way (144a).

Alternative questions of Bao’an also take X prt Y structure (144b).

(144) Bao’an (Buhe and Liu 1982: 61-2, 77)

a. tɕĭ gatɕĭnə samogədʑi kal(o) u? 2SG words clear say PRT

‘Did you hear the words clearly?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

131

b. tɕĭ ’gudə nadə asχodʑi okəsaŋ ser 2SG yesterday 1SG borrow give money

tawuŋ u, dʑirɢuŋ o? five PRT six be ‘Did you lend me five Yuan or six?’ Literally, ‘The money you lend me is five Yuan or six?’

Eastern Yugur

The final question particle u is also found in Eastern Yugur, which is used

after a CV and has the short vowel dropped, whereas its variant ju is used after a

long vowel or a VV. Other question particles, like ja, ba, and ʃa, do not

demonstrate such distinction (Zhaonasitu 1981a: 58-9). In the following example,

(145b) is an alternative question with a X prt Y prt structure.

(145) Eastern Yugur (Zhaonasitu 1981a: 58)

a. mudʒaŋ b(e) u? carpenter be PRT

‘Are you a carpenter?’

b. tʃəmadə qudaʁa bii ju, uɣui ju? 2SG knife have PRT not.have PRT

‘Do you have a knife or not?’ Kangjia

Final question particles and alternative structures are reported in the polar

interrogatives of Kangjia.

Question particles mainly include ʉ, ba, and ma. Among the question

particles, ʉ is used most commonly, which comes from uu in Mongolian

languages; ba is used both in polar questions and content questions, and is a

cognate of the Mongolian ba; and ma is only found in speculative questions (cf.

English Is it true that…?). The structure of alternative questions is X prt Y (Siqin

1999: 214-7).

In Kangjia, polar questions are asked via a change of the interrogative verb

morphology, which happens always in collaboration with a change of question

particles.

Imperatives are seldom used to ask questions, although in marginal cases

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

132

one may find questions like tʃi dʒigʉn bʉ? (2SG go PRT) ‘Will you go (there)?’, bi

dʒi-ja ba!? (1SG go-VOL PRT) ‘I go!?’ (Siqin 1999: 140).

Interrogative verb morphology changes according to tenses, as it shows in

the following table (taken from Siqin 1999: 140-51).

Table 2.23. Kangjia interrogative verb morphology Past tense I -vʉ Past tense II -dʒʉ / -dʒiʉ, ba Non-Past -nʉ / -mʉ , -gʉ-n…bʉ Present I -sʉ / -sʉnʉ Present II -dʒinʉ Future -gʉ(n)...bʉ

In Kangjia, a serial verb construction normally has an -ʉ on the latter verb.

The construction is called ‘adverbial verbs’ in Siqin’s (1999: 151-64)

terminology, which could be further divided into twelve subtypes.

(146) Kangjia (Siqin 1999: 153)

tʃi mɔ ri uni-dʒi re-vʉ? 2SG horse ride come-PRT

‘Did you come by riding a horse?’

There is an “adjective verb” in Kangjia, which shares similarities with

adjectives. For example, both of them can function as a modifier of a noun

phrase, or have markers of case, number, and genitive, like bi dandi-sʉn mɔrini (I

buy horse) ‘the horse I bought’ (-sʉn is a marker of ‘adjective verb’). The polar

question system of an ‘adjective verb’ sentence is to have the question particle

ʉ/bʉ/vʉ at the end if it is perfective, and bʉ/ʉ/are if it is non-perfective, and bʉ if

it is a usual event, and ʉ if it is an on-going event (Siqin 1999: 164-75).

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

133

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 kənəaxoɷ2SG go or go.NEG ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

134

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

135

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

136

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

137

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

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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

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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).

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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.

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(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?’

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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).

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(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

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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.

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(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? (will not 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).

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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?’

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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

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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?’

c. muih maix ang maix muih? like 2SG not 2SG like ‘Do you like it or not?’ (175c) is a redundant form of a X-neg-X question. Like Standard Chinese, ni xi

bu xihuan? (2SG like not like) ‘Do you like it or not?’ is equivalent to ni xihuan

bu xihuan?, although the subject does not appear twice in Standard Chinese.

The difference between a full form and an abbreviated (or rather, long and

short) form also lies in alternative questions. For example, it is equally

grammatical to keep or omit a disjunction between the two (or more) disjuncts.

(176) Wa (Zhou and Yan 1984: 97-8)

a. (daɯh) mɔh maix hu daɯh mɔh nɔh hu? or 2SG go or 3SG.M go ‘Will you or he?’

b. pon hu maix ang pon hu? can go 2SG NEG can go ‘Can you go or not?’ A similar phenomenon is also found in Standard Chinese. An equivalent sentence

of (a) is ni qu haishi ta qu (2SG go or 3SG go), and (b) is ni neng qu (haishi) bu

neng qu (2SG can go (or) NEG can go).

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De’ang

De’ang consists of three dialects, Bulei, Rumai, and Liang (Chen et al. 1986:

1, 101-2). So far, Liang De’ang is not adequately described. The following

introduces the polar question system of Yunqian De’ang (Bulei De’ang) and

Guangka De’ang (Rumai De’ang).

The polar question system of Yunqian De’ang is very similar to Wa. It forms

questions with question particle with or without rising intonation, V(P)-neg-V(P),

and A-neg-A. Some adverbs, like ȵam ‘not yet’, hɔiʔ ‘already’, can also be used

independently to answer polar questions. In alternative questions, disjunctives

between the two (or more) disjuncts can be omitted freely, too (Chen et al. 1986:

39-40, 43, 62, 98-100).

Nevertheless, one specific feature of polar questions in Yunqian De’ang is

that the interrogative marker ʔaŋ appears consistently before the questioned

constituent (predicate verb/adjective), regardless of the fact that a question itself

has some other interrogative strategies, e.g., a X-neg-X structure (177a), or

alternative structure (177b), hence that results in questions that have more than

one strategy.

(177) De’ang (Chen et al. 1986: 40, 99)

a. mɔi ʔaŋ mo ʔɤ mo biai? 2SG Q can NEG can sing ‘Can you sing or not?’

b. ʔaŋ muh mɔi ʔi ha:u? kɔn muh ʔo ʔi ha:u? Q be 2SG go or be 1SG go ‘You go or I go?’ ʔaŋ is also used in polar questions formed by question particles and/or intonation,

like ʔaŋ hɔiʔ jɔʔ ʔε? (Q finish PST PRT) ‘Is it finished?’. The origin of the question

marker ʔaŋ in Yunqian De’ang is still unclear, although it might be borrowed

from Ancient Chinese an 安, an interrogative adverb, like an neng zhi wo shi

ci-xiong? (how can know 1SG be female-male) ‘How could people know I am

female or male?’ (Mulanci, 5-6th Century).

In Guangka De’ang, however, some interrogative strategies are different.

For example, there is an abbreviated X-neg structure if X is too heavy; an

alternative question is normally formed not by any disjunctions between the

disjuncts but by a short stop; and question particles could appear in non-final

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positions (Ni 2007: 15-22).

Bulang

In Bulang, interrogative strategies of polar questions include sentence-final

question particles and/or rising intonation, and X-neg-X structures (Li et al. 1986:

73-4). Disjunctions in alternative questions, however, are normally kept there,

which is different from Wa and De’ang.

(178) Bulang (Li et al. 1986: 69)

am miʔ khεʔ, am ɯʔ khε?or 2SG do or 1SG do ‘Will you do it or I do it?’

Kemu

Kemu forms polar questions formed by putting a question particles at the

end of a declarative sentence. It also has V(P)-neg-V(P) and A-neg-A questions

(Chen 2002: 205-6), which resembles Wa, De’ang, and Bulang. Disjunction in

alternative questions is partly borrowed from Chinese, that is, hai in hai hɤh ‘or’

is from Chinese hai ‘still, yet’.

(179) Kemu (Chen 2002: 203)

mah ʔah bεʔ hai mɤh mah ʔah sɯaŋ?eat meat lamb or eat meat pork ‘(Shall we) eat lamb or pork?’

Kemie

Final question particles and/or rising intonation, V(P)-neg-V(P) and

A-neg-A questions are also commonly used in Kemie. The structure of alternative

questions is (kɣʔ  53) X kɣʔ  53 Y, with a short stop between the disjuncts; no

disjunction is necessarily needed (Chen 2005: 139). Alternative questions formed

by (disj) X disj Y structure are common among Austro-Asiatic languages in

China (but Kemu is an exception).

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(180) Kemie (Chen 2005: 139)

a e35 nɔŋ31, kɣʔ 53 a ε35 nɔŋ31?DEF good be DEF good ‘This one better or that one is better?’

Buxing

In Buxing, strategies like V(P)-neg-V(P), question particles (e.g. ŋa, me)

and/or final rising intonation are reported (Gao 2004: 132). In its alternative

questions, which are of X (prt) disj Y structure, the disjunction haishi ‘or’ is

borrowed from Chinese (Gao 2004: 106, 132, 134).

(181) Buxing (Gao 2004: 132)

mi tuʔ mǎh haisɿ tEŋ la me?2SG eat meal or drink tea QP ‘Would you like to eat or drink tea?’

V(P)-neg-V(P) questions in Buxing resemble Standard Chinese in that the

syllable structure is consistently σ1(σ2)-neg-σ1σ2 if the verb (phrase) is disyllabic,

that is, the first half before the negation word is more likely to be a monosyllabic

verb. However, there is a difference between Buxing and Standard Chinese when

a modal verb comes before the main verb.

(182) Buxing (Gao 2004: 132)

mi nɔʔ tĚʔ ba nɔʔ tĚʔlin?2SG like dance not like dance ‘Do you like dancing or not?’

The literal Chinese translation of the sentence above is *ni xihuan tiao bu xihuan

tiaowu? (2SG like dance not like dance) which is ungrammatical, while ni xi bu

xihuan tiaowu? is grammatical and used very often.

Jing

Polar question strategies in Jing resemble other Austro-Asiatic languages.

Jing also has sentence-final question particles, X-neg-X, and alternative

questions (Ouyang et al. 1984: 121-2). Nevertheless, the latter part of X-neg-X is

frequently dropped in Jing, leaving only a X-neg structure. For example, an1

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khoŋ1? (eat not) ‘(Do you like to) eat it or not?’, dəi2 tsɯə2? (full not) ‘Is it full

or not?’ (Ouyang et al. 1984: 77, 84). Unlike other Austro-Asiatic languages in

China, Jing is rarely found to form polar questions by changing final intonation

only.

The structure of alternative questions in Jing is X, disj Y, which is very

similar to Standard Chinese.

Mang

Mang polar questions include those fromed by sentence-final question

particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures. One feature of Mang (and Yunqian

De’ang) that differs from other Austro-Asiatic languages in China is that it

adopts the interrogative adverb pə before a constituent to be questioned, be it a

short monosyllabic verb or a complex X-neg-X structure3.

(183) Mang (Gao 2003: 114)

a. mə31ha51 ʔin31 pə31 tɕə55 lau55li31? person DEF Q be Lao Li ‘Is that man Lao Li or not?’

b. lɔt55ʔə31ȵin35 pə31 hɔ51 θə31 hɔ51? tonight Q come not come ‘Are you coming tonight or not?’

In Mang, the default structure of alternative questions is not to have a

disjunction, but only to reserve a short stop between the two (or more) disjuncts

(Gao 2003: 114), although in marginal cases, a particle is tagged after the first

disjunct (or the non-final disjunct, if there are more than two disjuncts), in the

cases that a speaker wants to emphasis the disjunct or some special context (e.g.

s/he is talking to a child in an exaggerating manner).

(184) Mang (Gao 2003: 114)

a. ʔə31ʔin31 pan35 lɔt55 ma51, lɔt55 ʔon51? 3SG.M look like mother like father ‘He looks like his mother or his father?’

3 The origin of pə is unclear, but, cf. Chinese ke /khə/ and De’ang ʔaŋ.

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b. mi31 ʔin31 θa55 mə31li31 ʔə35, mi31 θa55 pə31ȵɔ51? 2SG like eat pear PRT 2SG eat banana ‘You like a pear or a banana?’

Tag questions in Mang are asked in a positive way, with a tag pə31 tɕə55 (Q

be) ‘Is it?’, totally ignores the antecedent (Gao 2003: 115). This is, however,

different from English and Standard Chinese. In English, a tag is negative if the

antecedent is positive, and vice versa. In Standard Chinese, a tag could be either

positive or negative, totally ignoring the antecedent. For example, ni (bu) xihuan

dushu, (bu)shi-ma? (2SG (not) like reading, (not) be-QP), by keeping/omitting the

negator bu, the sentence has four readings, and all of them are grammatical.

Nevertheless, the four readings can only be translated into English in two

versions, in particular, You like reading, don’t you?, and You don’t like reading,

do you?

Lai

In Lai, final question particles and/or interrogative intonation, and

alternative questions are commonly used in its polar questions (Li 1999: 171-2).

Some common question particles include ni2, ʔe2, ʔwe2, ndi3, ma2, etc (Li

1999: 151). V(P)-neg-V questions are not found in Lai, which is different from

other Austro-Asiatic languages in China. Instead, a V(P)V-neg question is

adopted, and very frequently brings a VV question, because the short negation

word ʔo2 can be easily merged into the preceeding verb.

(185) Lai (Li 1999: 130, 171)

a. mi2 pja:ŋ4 vi4ndɔ5 pja:ŋ4 ʔo2 ʔe2? 2SG have brother have NEG QP ‘Do you have brothers or not?’

b. mi2 ʑu2 ʑo4 ʔe2? 2SG go go.NEG QP ‘Are you going (there) or not?’

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2.5. Indo-European4

Tajik (Tadzhik)

Tajik (also known as Tadzhik), of the Western Iranian branch of Iranian, of

the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European, is spoken in the southwest Xinjiang

Uyghur Autonomous Region, with a population of about 40,000 (Gao 2007:

2527)5. It has two dialects, namely, Sariqul and Wux. In Sariqul Tajik, the

particle o is critical to form a polar question. It is common to have the particle o

at the end of a declarative sentence to ask a polar question, and the structure of

an alternative question is X o naji Y o (X PRT NEG Y PRT). o is also used in tag

questions (Gao 1985: 62, 65, 88-90).

(186) Sariqul Tajik (Gao 1985: 65, 89)

a. maʃ tuχɯ χor-an o naji wi budo χor-an o? 1PL.INCL chicken eat-1PL PRT NEG DEF beef eat-1PL PRT ‘Shall we eat chicken or beef?’

b. tudʒik ziv ati wazon-d, rust o? Tajik language TOP know-3SG true PRT

‘He can speak Tajik. Is that true?’

Wux Tajik uses the question particle a, and the structure of alternative

questions is normally X a, jo Y (X PRT, or Y) (Gao 1985: 117-8), both are

different from Sariqul Tajik (see also the introduction of Chapter 4 and Section

7.3.2 for more discussion on the difference in alternative questions among Tajik

dialects).

4 Another Indo-European language, Russian, is also spoken in some districts of China

(mainly in the northwest and northeast), with no noticeable differences to the language spoken in Russia.

5 According to Gao (1985: 1), the population of Tajik is about 26,500.

2 A survey of polar interrogative strategies

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2.6. Creole languages

Wutun

Wutun (wu-tun ‘five-villages’) is a creole based on five languages, namely,

Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, Tu, and Salar (hence the label ‘five’), spoken in

the Qinghai Province, with a population of about 2,000. Descriptive works of the

Wutun language are rare, though Chen (1982, 2007: 2575) reports a real polar

question example formed by a final question particle.

(187) Wutun (Chen 1982, 2007: 2575)

tɕi’kə ‘k‘anra ts‘iantə mi jɤ mɵ?DEF look.TOP cheap.NOMIN NEG have PRT ‘Isn’t there something cheaper than this?’

Tangwang

“Tangwang” is an abbreviated combination of Tangjia and Wangjia, two

villages in the northeast of the Dongxiang Autonomous County, Gansu Province.

The Tangwang language is a creole mainly based on the Chinese lexicon and

Dongxiang (Altaic) grammar, with roughly 20,000 speakers (Yibulaheimai 2007:

2580).

The polar question system of Tangwang is still unknown due to a lack of

relevant documentation, though, basically, one could refer to the Dongxiang

grammar.

E (Ai)

The E [e55] language (also known as Ai) is spoken in the Rongshui Miao

Autonomous County, in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with roughly

5,000 speakers. E is also called wuse (wu-se, ‘five-colors’), which suggests that

the language is spoken in an area with people from various nationalities. It is a

creole based basically on Kam-Sui and Tuguai (a variety of Guibei Ping in

Guangxi) (Luo 2007: 2596).

The polar question system of E is unknown as relevant descriptive literature

is not available.

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Za

Za is spoken in the Xiachayu Township, in Chayu County, and in the Tibet

Autonomous Region. Polar question strategies with final question particles (e.g.

re31) and alternative structures (X prt Y) are reported in Za (Li and Jiang 2001;

2007: 2618-9). The following are examples of a final question particle and an

alternative structure, respectively.

(188) Za (Jiang and Li 2001; 2007: 2618-9)

a. kam55 diŋ55kha55 pei55tsi55 ka53 re31? box on cup have QP ‘Are there some cups on the box?’

b. e31ȵi55 a31raŋ55 sa53 a55 me31 sa53? today rain drop PRT NEG drop ‘Did it rain today?’ Dao

Dao is a Creole mainly based on the Chinese lexicon and Tibetan grammar,

spoken in the Yajiang County, located in the west of the Sichuan Province, with a

population of about 2,600. The Dao district is surrounded by (Kang) Tibetan-

speaking people, making Dao somewhat a language island (Acuo 2004: 2-7,

2007: 2621).

Final question particles and V(P) neg constructions are reported in the polar

questions of Dao, both strategies are taken from Chinese.

(189) Dao (Acuo 2004: 57, 59)

a. ni chi-li ma? 2SG eat-FUT QP ‘Do you want to eat?’

b. ni fan chi-lɔ bu? 2SG meal eat-PST NEG

‘Have you eaten?’

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2.7. Summary

To summarize what would seem to be the most comprehensive survey to date of

interrogative strategies of the languages of China, covering Sinitic (10 languages)

and moniroty languages (128), some of the most striking features of interrogative

strategies in individual groups of languages are as follows:

·Sinitic languages use terminal rising intonation, question particles, X-neg-X,

and alternative structures to express polar questions. A handful Sinitic dialects

and varieties also use pre-verb question markers, verb-reduplication, and

interrogative verbs (which will be the topic of Chapter 6, and Section 7.2.4).

·Tibeto-Burman languages use interrogative verb morphology and alternative

questions, while polar questions formed by terminal rising intonations or

X-neg-X structures are rare. A subgroup of Tibeto-Burman, the Yi languages,

is characterized by verb-reduplicating interrogatives. (Interrogative verb

morphology and verb-reduplication in Tibeto-Burman are also dealt with in

Chapter 6, and disjunct-final particles as alternative strategies are discussed in

Section 4.2.)

·The Kam and Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages resemble Sinitic languages

in that they use terminal rising intonation, question particles, X-neg-X, and

alternative structures to ask polar questions. Kam and Hmong-Mien

(Miao-Yao) also use pre-posed disjunctions in alternative interrogatives (for

pre-/post-posed disjunctions, see Chapter 4).

·Altaic languages use question particles and alternative structures as their

common polar interrogative strategies, and X-neg-X questions are not found.

Altaic languages are special in that they take post-posed disjunctions (by

particles).

·Formosan languages, a subgroup of Austronesian, use question particles, but do

not use X-neg-X questions in their polar interrogatives. Formosan languages

are unique in their interrogative verbs and flexible word order of interrogative

particles.

·Austro-Asiatic languages share similarities with Sinitic languages in that they

use polar interrogative strategies like terminal rising intonation, question

particles, X-neg-X, and alternative structures. No interrogative verb

morphology is reported in Austro-Asiatic.

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Some common features of interrogative strategies in the languages of China are: ·Wh-phrases in wh-questions favor in situ positions (see Chapter 5).

·Question particles favor sentence-final positions (see Chapter 3).

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Chapter 3

Question particles and final particles As in other domains of grammar, the terminology for question particles, modal

particles, question tags, sentence-final particles and related phenomena is often

disparate and sometimes confusing. Synonyms and homonyms of the terms

chosen in the main body of the chapter and elsewhere deserve to be pointed out.

Question particles are invariable items with the function of forming

questions. As a marker of sentence types, question particles signal that a certain

sentence is a question. The counterparts of question particles include declarative

particles and imperatives particles. It is appropriate to label the particles that

dedicated to signaling sentence types as particles of illocutionary force.

Question tags, according to Crystal (2008: 476), are constituents consisting

of an auxiliary verb plus pronoun, attached at the end of a statement in order to

convey a negative or positive orientation, e.g. English isn’t it or innit, German

nicht wahr. Question tags normally contain a predicate with meaning like ‘is’ or

‘true’ (Sadock and Zwicky 1985; cf. Plank 2009).

According to König and Siemund (2007), question tags are different from

question particles in that (i) “[question] tags, apart from characterizing sentences

as questions, also contribute a certain bias by raising expectations toward either a

positive or negative answer”, and (ii) “[question] tags almost exclusively occur

at the end of a sentence, quite independently of basic word order pattern”. That is,

cross-linguistically, question particles are an invariable parts-of-speech which

occur not necessarily sentence-final (see Section 3.1 for Dryer’s 2005b data),

while question tags are constituents (normally containing a predicate) attached at

the end of a sentence, although both of them characterize sentences as questions.

Nevertheless, sentence-final seems to be only a preferred position for question

tags because in natural language, e.g. English, they may take utterance-final,

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sentence-final, XP-final, and XP-medial positions, though the XP-final/-medial

positions are much less common (see Dehé and Braun 2013). Two further

possible criteria for the distinction between question particles and question tags

are (iii) prosodic separation is more frequent before (non-phrase-medial)

question tags compared to question particles, and (iv) question tags are more

complex syntactically than question particles, because question tags normally

contain verbs or modals while particles are invariable items.

Modal particles, however, do not necessarily have something to do with

sentence types, rather, they express attitudes on the part of the speaker towards

the factual content of the utterance, e.g. possibility, (un)certainty, vagueness, cf.

German denn, einmal, doch, schon, wirklich, Italian mai, poi, pure (Coniglio

2008), English right, yet, well, etc.

Modality and interrogativity are related in this way. On the one hand,

sentences express various modalities, e.g. possibility, (un)certainty, vagueness,

etc. On the other, interrogatives frequently express meanings of possibility,

uncertainty, vagueness, etc. (that’s why people ask for information, be it yes/no

or wh- ones). A clear example is German denn, which is a modal particle, but

functions also as an interrogative marker (Bayer 2012).

In many languages in China, notably in Sinitic languages, sentence types

are characterized by sentence-final particles (cf. Li 2006). In Standard Chinese,

for example, some common sentence-final particles include ma (ma and ma55), a

(and its variants ya, na), ba, ne (ne and ne55), etc. Their distribution in different

types of sentences is summarized in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1. Final particles in Standard Chinese Particles Declarative Interrogative Imperative yes/no Alter. X-neg-X wh- ma 嘛 + - - - - -

ma55 吗 - + - - - -

ne 呢 + - - - - -

ne55 呢 - - + + + -

ba 吧 (+) (+) - - - +

a 啊 (ya 呀, na 呐) (+) (+) (+) + + +

de 的 + - - - - -

le 了 + - - - - +

bale 罢了 + - - - - -

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Notes for the table: 1. The table includes the most common final particles in Standard Chinese, and is not a

complete list. Many other Sinitic languages have rich inventories of final particles, e.g. Shanghai Wu has 56 final particles (Qian 1996).

2. Now that the work is concerned with interrogatives, high leveling toned ma55 (yes-no interrogative reading) is simplified as ma throughout the thesis if no neural-tone ma reading (declarative reading) would arise.

It can be seen from the table that ma, de, and bale express declarative, ma55

expresses yes-no interrogative. Also, if we arrange the table differently, by

setting sentence types as the starting point of observation, it can be seen that

ma55 and ne55 never occur in declaratives, yes-no questions use ma55 (and

sometimes also ba and a), alternative questions have ne55 (and sometimes also a),

X-neg-X questions (also known as A-not-A questions and disjunctive-negative

questions; see Sections 2.1.1.1, 4.1) and wh-questions have ne55 and a,

imperatives have ba, a, and le. Nevertheless, two matters deserve to be pointed

out here. One is that sentences do not have to take such final particles, and final

particles are not obligatory for indentifying sentence types. Another is that some

final particles are versatile and can be used in more than one sentence type, and

individual sentence types may also use more than one final particle.

For some modal particles in Standard Chinese, cf. hechang, nandao,

nanbucheng, etc. (Lü et al. 1980: 264, 407).

In this thesis, “final particle” is a general label for (i) the sentence-final

particles with illocutionary forces, including question particles, declarative

particles, and imperative particles, (ii) the sentence-final particles in

wh-questions, (iii) the disjunct-final particles as disjunctions in alternative

questions (see Section 4.3). The term is suitable for the present purposes because

the particles with illocutionary forces and in wh-questions are always sentence-

final, or disjunct-final in alternative questions.

This chapter deals with question particles in polar questions and final

particles in wh-questions (i-ii). The position of question particles in the

languages of China is compared with a 777-languages-sample by Dryer (2005b)

(Section 3.1), followed by a discussion on the so-called ‘questions by two

question particles’, i.e. ma ne questions (Section 3.2), and final particles in

wh-questions and reduced wh-questions (Section 3.3).

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3.1. The position of question particles

In linear sequence, a question particle is not necessarily confined to a certain

place in a sentence and can appear at any place in polar questions. However,

according to Dryer’s (2005b) survey of 777 languages, summarized in Table 3.2,

the cross-linguistically most common position is the sentence-final, followed by

sentence-initial and sentence-second, while other positions are rare.

Table 3.2. Position of polar question particles in 777 languages (Dryer 2005b) Beginning End Second Other Either No particle

118 272 45 8 24 310

Question particles are used very frequently in polar questions in the

languages of China. In the languages the present study is concerned with, that is

128 minority languages of China and 10 Sinitic languages, only 2 Formosan

languages (Rukai and Tsou) are reported to be without question particles in its

polar questions.

Table 3.3. Position of polar question particles in 138 languages of China (n-)end First/second/end First/end End End? No particle Other n/i

1 1 2 119 1 2 2 10 Also, quite different from the languages sampled in Dryer (2005b), most

languages in China take sentence-final question particles. Only a few languages

are exceptions; e.g. rGyarong (Tibeto-Burman) allows question particles in

sentence-final or non-sentence-final position (see example 1 below and Section

2.1.2.5), Sedeq (Formosan) in sentence-initial, -second, or -final position, Amis

and Bunun (both Formosan) in sentence-initial or -final positions, and

Kanakanavu and Saaroa (both Formosan) are of the ‘other’ type, having question

particles in positions other than initial, second, or final (for these Formosan

languages, see Section 2.3). See Map 8 (and Maps 2, 7) in Appendix II.

In rGyarong, question particles can take either a sentence-final position (1a,

1c) or a pre-predicate position (1b, 1d).

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(1) rGyarong (Lin 1993: 391-2)

a. no kə pa tə-ŋos mə? 2SG Han people 2-be QP ‘Are you Han people?’

b. no kə pa mə tə-ŋos?

c. no nə-səm-s tʃ he mə? 2SG GEN-heart-DAT go QP ‘Do you agree?’

d. no nə-səm-s mə tʃ he?

In the Guangka dialect of De’ang, the situation is different. Question

particles can take sentence-final positions when the object is missing (2a-b), or

sentence-medial positions, normally closely after the verb, if there is an object

(2c-d).

(2) Guangka De’ang (Ni 2007: 17-20)

a. kɣ 55piok55 ʔau51/21 tʃhiː 51 lɒ

21? clothes 1SG beautiful QP ‘Are my clothes beautiful?’

b. kɜ 412/55 hau412/51 tʃɔ55 lɒ

21? 3PL go PFT QP ‘Had they been (there)?’

c. moh51 lɒ 21 loŋ51/21 pɜ 

412? be QP vegetable.garden 2PL ‘Is it your vegetable garden?’

d. mai51/55 ha51 lɒ 21 tεu412 ni412/21?

2SG eat QP food DEF ‘Do you like the food?’ Sentence-medial question particles are not found in Sinitic languages1,

though, in marginal cases, there are exceptions in colloquial conversations.

1 Chao (1968: 81, 801, 806) includes some “pause particles”, which normally occur after a

subject. Some particles of this kind include a, me, and ba.

3 Question particles and final particles

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(3) Standard Chinese

ni kan ma xiaoshuo?2SG read QP novel ‘Do you like to read the novel?’ ‘Do you read novels?’ (less common)

(4) Yongxin Gan

jin tɕhia maŋ thaŋ? 2SG eat QP candy ‘Would you like to eat some candy?’‘Do you eat candy?’ (less common)

In (3)-(4), constituents followed by a question particle are to add object

information. That is, a questioner provides more information so that the

addressee understands the question better. Such sentences are very limited in that

the object must be specific, and unspecific ones immediately suggest

ungrammatical sentences. In particular, while asking (3)-(4), very often the

questioner is also showing or pointing at the novel or candy. If xiaoshuo ‘(the)

novel’ is replaced by shu ‘book’, (3) becomes ungrammatical, which is the same

if thaŋ ‘candy’ is replaced by toŋɕhi ‘something’ (4). Meanwhile, in both Standard

Chinese and Yongxin Gan, a pause has to be made after the question particle

(combined with a rising intonation); as a result, a question appears to consist of

two clauses rather than one (compare English Do you know her? The girl from

Berlin.). I hence do not consider questions of this type as containing medial

question particles.

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3.2. ma ne polar questions in Sinitic languages

3.2.1. ma ne polar questions

Particles cannot be added after the sentence-final question particle ma in

Standard Chinese. Nevertheless, some particles are found to be added after

sentence-final question particles in some Sinitic languages. In Yangjiang

Cantonese, Beiliu Cantonese, Shaoyang Xiang, Chengbu Xiang, Shangyou

Hakka, and Yongxin Gan, for example, there are so-called ‘questions with two

question particles’, i.e. ma ne questions. Because the final particle ne is

commonly assumed to be a question particle (which is a controversial

assumption, and one I do not share; see Section 2.1.1.1.3), ma ne questions seem

very special.

Some distinctions need to be clarified before looking into questions with

‘two question particles’. In Standard Chinese, the question particle ma could be

divided into two: ma1, which is used in normal yes-no questions, and ma2, which

is used in no-doubting or rhetorical questions.

(5) Standard Chinese

a. ni zhidao ma? 2SG know QP ‘Do you know (that)?’

b. ni bu zhidao ma? 2SG not know QP ‘Don’t you know (that)?’ (I think you know.)

The final particle ne used in questions2 can also be further divided into two:

ne1, which is used in X-neg-X, alterative, and wh-questions, and ne2, which is

used in the so-called “semantic wh-questions” (also known as “reduced

wh-questions”; see Section 3.3).

2 ne can be used in declarative sentences as well, e.g. ta zai chifan ne. (3SG PROG eat.rice FP)

‘S/he is eating.’ However, it takes a neutral tone (unstressed) in declaratives, and thereby differs from a high level 55 tone in questions (ne55).

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166

(6) Standard Chinese

a. ni qu-bu-qu ne? 2SG go- not -go PRT ‘Will you go (there) or not?’

b. wo-de shu ne? 2SG-GEN book PRT ‘Where is my book?’ Justification for the distinctions between ma1/ma2 and ne1/ne2 comes from

the fact that they are made consistently in many Sinitic languages. The

distinction also helps in clarifying the nature of mane questions.

Yangjiang Cantonese

In Yangjiang Cantonese, the question particle mo21 is used at the end of

yes-no questions (similar to Standard Chinese ma1), the final particle ne21 is used

at the end of X-neg-X, alternative, and wh-questions (similar to Standard

Chinese ne1).

(7) Yangjiang Cantonese (Peng and Zhang 2008)

件事你知得麽？ a. jian shi ni zhide mo?

DEF matter 2SG know QP ‘Do you know that matter?’

吃粥乜系吃饭呢？ b. chi zhou mie hai chi fan ne?

eat porridge or be eat rice FP ‘{Will you/Shall we} eat porridge or rice?’ mo42ne21 (mo42 < mo21) is used mainly in two cases: normal yes-no questions

(8a-b) and specific yes-no questions (8c-d).

(8) Yangjiang Cantonese (Peng and Zhang 2008)

件事你知得麽呢？ a. jian shi ni zhide mo ne?

DEF matter 2SG know QP FP ‘Do you know that matter (or not)?’

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167

晚黑你得闲麽呢？ b. wanhei ni de xian mo ne?

evening 2SG have time QP FP ‘Do you have some time tonight?’

除都我，还有乜谁麽呢？ c. chudou wo, haiyou mieshui mo ne?

except 1SG have who QP FP ‘Except me, are there some other people (or not)?’

屋里来过 mi55 人麽呢？ d. wuli lai-guo mi ren mo ne?

room come-PST what people QP FP ‘Did someone come (or not)?’

The difference between mo42ne21 questions and normal mo21 questions is

that by using mo42ne21 a questioner wants to draw the addressee’s attention and

requires a clear and quick yes-or-no answer, while using mo21 suggests a normal

particle question. Beiliu Cantonese

In Beiliu Cantonese, the final particles ne and lo can be attached after the

final question particle ma, so that questions end with mane and malo (cf. Section

2.1.1.3).

(9) Beiliu Cantonese (Xu 2008: 59)

王老师请着假嘛呢？

a. wang laoshi qing zhao jia ma ne? Wang teacher ask PST leave QP FP ‘Did teacher Wang ask for a leave (or not)?’ 你想去北流嘛咯？

b. ni xiang qu beiliu ma lo? 2SG want go Beiliu QP FP ‘Do you want to go to Beiliu (or not)?’

3 Question particles and final particles

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Shaoyang Xiang

In Shaoyang Xiang, questions with ma42nã42 also imply that a questioner

wants a clear and quick answer of yes-or-no. Li (2009) proposes that all

questions that end with the question particle ma can be replaced by mane, with

no special difference in meaning, but with a pragmatic difference, namely that

the questioner has lost patience and thus asks in an impolite way.

(10) Shaoyang Xiang (Li 2009)

咯样搞要得吗？ a. ge-yang gao yaode ma?

DEF-way do okay QP ‘Is it okay to do it this way?’

咯样搞要得吗呢？ b. ge-yang gao yaode ma ne?

DEF-way do okay QP FP ‘Is it okay (or not) to do it this way?’ Chengbu Xiang

In Chengbu Xiang, the question particle man55 is used in normal yes-no

questions and man31 is mainly used in tags. The final particle lai31 is found in

questions with wh-phrases, and lai55 is found in so-called semantic

wh-questions.

(11) Chengbu Xiang (Tan 2010)

你老弟会来吗？ a. ni laodi hui lai man55?

2SG younger.brother will come QP ‘Will your younger brother come?’

其长的个像你屋里人一个，是你个崽吗？ b. ji shi ni ge zai man31?

3SG be 2SG GEN son QP ‘He is your son, right?’

3 Question particles and final particles

169

你来个里，有么个事找我呢？

c. you mege shi zhao wo lai31? have what matter find 1SG FP ‘What do you on earth want me to do for you?’

我个帽子呢？ d. wo ge maozi lai55?

1SG GEN hat FP ‘Where is my hat?’ In Chengbu Xiang, there is also a man55lai31 question, asked by impatient

questioners who want a quick and clear answer.

(12) Chengbu Xiang (Tan 2010)

你老弟会来吗呢？ a. ni laodi hui lai man55 lai31?

2SG younger.brother will come QP FP ‘Will your younger brother come (or not)?’

其是昨天来个吗呢？ b. ji shi zuotian laige man55 lai31?

3SG be yesterday come QP FP ‘Is is true that s/he came yesterday?’

Chengbu Xiang usually lacks X-neg-X questions. Disjunctive-negative

meaning is conveyed via final question particles man55 and man31, both also

serve as final question particles in common yes-no questions. I classify

X-neg-X questions and common yes-no questions as subtypes of polar

questions (see Section 2.1.1.1.1), and it seems there is good reason to do so

with regard to the interrogative strategies of Chengbu Xiang.

In fact, some other Sinitic languages, e.g. Suzhou Wu, also do not have

X-neg-X questions. A similar meaning is expressed by adv-X questions (see

Section 2.1.1.3). This suggests that in Sinitic languages, X-neg-X questions are

not as common as polar questions by question particles.

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170

Yongxin Gan3

maŋnε, or maŋlε4 questions in Yongxin Gan are mainly spoken in western

townships like Wenzhu, Gaoxi, and Longtian, not in the Hechuan Township (the

county town) and its neighboring districts, though the dialects are intelligible

between speakers.

In Yongxin Gan, the question particle maŋ is used in normal yes-no

questions; the final particle nε is used in X-neg-X, alternatives, wh-questions, as

well as in the so-called semantic/reduced wh-questions. A combination of the

two, i.e., maŋnε is used when a questioner has lost patience and seeks a quick

and clear answer of a polarity value.

In Shaoyang Xiang (Li 2009), Chengbu Xiang (Tan 2010), and Yangjiang

Cantonese (Zhou and Zhang 2008), polar questions ending with ma (and the

like) can also be replaced by mane (and the like). This is, nevertheless, not the

case in Yongxin Gan, in which many other factors must be taken into

consideration.

First, questions with maŋnε are not used in polite dialogues. This is

because maŋnε implies a strong sense of impatience. For example, one can ask

maŋ questions, but not maŋnε questions, of persons of a higher position or an

older age or of strangers.

Second, tense, aspect, and mood also matters. maŋnε questions are

normally found in non-past tenses, non-perfect aspects, and in active voice, but

not in the past, perfect, or passive. (13) Yongxin Gan

你明天去芒呢/*芒能？ a. jin miŋman tɕhiε maŋ nε / *nεn?

2SG tomorrow go QP FP / NEG.PST

‘Will you go there tomorrow (or not)?’

你去哩*芒呢/芒能？ b. jin tɕhiε-li maŋ *nε / nεn?

2SG go-PST QP FP / NEG.PST

‘Did you go there (or not)?’

3 According to two native speaker informants, Leping Gan 乐平县鸬鹚埠乡 and Luxi Gan 芦

溪县宣风镇 also have ma ne questions, which are pɛ44ne44, and mo44ne44, respectively. 4 In Yongxin Gan, /n/ and /l/ are free variations.

3 Question particles and final particles

171

你去过哩*芒呢/芒能？ c. jin tɕhiε-guo-li maŋ *nε / nεn?

2SG go-EXP-PST QP FP / NEG.PST

‘Have you ever been there (or not)?’

你（被）得其打哩*芒呢/芒能？ d. jin (pei)de tɕi ta-li maŋ *nε / nεn?

2SG PASS 3SG beat-PST QP FP / NEG.PST

‘Were you beat by him (or not)?’ Grammatical expressions of (b-d) should have the modal verb nεn ‘not (yet)’

rather than the final particle nε at the end. I summarize the usage of maŋ, maŋnε,

and maŋnεn in the following table.

Table 3.4. /maŋ/, /maŋnɛ/, and /maŋnεn/ in Yongxin Gan maŋ maŋnε maŋnεn all tenses non-past past all aspects non-perfect perfect all voices active passive

Except for maŋnε questions, there is also a maŋla question in Yongxin Gan.

The semantic meaning of the two kinds of questions is basically the same,

though, pragmatically, questions with maŋla are even less polite and the

questioner has even less patience. Questions with maŋla are most commonly

used in the present tense, seldom in the near future, never in the past or far

future.

(14) Yongxin Gan

你（?下午/??明天/*明年）去芒啦？ a. jin (?mawu/??miænmã/*miænmã) tɕhiε maŋ la?

2SG this.afternoon/tomorrow/the.next.year go QP FP ‘Will you go there (this afternoon /tomorrow / the next year) (or not)?’

*你昨天去哩芒啦？ b. jin tshuomã tɕhiε-li maŋ *la / nεn?

2SG yesterday go-PST QP FP / NEG.PST Intended reading: ‘Did you go there yesterday (or not)?’ For questions like (14a), the degree of grammaticality is reduced when the

reference time is future: ‘afternoon’ is somewhat acceptable, ‘tomorrow’ is

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strange, and ‘the next year’ is definitely ungrammatical in such sentences. As to

(14b), either the final particle la should be dropped, or the negator nεn should

be added (cf. 13).

Shangyou Hakka

In Shangyou Hakka (spoken in the south of Jiangxi Province), there is a

question particle ma55 and a final particle ne55, which can be used

independently and together.

(15) Shangyou Hakka (Liu 1999: 740)

你会吗去？

a. ni hui ma qu? 2SG will QP go ‘Will you go (there)?’

你系吗去年结个婚？

b. ni xi ma qunian jie-ge-hun? 2SG be QP last.year ma-PST-rry ‘Did you marry last year?’

我要吗来呢？

c. wo yao ma lai ne? 1SG should QP come FP ‘Should I come?’

斫两斤猪肉做得吗呢？

b. zhuo liang-jin zhu-rou zuo-de ma-ne? 2SG two-CL pig-meat do-able QP-FP ‘Is it okay to buy one kilo of pork?’ Note that question particles in Shangyou Hakka come right after the questioned

elements, not (necessarily) in sentence-final position.

3.2.2. The nature of ma ne polar questions

In the previous section, I have mentioned that in Standard Chinese, the question

particle ma could be further divided into ma1 and ma2, ne could be further

divided into ne1 and ne2. These divisions also apply in the six Sinitic languages

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with mane questions. The formation of mane in these languages is invariably

ma1ne1, while *ma1ne2, *ma2ne1, and *ma2ne2 are not attested.

Table 3.5. ma, ne, and mane in six Sinitic languages ma1 ma2 ne1 ne2 mane neutral suprise/rethoric ‘on earth’ wh-

Yangjiang Cantonese mo21 me55 ne21 ne55 mo21ne21

Beiliu Cantonese ma ne, lo mane Shaoyang Xiang ma42 ã55 nã42 ma42nã42 Chengbu Xiang man55 man31 lai31 lai55 man55lai31

Yongxin Gan maŋ55 a55 lε21 lε55 naŋ55lε21 Shangyou Hakka mã55 nẽ55 mã55nẽ55

The reason that mane questions take ma1ne1 is that ma1 is neutral, and the

force of ne1 is to probe, to ask an addressee to choose between yes or no, hence

there is no semantic conflict between them. ma2 is commonly found in surprises,

guesses, and rhetorical questions, which is with a low degree of interrogativity,

and a speaker even seeks no answer in many cases. ne2 is used in the so-called

semantic/reduced wh-questions and is irrelevant for the present purpose.

A combination of the question particle ma1 and the final particle ne1

suggests that questions with ma1ne1 are yes-no questions because interrogativity

is carried by ma1. This can be seen in the distribution of mane questions in the

six Sinitic languages mentioned above.

Table 3.6. Distribution of mane questions in six Sinitic languages yes-no X-neg-X Alternative wh- Yangjiang Cantonese + - - -

Beiliu Cantonese + - - -

Shaoyang Xiang + - - -

Chengbu Xiang + - - -

Yongxin Gan + - - -

Shangyou Hakka + - - -

A general summary of mane question is, that it is composed of ma1 and ne1,

and is used in yes-no questions. mane questions express a strong sense of

impatience and seek a quick and clear answer of a polarity value. It is rare in

Sinitic languages, and (so far) only found in south China.

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3.3. Final particles in wh-questions

3.3.1. Final particles in wh-questions

In wh-questions of Standard Chinese, as they occur in polar questions, final

particles express some ‘on earth’ meaning, or to the contrary, politeness, or even

rhetorical meaning, depending on the context, although they are not necessary in

forming wh-questions (cf. Jayaseelan 2012 for a similar observation in “many

languages”, e.g. Malayalam; but see Cable 2010: 30-31 for Tlingit sá, Sinhala da,

and Japanese ka, three question particles that must be used in some of their

wh-questions and wh-indefinites; for Japanese ka, see also Wachowicz 1980,

Jayaseelan 2012). (16) Standard Chinese

a. shui zhidao? (wh-question) who know ‘Who knows this?’

b. shui zhidao a/ne? (wh-question, rhetorical/‘on earth’/politeness) who know FP ‘Who knows? (I don’t know.)’ / ‘Who on earth knows this?’ /

‘(Please tell me) Who knows this?’

c. shui zhidao ma? (polar question) who know QP ‘Does someone know this?’ Note that a wh-question turns into a polar question if question the particle ma is

used (16c). (16c) is a case of indefinite-interrogative affinity (see, e.g. Li 1992,

Haspelmath 1997, Bhat 2000, Gärtner 2009). In fact, in Standard Chinese the

wh-phrases turn to be indefinite pronouns if question particle ma (and the like) is

added at the end of a content question, cf. shui ‘who ~ someone’ (16c), nali

‘where ~ somewhere’, shenme ‘what ~ something’, etc.

Final particles are used very commonly in the wh-questions of Sinitic

languages. As far as the dialects (or, varieties) of Sinitic languages are concerned

in the present study, only some dialects of Gan seem not to include such final

particles. For example, Jishui Gan normally does not take any final particles in

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wh-questions; and Old Nanchang Gan, which is spoken in the capital city of

Jiangxi Province, does not have any final particles in wh-questions, though

younger generations may use some, which is a clear case of borrowing (from

Standard Chinese).

In the minority languages of China, very frequently, final particles are also

found in wh-questions, carrying a similar meaning as they do in Sinitic.

Table 3.7. Final particles in wh-questions in 128 minority languages

With particles Without particles Unknown79 3 46

The three languages that are reported not to have final particles in wh-questions

are Dongxiang (Liu 1981: 105), Sulong (Li 2004: 166), and Za (Li and Jiang

2001). Note, however, that the two latter descriptions are by the same author, and

conceivably final particles have not been at the centre of his attention.

The final particles in wh-questions in 79 languages are listed in the

following table. (For the three Kam languages, i.e. Mo, Mulao, and Caijia, we

still lack relevant information; languages with final particles in reduced

wh-questions are not included here, see Section 3.3.2.)

Table 3.8. Final particles in wh-questions of 79 minority languages KAM HMONG-MIEN (MIAO-YAO) Zhuang ne, ni, da, ha Hmong (Miao) nen35, nend Dai li1, tsa5, a2 Baheng lɦε33 Lingao ni2 Jiongnai ni35 Biao ni1 Mian (Mien) njε42, ləi24, səi33 Shui ndje44, ɣo2 She nji6 Mulam ja5, ni5 Maonan lε5 AUSTRO-ASIATIC Mo (unknown) Wa (Va) hliex Yanghuang ȵi0 De’ang ε Lajia a3 Jing dəi1, ne1 Li ne2/ni2, ja2, h(a)ɯ2 Buxing ŋa Cun ni, he Lai ʔe2, ʔe4 Buyang hε0 Mulao (unknown) CREOLE Caijia (unknown) Dao ne, ni

3 Question particles and final particles

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TIBETO-BURMAN AUSTRONESIAN Tibetan na, pa Amis ʃaw Menba kʌ31 Bunun i/iʃ Baima uε53 Pazeh paj Cangluo ja Sedeq da Yami ja Yi lo21 Huihui ne44, nə33, lɔ11 Lisu ŋa4 Lahu le1 TURKIC Hani la31, a31 Uighur (Uygur) du/tu Jinuo ε44 Kazak/Kazakh ʃe Naxi le/lei Salar i Tanglang ȵi55, le55 Sangkong le33 MONGOLIAN Bisu ni55ɤ31 Mongolian bee, (ă)b Kazhuo ŋa31 Daur jee, jəə Rouruo ȵi55, ɣa55, ɣɯ53 Bao’an se Nusu ne55/le55, ɕi55 Eastern Yugur ja, bə/wə Tujia a21 (la55, la21, li21) Kangjia ba Jingpo ta51, ni51, lo1, o1 MANCHU-TUNGUSIC Dulong da55 Manchu ni, nio Geman tauŋ35 Evenki bixxə, gə Darang ja35 Oreqen jee Anong da53 Yidu a31 (wa53) Bengni-Boga’er jeteː Bengru ja31 Achang ne21 Zaiwa li55, la31, lu55, thaʔ31 Langsu la31 Xiandao la31 Bola i55 Leqi la53, a53ka33 Qiang a (na, ŋua), mi, ma Ersu i33 Shixing wo33 Zhaba a33 Lawurong sə53, ɕə33

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The table suggests that the most common onset of the syllable structure of final

particles in the wh-questions of minority languages are n- and l-, and the most

common nucleus is a, both are features of Standard Chinese and many other

Sinitic languages. There is no clear clue to trace their common origin (if any),

but there are some clear cases of borrowing, e.g. Mian and Zhuang (see Section

7.2.1).

3.3.2. Final particles in reduced wh-questions

In Standard Chinese, reduced wh-questions, or semantic wh-questions, are a type

of questions that normally have a NP/VP plus the final particle ne (and its

variants, e.g. nie, lie, na), which express the same meaning as content questions,

e.g. ‘Where is…?’, ‘How about…?’, ‘How to do with …?’, ‘What if …?’, etc.

Reduced wh-questions in Standard Chinese can be further classified into

three subtypes. I label them as [S PRON ne], [NP ne/na], [VP ne], as exemplified

in (17a), (17b), and (17c) respectively.

(17) Standard Chinese

a. wo jinnian sanshisui, ni ne? (S, PRON ne?) 1SG this.year 30.years.old 2SG PRT ‘I am thirty years old. And (how old are) you?’

b. wo de zixingche ne/na? (NP ne/na?) 1SG GEN bicycle FP ‘Where is my bicycle?’ or ‘How about my bicycle?’ (less common)

c. ta bu lai ne? (VP ne?) 3SG NEG come FP ‘What if s/he does not come?’ (How to do if s/he does not come?) Questions like (a), that is, a tag-like question after a declarative clause, are

similar to English ‘(and) how about…?’. Questions like (b) are formed by an NP

plus a final particle. Ambiguity arises if the particle is ne: it could either be

‘where is…?’ or ‘how about…?’, though it consistently means ‘where is…?’ if

na is chosen instead (but na is used not as common as ne). Questions like (c) are

normally found to have a verb, meaning ‘{what if / how to do} if something

happens?’.

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In Standard Chinese, the final particles found in reduced wh-questions like

(a) and (c) can only be ne, while both ne and na can be used in reduced

wh-questions like (b). This is very different from the final particles in normal

wh-questions, where more final particles can be used, such as ne, a, ya, na (see

4.3.1).

In fact, a distinction between final particles in reduced wh-questions and

normal wh-questions is systematic in Sinitic languages.

Table 3.9. Final particles in wh-questions in Sinitic languages5 Sinitic Dialect Variety Normal wh- Reduced wh-

Mandarin Beijing Beijing a (ya, na), ne ne Jiao-Liao Longkou lo, la ne Southwest Changyang sa lie/tie Southwest Enshi ʂa le Southwest Xishui le, ma an Wu Taihu Shanghai a, la ne Taihu Suzhou tɕiAʔ55, nəʔ55, ɒ44, lɒ44 nəʔ21 Taihu Ningbo la, ȵi ȵi Cantonese Guangfu Guangzhou a33, ka33, pɔ33, wɔ33, nε55 nε55 Goulou Beiliu a, ne, lo ne Hakka Ning-Long Nankang o ne Ning-Long Xinfeng No particles (ne) Gan Chang-Du Nanchang a, o, ne ne Ji-Cha Yongxin la42, ne44 ne44 Xiang Chang-Yang Changsha lo ȵie Lou-Shao Qiyang la, ne ne Lou-Shao Lianyuan Gutang a, lɔ, la lε, la Min Quan-Zhang Tainan a, le, han, hio le Jin Bingzhou Taiyuan liɛ44, le44 le44 Hui Qi-De Qimen a, ne, na ne Xiu-Yi Wuyuan a, ne ne Ping North Yongfu Tangbao ai31, au31, lie, nie æ35, lie, nie North Lingui Liangjiang æ33, le13, le35 le13, le35 North Yangshuo Putao lie44 lie44, e44

5 See Section 2.1.1.3 for the references and more final particles in wh-questions.

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At least two conclusions can be drawn here. First, the number of final particles

used in reduced wh-questions is smaller than that used in normal wh-questions.

Second, final particles in reduced wh-questions most commonly have a nasal or

labial initial consonant, which is very likely a result of the borrowing from

Standard Chinese (see, for example, Li 1998: 106 for discussions on Suzhou

Wu).

In the minority languages of China, the distinction between final particles in

reduced wh-questions and normal wh-questions is also clear and systematic: see

Table 3.10 (see individual languages in Chapter 2 for the references).

Table 3.10. Final particles in wh-questions in 17 minority languages Family/Group Languages Normal wh- Reduced wh-

Tibeto-Burman Dulong da55 da55 Geman tauŋ35 lo55 Anong da53 le53 Qiang a (na, ŋua), mi, ma ȵi Kam Zhuang ne, ni, da, ha ne Lingao ni2 ni2, ni5 Biao ni1 ni1 Shui ndje4, ɣo2 ni4 Mulam ja5, ni5 nε5/lε5 Yanghuang ȵi0 ȵi4  Hmong-Mien Mian (Mien) njε42, ləi24, səi33 lε5 She nji6 ni1 Turkic Kazak (Kazakh) ʃe ʃe Mongolian Kangjia ba le Austronesian Huihui ne44, nə33, lɔ11 ne24 Austro-Asiatic Jing dəi1, ne1 ni1 Lai ʔe2, ʔe4 ndi3

Some languages that have final particles in reduced wh-questions are not

included here, because the information on those particles used in normal

wh-questions is not available, or they do not use final particles in normal

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wh-questions. These languages include: Tibetan, Sulong, Pumi, rGyarong

(Tibeto-Burman); Bouyei, Kam, Gelao, Laji, Caijia (Kam); Kirgiz, Uzbek, Tatar

(Turkic); Tu (Mongolian); Manchu (Manchu-Tungusic); and Mang (Austro-

Asiatic).

A similarity lies in the minority languages and Sinitic languages: the

conclusions drawn about Sinitic languages (see Table 3.9) are also valid here. A

smaller number of final particles are found in reduced wh-questions than in

normal wh-questions, and most of them have an l-/n- initial consonant.

Three issues deserve to be commented on here. One is that a wh-question

plus a final particle may result a rhetorical question in many Sinitic languages,

e.g. Standard Chinese, and in some minority languages in China, e.g. Jinuo and

Yi.

(18) Standard Chinese

ta zenme/nali hui zuofan a/ya/ne? 3SG how/where know cook.rice FP ‘How could s/he know how to cook?’ (S/he doesn’t know cooking.)

(19) Jinuo (Gai 1986: 119)

ɕe33 khε53 nε35 a?DEF where 2SG.GEN FP

‘How can you claim it is yours?’ (It is not yours.) (20) Yi (Li 1996: 139-40)

na21 e55 xa55 a21so33 mu21 ɣa21 kɯ21 ɣa33?thing DEF CL who do PRT can ADV ‘Who can not do it?’ (Everyone can do it.)

See Dai et al. (1991: 347) for Bola examples, Dai et al. (1991: 369) and Dai et al.

(2005: 97) for Xiandao.

Another matter is the placement of particles in wh-questions. In Yi (20), the

particle ɣa21 does not take a sentence-final position (as it normally does), but a

sentence-medial position. This phenomenon is rarely attested in the minority

languages of China: only two plausible cases are found in Amis and Pazeh (both

are Formosan languages).

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(21) Amis (Chen 2007a: 2334)

jaten ikuŋŋu ja, dʒi nawuɖ ? 1PL why PRT NEG reproduce‘Why does our population not increase?’

(22) Pazeh (Zeng 2007: 2214)

asaj paj mini? what PRT DEF ‘What’s this?’

Finally, a wh-question plus a final question particle may also result in a

yes-no question, but this is not the case if a final particle is added on.

(23) Standard Chinese

a. ta chi le shenme ma? 3SG eat PST what QP ‘Did s/he eat something?’

b. ta chi le shenme ne/a? 3SG eat PST what FP ‘What did s/he eat?’

For further discussion of final particles in wh-questions in Standard Chinese, see

Huang et al. (2009: 273-81).

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3.4. Summary

In the beginning of this chapter, the terms question particle, final particle, and

modal particle were (re)introduced. I then showed that the positions of question

particles in the languages of China are very different from the worldwide

language sample by Dryer (2005b) in that (i) most languages (c. 90%) prefer

sentence-final positions for question particles, while Dryer’s sample reports that

a much smaller proportion of languages (c. 35%) prefer sentence-final question

particles, and (ii) in Dryer’s data, many languages are reported to have

sentence-initial question particles (c. 15%) or simply do not use any question

particles (c. 40%), both cases are rare in the languages of China (Section 3.1).

See Map 8 and Maps 2, 7 in Appendix II for the language atlas.

The discussion on ma ne questions in Sinitic languages (Section 3.2) reveals

that such questions are formed by a question particle plus a final particle, not by

two questions particles, which dispels the myth of the so-called ‘questions with

two questions particles’. Three Gan languages, Yongxin Gan, Leping Gan, and

Luxi Gan, are reported to have ma ne questions for the first time.

As has been observed in literature, in Standard Chinese (and in many other

Sinitic languages as well), final particles determine the nature of wh-questions,

in particular, wh-questions are turned into yes-no/rhetorical questions, or

declaratives (assertions), or bear some ‘on earth’ meaning, if proper question

particles are used sentence-finally. To fine-tune some of the details, I checked the

final particles in wh-questions in 138 languages of China and found that 79

minority languages and all Sinitic languages (10 lgs) have such a strategy. A

detailed list of such final particles in the 79 minority languages is also provided

in Section 3.3.1.

In the so-called ‘reduced wh-questions’, it is found that the number of final

particles is less than those used in equivalent normal wh-questions. Moreover,

final particles in reduced wh-questions in many minority languages are very

likely to be borrowed from Chinese. Two detailed lists of final particles in

normal wh-questions and reduced wh-questions, one on Sinitic languages,

another on minority languages, are provided in Section 3.3.2.

The next chapter analyzes disjunctions and alternative questions.

Continuing a point raised in the present chapter, it includes a section on particles

as disjunctions in alternative questions (Section 4.3).

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Chapter 4

Disjunctions and alternative questions The subject of coordination has drawn wide scholarly attention and produced a

huge amount of literature (see, e.g. Haspelmath 2004, 2007 and references cited

therein; see also Stassen 2000 for and/with typology). This is, however, not the

case for disjunction. As Haspelmath noted in his overview of a collection of

seventeen essays on coordinating constructions,

Disjunctive (‘or’) coordination is much less prominent in this volume than conjunctive coordination, and this is not surprising because it is also less prominent in language use. (Haspelmath 2004: 27)

and Mauri noted in her monograph on coordination,

Most of the typology studies on coordination however, focus on conjunctive1 construction, and leave constructions coding contrast and alternative relations a bit in the background. (Mauri 2008: 4)

Against this backdrop, this chapter focuses on disjunction with particular

reference to alternative questions. It distinguishes alternative questions (with

positive-negative disjuncts) and X-neg-X questions in Standard Chinese (Section

4.1). Moreover, it proposes an or and or/or? typology in alternative questions

(Section 4.2). Attention is also paid to particles that function as disjunctions

(Section 4.3), and to some restrictions in alternative islands in Sinitic languages

(Section 4.4).

It should be stated at the outset that this chapter concentrates on the

1 Coordination consists of three members: conjunctive (e.g. and), adversative (e.g. but), and

disjunctive (e.g. or) (see Mauri 2008: 1). Some linguists, however, classify and/but/or as a subtype of (co-ordinating) disjunctions (see, e.g. Crystal 2008: 101).

4 Disjunctions and alternative questions

184

morphosyntax of alternative questions; intonation and prosody are not central

topics here. For example, a difference between English and Standard Chinese is

that, in English, a question in the form of alternatives can be a yes/no question in

reality, depending on intonation and prosody, compare: Do you like [apples]↗ or

[oranges]↘? (alternative question), Do you like [apples or oranges]↗? (yes/no

question) (see e.g. Han and Romero 2004 and references given therein; see also

Jennings 1994: 27); this is, however, not the case in Standard Chinese, where

questions of this form (X disj Y) must be real alternative questions, regardless of

intonation and prosody. No yes/no-question readings are possible, compare: ni

xihuan [pingguo] haishi [juzi]? (2SG like apple or orange) ‘Do you like apples or

oranges? (Which one?)’, *ni xihuan [pingguo haishi juzi]?

Another matter is that or and or/or? do not account for all the disjunction

types in alternative questions in the languages of China, let alone other languages,

as disjunctions in alternative questions have various origins. For example, in the

Sariqul dialect of Tajik (Indo-European) spoken in China, alternative questions

take the form X prt disj Y prt, where the disjunction naji ‘not’ is a negation word

(alternative questions in the Wux dialect of Tajik take a similar structure, i.e. X

prt, disj Y, but the disjunction jo ‘or’ is not from a negator, it is a real disjunction;

see Gao 1985: 65, 118). In Longgu (Austronesian, Solomon Islands; Hill 1992:

308), the disjunction bwala ‘or’ is homonymous with the independent polarity

form bwala ‘no’ (Dixon 2012: 398)2. In Dargi (Daghestanian), aħi ‘or’ is most

probably a petrified gerund form of the negative auxiliary root aħ ‘not be’ (van

den Berg 2004). Yet there are other languages demonstrating a neutralization of

conjunctions and disjunctions, e.g. Upriver Halkomelem (Salish) qə ‘and/or’

(and ‘but’ as well), Thai kàp ‘with/and/or’, and Hua (Papua New Guinea) ve

‘and/or’ (see Ohori 2004).

Nevertheless, a typology of or vs or/or? is meaningful, at least for the

languages of China, as it does cover a majority of languages and correlates with

some other parameters (e.g. clause order, position of adpositions; see Sections

4.2.3-4).

2 Note that Dixon’s (2012: 398-9) examples of alternative questions in Standard Chinese

and Cantonese are in fact X-neg-X questions, in which the negators, i.e. bu ‘not’ in Chinese, and mh ‘not’ in Cantonese, are not disjunctions (see Section 4.1).

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4.1. Alternative vs X-neg-X questions

In Section 2.1.1.1, it was mentioned that in Standard Chinese, alternative

questions with two disjuncts resemble X-neg-X questions if the second disjunct

is a negation of the first, i.e. X disj neg-X.

This thesis does not include X-neg-X questions as a subtype of alternative

questions. Section 2.1.1.1 demonstrates that, in Standard Chinese, a content

question can express the same information as an alternative question, but cannot

express what an X-neg-X question expresses. In addition to this, there are more

reasons to differentiate between the two types of questions.

First, superficially, an alternative question would take more than two

disjuncts, e.g. X, Y, or Z, whereas an X-neg-X has only two constituents, i.e. X

and neg-X. An alternative question shows some similarities with an X-neg-X

question only when it has two disjuncts, one positive and another negative.

Second, more restrictions are placed on alternative questions in their

syntactic alternations, but very few on X-neg-X questions. Consider example (1a)

(which is an alternative question with the disjunction haishi ‘or’, and an

X-neg-X question when it is omitted), and its syntactic alternations:

(1) Standard Chinese

a. ni qu Beijing (haishi) bu qu Beijing? 2SG go Beijing or not go Beijing ‘Are you going to Beijing or not?’

b. Alternative question alternations ni qu Beijing haishi bu qu Beijing?

ni qu Beijing haishi bu qu? *ni qu Beijing haishi bu? ??ni qu haishi bu qu Beijing?

VP-disj-neg-VPVP-disj-neg-V *VP-disj-neg ??V-disj-neg-VP

c. X-neg-X question alternations ni qu Beijing bu qu Beijing?

ni qu Beijing bu qu? ni qu Beijing bu? ni qu bu qu Beijing?

VP-neg-VPVP-neg-V VP-neg V-neg-VP

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It can be seen that in alternative questions, VP-disj-neg is ungrammatical and

V-disj-neg-VP is very strange, while the same structures in X-neg-X questions

are grammatical.

More restrictions can be seen when an adjective (phrase) functions as a

predicate. As is suggested by the following example and its alternations, in

alternative questions, AP-disj-neg-A, AP-disj-neg, and A-disj-neg-AP are all

ungrammatical; whereas in X-neg-X questions, only AP-neg-A is

ungrammatical.

(2) Standard Chinese

a. Mali haokan (haishi) bu haokan? Mary good.looking or not good.looking ‘Is Mary beautiful or not?’

b. Alternative question alternations Mali haokan haishi bu haokan?

*Mali haokan haishi bu hao? *Mali haokan haishi bu? *Mali hao haishi bu haokan?

AP-disj-neg-AP*AP-disj-neg-A*AP-disj-neg *A-disj-neg-AP

c. X-neg-X question alternations

Mali haokan bu haokan? *Mali haokan bu hao? Mali haokan bu? Mali hao bu haokan?

AP-neg-AP*AP-neg-AAP-neg A-neg-AP

Third, some subtle semantic differences exist between alternative questions

and X-neg-X questions, that is, alternative questions require clearer answers than

X-neg-X questions. In the following examples, it is fine to answer (3a) in an

indirect way, like I practiced the piano for two months…, I practiced the piano

when I was five…, which do not answer the question directly (e.g. an addressee

wants to pretend that s/he knows to some extent how to play the piano but in fact

s/he does not play at the moment), which is similar to answering a common

yes/no question ni hui tan gangqin ma? (2SG can play piano QP) ‘Do you know

how to play the piano?’. However, a clear and prompt yes/no response must be

given when answering (3b).

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(3) Standard Chinese

a. ni hui bu hui tan gangqin? 2SG can NEG can play piano ‘Do you know how to play the piano(, or not)?’

b. ni hui tan gangqin haishi bu hui (tan gangqin)? 2SG can play piano or NEG can play piano ‘Do you really know how to play the piano, or not?’

The criterion for distinguishing positive-negative alternative questions and

X-neg-X questions is whether there is a disjunction between two alternatives. If

there is a disjunction, it is an alternative question; if not, it is an X-neg-X

question. A disjunction marker can also be a particle (see Section 4.3), or a pause

between the disjuncts, or body language like gestures and eye movements, or any

other strategies to separate the two disjuncts.

In his recent publication, Dixon (2012: 398-400) included a section on

alternative questions, and cited Standard Chinese and Cantonese examples,

Standard Chinese ni qu bu qu? (2SG go not go) ‘Will you go?’, Cantonese leih

sik-mh-sik ngoh sailou a? (2SG know-NEG-know my brother PRT) ‘Do you know

my brother?’ Following the criterion here, the two examples are in fact X-neg-X

questions, as there are no normal disjunctions between the constituents, nor can

one find particles, pauses, or even body gestures in the examples. (See Section

2.1.1.1. for more discussion of the classification of question types in Standard

Chinese and other Sinitic languages.)

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4.2. Alternative questions: the or vs or/or? typology

4.2.1. Introducing the or vs or/or? typology

In most Indo-European languages, e.g. English, German, and Catalan, the same

disjunction is used in both declarative sentences and interrogative alternatives. (4) English

a. I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning. b. Will you come today or tomorrow?

(5) German

a. Ich komme heute Nachmittag oder morgen Früh. 1SG come.FUT.1SG today afternoon or tomorrow morning ‘I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning.’

b. Kommst du heute oder morgen? come.FUT.2SG 2SG today or tomorrow ‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’ In Standard Chinese, however, disjunctions used in declarative sentences and interrogative sentences are different. As Chao (1968) pointed out correctly (but put in a somewhat different way):3

For the ‘or’-words in Chinese, it makes a difference whether it is a disjunctive ‘or’ (the

‘or’ of ‘whether or’) or an alternative ‘or’ (the ‘or’ of ‘either or’). In the former case

the word usually regarded as the equivalent conjunction to ‘or’ is haishi… In the latter

case the equivalent to ‘or’ is huozhe or huoshi. (Chao 1968: 265) In Standard Chinese, huo(zhe) ‘or’ is used in declarative sentences, while haishi ‘or’ is used in interrogative sentences. I call the languages that have different disjunctions in declarative and interrogative sentences or/or?-languages (declarative or vs. interrogative or), like Standard Chinese; 4 while those languages which lack such a difference, like English and German, are called or-languages. 3 For similar observations, see also Li and Thompson (1981: 653-4), Haspelmath (2007). 4 An or/or? language outside China is Finnish (Finno-Ugric, Uralic), where a distinction

between declarative ‘or’ tai and interrogative ‘or’ vai is made. Thanks to Matti Miestamo for pointing out this fact to me.

4 Disjunctions and alternative questions

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(6) Standard Chinese

a. wo jintian xiawu huo(zhe) mingtian shangwu lai. 1SG today afternoon or tomorrow morning come ‘I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning.’

b. ni jintian (lai) haishi mingtian lai? 2SG today come or.be tomorrow come ‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’

4.2.2. The or vs or/or? typology

My investigation of 138 languages of China found that 32 languages distinguish

or and or/or? in declarative and alternative questions, while 25 languages show

no such difference; for 81 languages the relevant information is lacking or they

are irrelevant for the present purpose (for example, 28 languages use particles

rather than disjunctions; see Section 4.3).

Among the 32 or/or? languages, 10 are Sinitic, 7 Tibeto-Burman, 7 Kam, 1

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao), 2 Altaic, 1 Austronesian, and 4 Austro-Asiatic. It is

clear that or/or?-languages are widespread among the languages in China.

However, the only Indo-European language of China, Tajik, as well as all Creole

languages are or languages. Table 4.1. The or vs or/or? typology in 138 languages of China

Family Group or/or? or Others

Sino-Tibetan (85) Sinitic (10) 10 0 0 Tibeto-Burman (46) 7 8 31 Kam (22) 7 9 6 Miao-Yao (7) 1 3 3 Altaic (22) Turkic (9) 1 2 6 Mongolian (7) 0 0 7 Manchu-Tungusic (6) 1 0 5 Austronesian (16) 1 3 12

Austro-Asiatic (9) 4 0 5 Indo-European (1) 0 0 1 Creole (5) 0 0 5

Total 32 25 81

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Notes

1. The numbers in parentheses are the total number of languages in a certain group/family in

China. The numbers without parentheses are the number of or-languages,

or/or?-languages, and other languages.

2. The languages grouped as “others” include those alternative questions formed by other

strategies, e.g. particle disjunctions (including 28 languages, see Section 4.3), and the

languages still undescribed.

3. Some languages have more than one linking strategy in alternative questions, e.g. Yongxin

Gan has both particles and a division in or vs or/or? disjunctions, we classify these

languages as or/or?-languages.

The following table gives details of the disjunctions used in declarative

sentences and alternative questions in the 32 or/or?-languages.

Table 4.2. Disjunctions in 32 or/or?-languages in China

Languages Declarative Alternative Q References

Standard Chinese xuo51(tʂe214) xai35ʂʅ51 Personal knowledge

Gan (Nanchang) jiaopu xaisɿ Personal knowledge

Cantonese (Guangzhou) waatse wanxæ, tsoŋxæ Native speakers

Wu (Shanghai) vətsə xæsɿ Native speakers

Hakka (Nankang) toŋ xæxei Native speakers

Xiang (Hengyang) (jiaomə…jiaomə) xai11sɿ213 Native speakers

Min (Zhangzhou) (bo, m) asi Native speakers

Jin (Taiyuan) jiaopulao xaisɿ Native speakers

Hui (Qimen) xuo33ɕi42 xuɔ 55ɕi42 Native speakers

Ping (Lingui) (xo31tsə31) hæ31ʃi33 Liang 2005: 213, 217

Jinuo mɔ44ŋə44vu44læ33 ku55khæ42vu42læ33 Gai 1986: 113, 118

Kazhuo mo55ni31/ma31ŋ33 mε33sɿ55 Mu 2003: 100, 121

Geman boi53xa31ɹ a55 na55 Li 2002: 211

Yidu khiŋ55ge33pa31

ji55e53aŋ35

a55i33soŋ55 Jiang 2005: 178

Sulong hi33jaŋ55la33 biar55 Li 2004: 174; 2005

Xiandao lau55/51 mɤ55ʂɿ31 Dai et al. 2005: 128

Lawurong ɕə55 mə33rə53 Huang 2007b: 127, 132

Lingao huk8tse3 ha4ti4 Zhang et al. 1985: 186

Kam ho2kaːi1 ɕi6 Liang 1980a: 58

Mulam hɔ6si6/hɔ6tse3 sɿ /a6si6 Wang & Zheng 1980: 57

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Yanghuang hwə5 (tsa2) hai1sɿ1 Bo 1997: 100, 133

Li ta1kom3 tsha3 Yuan 1994: 155

Cun hɔk1 (huan4/za5)si5 Ouyang 1998: 126

Gelao hue31tse33 lɒ33 He 1983: 42

She fek8 a1ki1 Mao and Meng 1982 Tuwa ne dʒoq Wu 1999: 151 Manchu xuəʂʅ xεʂʅ Wang 2005: 79, 243 Huihui hok24tsak43 ʔa11ti11 Zheng 1997: 85 Wa (Va) ndāeh (mōh) geem mōh Zhao 2006: 133, 211

Bulang koʔ 4pin1 am2 Li et al. 1986: 69

Jing hwak8 hai1la2 Ouyang et al. 1984: 92-3

Buxing pusɣ5 haisɿ Gao 2004: 106

Several matters deserve to be mentioned here. First, disjunctions in Sinitic

languages are basically the same. Second, many minority languages, notably

Kam languages, have borrowed disjunctions from Chinese (cf. Standard Chinese

huo(zhe) ‘or’ and haishi ‘or.be’). Nevertheless, the ways of borrowing varies, for

example, Kazhuo and Xiandao borrowed disjunctions in alternative questions

from Chinese, but no disjunctions in declarative sentences; Gelao, on the other

hand, borrowed a disjunction in declarative sentences, but no disjunctions in

alternative questions (see Section 7.2.3 for more discussion of disjunction

borrowing). Third, the differences between disjunctions in declarative questions

and alternative questions are great. There is no phonological likeness in

declarative disjunctions and alternative disjunctions in any individual language

(Jinuo is a possible exception). Finally, some languages have very long

disjunctions, e.g. Yidu khiŋ55ge33pa31ji55e53aŋ35 and a55i33soŋ55, Jinuo

mɔ44ŋə44vu44læ33 and ku55khæ42vu42læ33, which are very unusual.

Turning now to the 25 languages which show no difference between

disjunctions in declaratives and interrogatives, the following table gives details.

5 Buxing pusɤ ‘or’ in declaratives is borrowed from Chinese bushi ‘not.be’ (Gao 2004: 106).

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Table 4.3. Disjunctions in 25 or-languages in China Lg groups Languages Disjunctions References

Yi Hani maqnaaq Li 1990: 188, 194 Lahu ma3he3lε1 Chang 1986: 71 Naxi nɯ55 He and Jiang 1982: 79, 98, 102 Sangkong a31ɣ55la55o33 Li 2002: 202-3, 206 Tujia xo55, so55 Tian et al. 1986: 85, 105-9 Yi nɣ33 Wang 2004 Jingpo Jingpo shing1n2rai2 Dai and Xu 1992: 235-6 Qiangic Pumi dia13 Lu 1983: 62, 88 Hmong-Mien Bunu lɣ6(tɣu2) Mao et al. 1982: 98-9, 103, 113 Mian ha6tsei4 Mao et al. 1982: 43, 47 Miao ho44 Wang 1985: 66 Kam Biao waːk10tsε1 Liang & Zhang 2002: 113, 120, 126 Buyang nɔ24 Li 1999: 66, 77 Buyi mɯ5 Yu 1980: 38, 61 Laiji a44ɕo44ku44 Li 2000: 134, 146, 185 Maonan wo3 Liang 1980b: 59 Mo ju3ȶaːŋ3, haːi4sɿ1 Yang 2000: 143-4, 149 Pubiao haːi53ʂʅ213 Liang 2007: 61, 77 Shui ɣo3si3 Zhang 1980: 56, 74 Zhuang ɣo4nau2 Wei and Qin 1980: 51, 70, 73 Turkic Kirgiz dʒe Hu 1986: 152 Uzbek jʌ(ki) Cheng et al. 1987: 120, 148 Formosan Amis anutʃa He at al. 1986: 97-8 Bunun a(d)u Chen 1992: 175-8 Paiwan manu Chen and Ma 1986: 74, 91, 93-4 Tujia xo55, Miao ho44, Mian ha6tsei4, Biao waː k10tsε1, Shui ɣo3si3, Maonan wo3,

Mo haːi4sɿ1, and Pubiao hai53ʂʅ213 (note that Biao, Shui, Maonan, Mo, and Pubiao

are all Kam languages) are clear cases of disjunction borrowing from Chinese

(see Section 7.2.3 for more discussions).

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4.2.3. The position of or and or/or?

In some languages, e.g. English and Standard Chinese, in alternative structures a

pause can only be made after the first disjunct but before the disjunction, as

exemplified in the following (pause suggested by a comma).

(7) English

a. Are you going to Beijing, or Shanghai?

b. *Are you going to Beijing or, Shanghai? (8) Standard Chinese

a. ni qu Beijing, haishi Shanghai? 2SG go Beijing or Shanghai ‘Are you going to Beijing or Shanghai?’

b. *ni qu Beijing haishi, Shanghai? In English and Standard Chinese, a disjunction (and a pause before) takes a

left-periphery position of the second disjunct, i.e. disjunct1 [disj disjunct2]. In

some other languages, however, it is preferable to have a disjunction (and a

pause after) at the right-peiphery position of the first disjunct, i.e. [disjunct1 disj]

disjunct2, such as Naxi and Tujia (Yi, Tibeto-Burman, Sino-Tibetan).6

(9) Naxi (He and Jiang 1982: 98)

ŋv55 tʂhɯ33ȵi 33 bɯ33 nɯ55, so31ȵi 33 bɯ33?2SG.HON today go or tomorrow go ‘Will you go (there) today or tomorrow?’

(10) Tujia (Tian et al. 1986: 105)

ni35 tsi55kɨe55 ma55 tɕi55 xo21, tha55ne55 ma55 tɕi55? 2SG ahead horse ride or after horse ride ‘Will you ride (your horse) in front (of me/us) or after?’

6 Prosodic attachment in coordinations, that is, cliticisation, is a preference in some

languages, e.g. English fish’n chips, come’n go. However, so far I am not aware of any language that shows similar prosodic attachment in disjunctions. It seems that disjunctive structures are more consistent in syntax and prosody (both X [or Y]) than coordinative structures (syntax X [and Y], prosody can be [X and] Y).

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We call the languages like English and Standard Chinese as disj-pre languages,

and languages like Naxi and Tujia disj-post languages.7

In Liu’s (2003: 74-5) terminology, the two terms above are covered by his

“prepositional disjunctions” and “postpositional disjunctions”8, respectively. Liu

(2003: 94-5) also proposes that disjunctions are in a harmonic word order with

adpositions, e.g. Japanese is postpositional, and has “postpositional disjunctions”;

Chinese and English are prepositional, and have “prepositional disjunctions”.

In our survey of 138 languages in China, however, the findings are not in

accordance with Liu’s predictions. As is suggested by the left half of Table 4.4,

in 32 or/or?-languages, the majority of disj-pre languages use prepositions

(22/29), and the two disj-post languages both use postpositions; nevertheless, if

we arrange the table in different way, by setting adpositions as the starting point

(see the right half of the table), it can be seen that 22 out of 23 prepositional

languages are disj-pre, while only 2 out of 9 postpositional languages are with

disj-post, and 7 postpositional languages are with disj-pre.

Table 4.4. Correlations between disjunctions and adpositions in 32 or/or?- languages Disj Adpo Adpo Disj

pre 29 Pr 22, Po7 Pr 23 pre 22, post 0, pre/post 1 post 2 Pr 0, Po2 Po 9 pre 7, post 2 pre/post 19 Pr 1, Po 0

7 For the present purpose, we limit the discussion here to or. In fact, languages do

demonstrate a typology in the position of disjunctions, and it is more appropriate to label them as disj-pre and disj-post languages, see, e.g. Kuno (1978: 122) for Japanese disjunct-post disjunction node ‘since’ (cf. Liu 2003: 74-5). But note that the position of or and other disjunctions may be different (see the discussion below).

In some cases, English or can take the initial position of a mono-disjunct, e.g. ‘What’s so funny?’ said Burden sourly. ‘Or has that Mrs. Lake been cheering you up?’ (Ruth Rendell Sanke Hands Forever, cited in Jennings 1994: 290). Such sentences are highly context-based and will not be discussed here.

8 Dik (1997: 191) calls the two as prepositive and postpositive, respectively. Two other types, namely, repetitive (e.g. …and…and…) and correlative (e.g. both…and…) are also included in his classification.

9 Bulang (Kam, Sino-Tibetan) is reported to have postposed disjunctions in declaratives, but preposed disjunctions in interrogatives (see example 13 following).

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In Table 4.5, i.e. in the 25 or-languages, the majority of disj-pre languages

are prepositional (15/21), and all disj-post languages are postpositional (4/4) (see

left half of the table); however, if we put adpositions as the starting point (see

right half of the table), it can be seen that all prepositional languages have or-pre,

while 6 adpositional languages have disj-pre, and only 4 prepositional languages

have disj-post.

Table 4.5. Correlations between disjunctions and adpositions in 25 or-languages Disj Adpo Adpo Disj

pre 21 Pr 15, Po 6 Pr 15 pre 15, post 0 post 4 Pr 0, Po 4 Po 10 pre 6, post 4 Several generalizations can be drawn from Tables 4.4 and 4.5:

(i) most disj-pre languages are prepositional;

(ii) disj-post languages are postpositional, and disj-post is found only in

postpositional languages;

(iii) most prepositional languages are disj-pre;

(iv) most postpositional languages are disj-pre;

(v) a disjunction prefers to appear before a disjunct it governs.

Dik (1989: 346) proposes that relators10 preferably occur between two parts

to be related, at disjunct-periphery positions:

(11) Relators have their preferred position (Dik 1989: 346) (i) in between their two relata;

(ii) at periphery of the relatum with which they form one constituent (if they do so).

Disjunctions in alternative constructions, as a type of relator, prefer an initial

position of the second disjunct, which is in line with Dik’s (1989) generalizations.

It is also an instance of iconicity: as a constituent to relate two alternatives, a

medial place is a default position.

10 See Hagège (2010: 103-5) for a discussion of terminology, including adposition, relator,

case-marker, flag, and his newly-created term, functeme.

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4.2.4. The or vs or/or? typology and clause order

Among the 32 languages that differentiate between alternative disjunctions in

declaratives and interrogatives, 23 are SVO in their clause order, and 9 SOV. In

the 25 languages that do not differentiate between the two, 12 are SVO, 10 are

SOV, and 3 are VSO.

or/or?-lgs (32) SVO 23, SOV 9 or-lgs (25) SVO 12, SOV 10, VSO 3

Re-arranging this table by taking clause order as the starting point, we get:

SVO (35) or-lgs 12, or/or?-lgs 23 SOV (19) or-lgs 10, or/or?-lgs 9 VSO (3) or-lgs 3, or/or?-lgs 0 It seems that the or vs or/or? typology does not have a very close relationship

with clause order, except for the fact that or/or?-languages are attested more

frequently among SVO languages (23/32) than SOV languages (9/32), and SVO

languages more commonly have or/or?-disjunctions (23/35) than or-disjunctions

(12/35). The three VSO languages in the present study all have or-disjunctions,

but more evidence is needed before drawing a conclusion that VSO languages

prefer or-disjunctions.

Note that some languages have alternative clause orders, which is not

included in the above tables. For example among the SOV languages, Hani

(pre-or, postpositional) has also OSV as a minor order, Uzbek (pre-or,

postpositional) is not a rigid SOV language (cf. Greenberg’s 1966 ‘rigid-III’),

and Jinuo (pre-or/or?, postpositional) has also SVO and OVS as minor orders.

Among the SVO languages, Maonan (pre-or, prepositional) has SOV as a minor

order, She (pre-or/or?, prepositional) has SOV as a minor order, Wa (pre-or/or?,

prepositional) has VSO as a minor order; while among the three VSO languages

(all pre-or, prepositional), VOS and SVO orders are used as minor orders.

So far, a matter that has not been discussed yet are the disjunctions that

come in pairs, called bisyndetic by Haspelmath (2007), or correlative by Dik

(1997: 191), e.g. English either…or…(Dik’s original example is English

both…and…). In many languages in China, however, correlative disjunctions are

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different from English in that the two parts are identical or partially identical, and

the first half is very commonly found to be in a reduced form, e.g. dropping the

(first) syllable if it is not monosyllabic, like Standard Chinese shi…haishi…

‘be…or.be’, Wa (daɯh) mɔh…daɯh mɔh… ‘(or) be…or be…’ (Zhou and Yan

1984: 68, 97), and Kemu mɤh…hai mɤh… ‘be…or be…’ (Chen 2002: 178), etc.

In Bunun, the correlative disjunction is not enough to express an alternative

question. In addition, a suffix -at must be attached at the end of the first disjunct,

bringing about an au…-at, au… structure.

(12) Bunun (He and Zeng 1986: 101)

au namapahun maʃ padan-at, au namapatuktuk maʃ ɬukiʃ? or cut ACC weed or cut ACC tree ‘to cut the weed or the tree?’

In Bulang, correlative disjunctions are found in both declaratives and

alternative questions. Nevertheless, disjunctions take disjunct-final positions in

declaratives, but disjunct-initial positions in alternative questions.

(13) Bulang (Li et al. 1986: 69)

a. miʔ 2 hɤl1 koʔ 4pin1, ɯʔ 1 hɤl1 koʔ 4pin1. 2SG go or 1SG go or ‘Either you go or I go.’

b. am2 miʔ 2 hɤl1, am2 ɯʔ 1 hɤl1? (or.)be 2SG go (or.)be 1SG go ‘You go or I go?’

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4.3. Particles as disjunctions

4.3.1. Alternative questions through particles

By ‘particles as disjunctions’, it is meant that disjunct-final particles are used as

disjunctions in alternatives, i.e. alternative questions are formed mainly (if not

solely) by particles. In particular, here we concern those languages that (i) form

alternative questions by particle disjunctions, and at the same time, (ii) they do

not have to use normal disjunctions in alternative questions. (Cf. Jayaseelan 2012,

where such distinctions are not concerned.)

(i) does not necessarily suggest that alternative questions in a certain

language are formed by overt particle disjunctions, because such particles can be

omitted freely in some languages. For example, in the alternative question in

Mang, particles are normally used after the first disjunct, but can also be omitted,

i.e. X (prt) Y (Gao 2003: 114); in the alternative questions in Nusu, particles after

both disjuncts can also be omitted freely, i.e. X (prt) Y (prt) (Sun 1986: 86-7,

102-5).

(14) Mang (Gao 2003: 114)

mi31 ʔin55 θa55 mə31li31 (ʔə35), ʔin31 θa55 pə31ȵɔ51? X (prt) Y 2SG like eat pear FP 2SG eat banana ‘You like pear or banana?’

(15) Nusu (Sun 1986: 103)

ȵo55 tʂə35a31 dza55 nɤ31 zui35 (lε31)2SG sour eat PRT want FP

phə 35a31 dza55 nɤ31 zui35 (lε31)? X (prt) Y (prt)hot eat PRT want FP ‘Do you want to eat something sour or something hot?’

(ii) excludes languages in which normal disjunctions must appear in their

alternative questions, while particle disjunctions are something that can be

dropped. For example, in Standard Chinese, particles are not obligatory in

alternative questions (intonation is also irrelevant), while disjunctions always

have to be used in most cases, i.e. X (prt), disj Y (prt) (see the introduction of this

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chapter). A general observation is that most (if not all) languages of China (if not

all over the world) that have particles are found to have them after the disjuncts

in alternative questions11. However, in some languages, disjunctions are optional,

while particles must appear. Languages of this type include three Tibeto-Burman

languages, i.e. Achang, Bisu, and Tsangluo.

(16) Tsangluo (Zhang 1986: 161)

nan13 ju13 tɕam13me13 mo13,2SG PN drink PRT

(ma13ȵi55la) pha55pen55 tɕa13 (me13)? X prt, (disj) Y (prt) or PN drink PRT ‘Do you want to drink ju13 or pha55pen55?’ (two kinds of alcohol)

(17) Bisu (Xu 1998: 146)

(xai31sɿ55) ga33 e55lai55 la31? ʑaŋ33 e55lai55 la31? (disj) X prt Y prt or 1SG go PRT 3SG.M go PRT ‘Should I go (there) or he go (there)?’

(18) Achang (Dai and Cui 1985: 74-5)

nuaŋ55 tɕə55 tɕə31sɿ31 la31?2SG rice eat PRT

(ma55ʂə55) men35 tɕə31sɿ31 la31? X prt (disj) Y prtor noodle eat PRT ‘You eat rice or noodles?’

In the five examples above, the particles invariably take disjunct-final

positions (noting the difference in those by normal disjunctions). This is not only

a common feature in languages with alternative questions by particles, but also a

feature of particles in most languages of China.

11 Particles are very commonly found in alternative questions, together with normal

disjunctions. It is possible that both particles can be dropped, like in Standard Chinese; also, particles after the second disjunct can be dropped, like in Geman (X prt Y disj (prt); Li 2002: 211); a third possibility is to drop the first particle, however, this is not found in a survey of 138 languages of China. See the next section for more discussion.

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4.3.2. Patterns of particle disjunctions in alternative questions

28 languages12 in China are found to have their alternative questions formed by

disjunct-final particles. Their structures of alternative questions and the number

of attested languages are listed in the following table.

Table 4.6. Alternative questions by particles in 28 languages Structures Languages attested

X prt Y prt (TIBETO-BURMAN, SINO-TIBETAN) Tsangluo, Bisu, Achang, Anong, Bengni-Boga’er, Zaiwa, Langsu; (ALTAIC) Western Yugur, Mongolian, Tu, Eastern Yugur, Xibo (Sibo), Evenki, Oreqen (14)

X prt Y (prt) (TIBETO-BURMAN) Tibetan, Rouruo, Qiang (3) X (prt) Y (prt) (TIBETO-BURMAN) Nusu (1) X prt Y (TIBETO-BURMAN, SINO-TIBETAN) Baima, Tanglang, Leqi,

rGyarong; (KAM, SINO-TIBETAN) Dai; (ALTAIC) Salar, Dongxiang, Bao’an, Kangjia; (CREOLE) Za (10)

It can be seen that the particle after the second disjunct (Y) is more likely to be

dropped than the one after the first disjunct (X). In the following tetrachoric table,

possibility (ii) is not attested.

(i) X (prt), Y (prt) 1 *(ii) X, Y (prt) 0

(iii) X prt, Y (prt) 3 (iv) X prt, Y 10

In alternative questions with a pair of particles, the latter is more likely to be

dropped. In alternative questions with a pair of normal disjunctions, however, the

first is more likely to be dropped. For example, in Standard Chinese, the formula

is (*haishi)…haishi… ‘or’, or (*hai)shi…haishi…? ‘either…or…’, in which a

partial or complete omission of the first disjunction is obligatory to guarantee the

grammaticality of such sentences. A similar situation is also found in most other

12 Early Modern Chinese and some Modern Sinitic languages, e.g. Shanghai Wu, Shanbei

Jin, also use particles as disjunctions, though they do not adopt it as the only strategy.

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Sinitic languages13 and many minority languages as well.

A unified explanation is that particle disjunctions usually take disjunct-final

(clause-final) positions to form an alternative question, while common

disjunctions take pre-disjunct (pre-clause) positions. According to Dik’s (1989:

346) principle, a (in-between-positioned) relator is sufficient to link the relata

and hence may omit a second relator (or keep a reduced form), be it a normal

disjunction or a particle disjunction, clause-initial or clause-final, that is, by

formula, disjunct1 prt, disjunct2 prt and disj disjunct1, disj disjunct2, respectively.

What is also suggested by Table 4.6 is that languages with alternative

questions by particles are mainly found in Sino-Tibetan languages (16/28) and

Altaic languages (11/28); Austro-Asiatic languages, however, mainly prefer to

use normal disjunctions; the situation of Austronesian languages is not clear

owing to a lack of adequate literature. The Sino-Tibetan languages in the table

are mostly Tibeto-Burman languages (15/16), except that one language, Dai, is

of the Kam group; Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages all prefer normal

disjunctions (see Section 4.2).

13 In some Sinitic languages, alternative questions take the form (shi) X shi Y (shi is similar

to English copular be), which is also in accordance with the discussion here.

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4.4. Alternative islands in Sinitic

In Sinitic languages, there is a constraint on the fronting of interrogative

disjuncts. For example, Standard Chinese interrogative disjuncts in disjunctive

structures can appear in an object (sentence-final) position, but can hardly appear

in a subject (sentence-initial) position.

(19) Standard Chinese

a. ni chi [mifan haishi miantiao]? 2SG eat rice or noodles ‘You eat rice or noodles?’

b. ??/*[mifan haishi miantiao] hao chi? rice or noodles good eat ‘Which is more delicious, rice or noodles?’ However, such a constraint does not hold for disjunctive declaratives or

conjunctive interrogatives, as it exemplified in 19(c-d) and 19(e-f), respectively.

c. wo wufan chi [mifan huozhe miantiao].

1SG lunch like rice or noodles ‘I eat rice or noodles for lunch.’

d. [mifan huozhe miantiao] dou xing. rice or noodles all okay ‘Either rice or noodles is fine.’

e. ni xihuan chi [mifan he miantiao]? 2SG like eat rice and noodles ‘You like rice and noodles?’

f. [mifan he miantiao] ni dou xihuan chi? rice and noodles 2SG all like eat ‘Rice and noodles, you like them both?’ Constraints on disjunction fronting are also found in Hengyang Xiang and many

varieties of Gan, e.g. Nanchang, Duchang, Jishui, Leping, Luxi, Taihe, Yongxin,

Yugan, and so on (Yongxin Gan and Nanchang Gan are based on personal

knowledge, Hengyang Xiang and other varieties of Gan are according to native

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speaker informants). The following examples of Yongxin Gan are parallel to the

Standard Chinese examples (19).

(20) Yongxin Gan

a. jin tɕhia [fan xaiɕiɛ miœnthiao]? 2SG eat rice or noodles ‘You eat rice or noodles?’

b. *[fan xaiɕiɛ miœnthiao] hao tɕhia? rice or noodles good eat ‘Which is more delicious, rice or noodles?’

c. ŋo dəŋfan tɕhia [fan fɛ tsa miœnthiao]. 1SG lunch like rice or noodles ‘I eat rice or noodles for lunch.’

d. [fan fɛ tsa miœnthiao] ja tsutɣ. rice or noodles all okay ‘Either rice or noodles is fine.’

e. jin ɕiwan tɕhia [fan thoŋtao miœnthiao] a? 2SG like eat rice and noodles FP

‘You like rice and noodles?’

f. [fan thoŋtao miœnthiao] jin ja ɕiwan tɕhia a? rice and noodles 2SG all like eat FP ‘Rice and noodles, you like them both?’ Note that the disjunction xaisɛ in Yongxin Gan (cf. 20c-d) is newly borrowed

from Standard Chinese. (In fact, lacking counterparts of Standard Chinese haishi

‘or’, i.e. disjunctions in declaratives, is a common feature across varieties of Gan;

see Sections 2.1.1.2-3.)

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4.5. Summary

This chapter focuses on the structural features of disjunctions and alternative

questions. Section 4.1 proposes a criterion – the involvement of disjunctions – to

distinguish between X-neg-X questions (also known as A-not-A questions) and

alternative questions, with X-neg-X questions are frequently (but mistakenly)

treated as a special type of alternative questions in the literature (cf. Section

2.1.1.1.1).

In many languages (32 lgs) in China, disjunctions in declaratives and

interrogatives are different (or/or?-languages), while some other languages (25

lgs) do not show such a difference (or-languages). I propose an or vs or/or?

typology to account for the difference. The typology matters in that it correlates

(at least) with some word order parameters (adposition, clause order), as

summarized in the several generalizations in Section 4.2 (for more correlations,

see Section 7.1).

Except for those with normal disjunctions (or and or/or?), some languages

(28 lgs) were found to use particles as disjunctive strategies. A further

examination (Section 4.3) has shown that such particles are more likely to be

dropped after second disjuncts than after first disjuncts. Languages with

alternative questions formed by particle disjunctions demonstrate a skewed

genetic distribution in that they are mainly found in Sino-Tibetan languages

(mostly Tibeto-Burman) and Altaic languages. Austro-Asiatic languages and

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages, however, mainly prefer normal

disjunctions.

See Maps 4-5 in Appendix II for language atlas of disjunctions and

alternative questions.

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205

Chapter 5

Wh-phrases and wh-questions It seems unjustified to simply omit wh-questions (or content questions,

information questions) in the present thesis, although more attention is given to

polar questions. This is because, on the one hand, there is a huge amount of

literature on wh- in situ in Standard Chinese (and some other Sinitic languages,

e.g. Cantonese) and this thesis is expected to include such discussions because it

is about the interrogative strategies of the languages of China. On the other hand,

wh-questions are an important interrogative strategy cross-linguistically, and a

thesis on interrogative strategies would not be expected to exclude the topic

completely.

In this chapter, we shall look into several topics of wh-questions, in

particular, the position of wh-phrases in the languages of China, including a

comparison to Dryer (2005c) (Section 5.1), the restrictions of pragmatic factors,

i.e. definiteness and topicality on wh-fronting in Standard Chinese (Section 5.2),

word order alternations and the coordination islands in wh-questions (Section

5.3), as well as a special feature of wh-phrases, i.e. reduplication (Section 5.4). It

can be seen from the choice of topics that the present chapter focuses on the

morphosyntactic features of wh-questions.

Some other topics related to wh-questions have already been discussed in

previous chapters. For example, a special feature of wh-questions in the

languages of China, namely final particles in wh-questions and the so-called

reduced wh-questions, were presented in Section 3.3.

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206

5.1. The position of wh-phrases

Standard Chinese is known to be a wh- in situ language, in which wh-phrases can

occur in the same position as corresponding non-interrogative words.

(1) Standard Chinese

a. ni qu nali? (interrogative, SVO, in situ) 2SG go where ‘Where are you going?’

b. wo qu Beijing. (declarative, SVO) 1SG go Beijing ‘I’m going to Beijing.’ In (1a), nali ‘where’, the interrogative word, takes the post-verb position for a

normal object, e.g. the non-interrogative noun phrase Beijing (1b).

In fact, most languages in China demonstrate the characteristics of wh- in

situ. In a survey of 138 languages, 130 languages are in situ, 3 languages are

partially in situ (some wh-phrases are obligatorily initial, some are in situ), and

not a single language is reported to be obligatorily wh-initial.

Table 5.1. Position of wh-phrases in content questions in 138 languages of China

Obligatorily initial Not obligatorily initial (in situ) Mixed Unknown

0 130 3 5

The languages of the “mixed” type include Thao, Sedeq, and Yami, three

Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan (Thao and Sedeq belong to the

Formosan group and Yami belongs to the Batanic group). They are commonly

found to have wh-phrases in the sentence-initial position, but there are also some

exceptions. For example, in Thao, a VSO language, tima ‘who’ can be placed

sentence-finally (Wang 2004: 297); in Sedeq, a VOS/vso language, inu ‘where’

can take a sentence-final position; the position of kumuwan ‘when’ and piya

‘how many/much’ are flexible in Sedeq, which can take the positions for an

adverbial and attributive in non-interrogative sentences, respectively (Chen and

Xu 2001: 165-6; for Sedeq word order in general, see Chen and Xu 2001:

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

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150-61); in Yami, pira ‘how many’ can occur in sentence-second position (Rau

and Dong 2006: 97), which is also the position for adverbials in

non-interrogative sentences. Unfortunately, five languages were classed as

“unknown” mainly because there is no adequate descriptive literature to which to

refer. These languages include Mo’ang (Yi; Tibeto-Burman), Chadong (Kam),

Tu’erke (Turkic), Saaroa (Formosan; Austronesian), and E (also known as Ai)

(Creole). For a language atlas, see Map 9 in Appendix II.

The findings in 138 languages of China are very different from Dryer’s

(2005c) survey on a worldwide language sample (803 languages), in which he

found 241 languages are obligatorily with wh-phrases in initial position, 542 are

not obligatorily initial, and 20 are mixed.

Table 5.2. Position of wh-phrases in content questions in 803 languages (Dryer 2005c)

Obligatorily initial Not obligatorily initial Mixed

241 542 20 Nevertheless, Dryer (2005c) notes that “not obligatorily initial” languages cover

the most of the mainland of Asia, which is in line with the findings here. Note

that, though Table 5.1 is concerned with wh- in situ, Table 5.2 (Dryer 2005c) is

concerned with wh-initial or not, no conflictions would arise, as in situ is a

special case of “not obligatorily initial.”

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5.2. Wh-fronting in Standard Chinese

In Standard Chinese, a wh-phrase can normally be positioned either in situ or

sentence-initial, with no substantial change in semantic meaning.

(2) Standard Chinese (a-b, Lü 1984)

a. zhang laosan shi shui? Zhang Laoshan be who ‘Who is Zhang Laosan?’

b. shui shi zhang laosan? The only subtle difference between the two questions is that by asking (2a), a

questioner does not know what kind of person Z is, and asks an addressee to

explain or describe, i.e. to seek some further descriptive information; by asking

(2b), it can either express the same meaning as (2a), or require an addressee to

identify Z, for example, if one knows a man called Z is in a group of people, and

asks an addressee to point out who Z is.

The difference (i.e. description vs. identification) can be seen more clearly

in the following pair of sentences.

c. ni/ta shi shui?

2SG/3SG be who ‘Who are you?’ / ‘Who is her/him?’

d. *shui shi ni/ta? Intended reading: ‘Who are you?’ / ‘Who is her/him?’ (2d) is ungrammatical because there is no need to identify an addressee who is

right in front of you (second person), and it is impossible to identify an unknown

third party ta ‘s/he’ (third person) without a proper register like (3).

(3) Early Modern Chinese (Hong Lou Meng, 18th Century)

晴雯道：今儿他还席，必来请你的，你等着罢。 A: jiner ta bi lai qing ni de.

today 3SG sure come invite 2SG DE

‘Today he will definitely invite you (for dinner).’

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平儿笑问道：他是谁，谁是他？（红楼梦 63 回）

B: ta shi shui? shui shi ta? 3SG be who who be 3SG

Literally, ‘He is who? Who is he?’ Unlike (2d), B’s questions in (3) make sense because A mentioned that someone

definite, i.e. a third person ta, is going to invite B. Hence asks A to specify who

the host ta is as an anaphoric strategy.

The difference between (2a) and (2b) also lies in other wh-phrases in

Standard Chinese. In particular, when a wh-phrase takes an initial position, it

requires either an explanation or a descriptive answer, or, more frequently,

requires an addressee to identify something (person, thing, time, reason, method,

etc.), normally with a high degree of definiteness; while an in situ wh-phrase

seeks merely an explanation or a descriptive answer.1

Explanation Identification

wh- in situ + -

wh- initial (+) +

In some Sinitic languages, the ambiguity in wh-initial questions, i.e. seeking

identification/description answers (cf. 2b), however, does not exist. For example,

in Yongxin Gan, two different wh-phrases are used: na wo ‘which one, who’ is

used in questions seeking an answer of identification (4a), ka jin ‘what (kind of)

people’ is used in questions seeking a descriptive answer (4b).

(4) Yongxin Gan

a. na wo ɕiε tʂaŋsan? which CL be PN ‘Which person is Zhangsan?’

b. tʂaŋsan ɕiε ka jin? PN be what people ‘What kind of person Zhangsan is?’

1 Similarly, Ultan (1978) claims that sentence-initial wh-phrases are emphatic in nature.

Explanation is by no means more emphatic than identification.

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It must be noted that in-situ-lized question sentences of (4a), e.g. (4c), are

grammatical; de-in-situ-lized question sentences of (4b), e.g. (4d), however, are

ungrammatical. This is because ka jin ‘what (kind of) person’ in (4d) bears no

definiteness and cannot take a sentence-initial position.

c. tʂaŋsan ɕiε na wo?

d. *ka in ɕiε tʂaŋsan?

In Standard Chinese, some bare form wh-phrases (or put it better, wh-words)

can take either an in situ position or an initial position. Extended wh-phrases,

however, normally occur only in in situ positions, not sentence-initial.

(5) Standard Chinese (Lu and Xu 2003)

a. ni xihuan shenme shu? 2SG like what book ‘You like {which / what kind of} book?’

b. */??shenme shu ni xihuan?

c. shenme shu ni zui xihuan? ‘Which book do you like best?’

Sentence-initial wh-phrases in Standard Chinese are topic-like (see Lu and

Xu 2003). Topicality and definiteness are a natural class. In order to occur in a

sentence-initial position (the position normally reserved for a main topic), a

wh-phrase is required to be definite or at least bear a reasonably high degree of

definiteness. For example, (5b) becomes grammatical if the superlative zui is

added: in (5c), shenme shu ‘{which / what kind of} book’ is topic-like, it is

definite and specific to an addressee because people normally have a very

limited number of selections in answering the question.

That wh-phrases are focused has also prosodic evidence from Colloquial

Standard Chinese. Compare:

(6) Colloquial Standard Chinese (Hu 2005)

a. shui lai le? who come PST ‘Who came (here)?’ / ‘Did someone come (here)?’

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b. 'shui lai le? ‘Who came (here)?’ / ‘*Did someone came (here)?’

c. shui 'lai le? ‘Did someone come (here)?’ / ‘*Who came (here)?’ In Colloquial Standard Chinese, some questions with wh-phrases can function

both as wh-questions and yes/no questions (6a). However, the ambiguity

vanishes if the pitch accent is laid properly: In (6b), the pitch accent is on the

wh-phrase shui ‘who’, and it can only be interpreted as a wh-question; whereas

(6c) can only be interpreted as a yes/no question because the pitch accent is laid

on the verb lai ‘come’.

Hu (2005) proposes that there is a prosodic difference of wh-phrases and the

corresponding VPs between different types. Wh-phrases in wh-questions are the

focus of the sentence, whereas in yes/no-questions, VPs are the focus. Hu’s

experiments also suggest that the focused constituent is pitch accented so that its

lexical tonal melody is retained and sometimes reinforced, while the lexical tonal

melody on the corresponding unfocused constituent is compressed and

sometimes reduced to a level tone.

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5.3. The syntax of wh-questions

5.3.1. Wh-questions and word order change

Wh-questions may cause a change in word order. A classical example of this is

found in Germanic languages, in which wh-phrases invariably take a

sentence-initial position and change a SVO clause order to OSV if an

interrogative phrase functions as an object.

Most languages in China are wh- in situ (see Section 5.1). Some languages

change their word order in their wh-questions, and a change (or, more properly,

word order alternations) from SOV to SVO is the most common.

For example, the clause order of Modern Bai (Yi; Tibeto-Burman) is SVO

(Classical Bai is SOV, which is the same to other Yi languages), but SOV and

OSV orders are also used by senior Bai people, and younger generations would

also take SOV in yes/no questions, or in declarative sentences with a pronominal

object or human object plus an object marker (see Xu and Zhao 1984: 79). In

wh-questions, however, Modern Bai is of SVO order.

(7) Bai (Xu and Zhao 1984: 86)

ja55 ŋε21 a55na44? 1PL.INCL go where ‘Where are we going?’

More and clearer evidence is found in Guiqiong (Qiangic; Tibeto-Burman)

and some Mongolian languages, e.g. Dongxiang, Esatern Yugur, and Kangjia.

These languages are all SOV in clause order, but SVO order is found in their

wh-questions, though it is used not as frequently as SOV.

(8) Guiqiong (Sun 2007d: 1028)

pɔ35tsɿ55 lø55 dʑø35 wu53 tɕø55ɣo33?newspaper LOC write NOMIN what ‘What does it say in the newspaper?’

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

213

(9) Dongxiang (Liu 1981: 94)

dʑisanni niərə ʂɯ kiən wo?third name be who PRT

‘Who won the third prize?’ (10) Eastern Yugur (Zhaonasitu 1981a: 58)

tʃənə gerdə ken niin saa ʃdadaɢ bə?2SG family who dairy.cattle milk can PRT

‘In your family, who can milk dairy cattle?’ (11) Kangjia (Siqinchaoketu 1999: 185)

tʃini verta verledʒigʉ jɔ-mba? 2SG chest hide what-PRT

‘What do you have in your pocket?’

In Tsou (Formosan; Ausrtonesian), a VOS language, SVO order is also

found in its wh-questions.

(12) Tsou (Chen 2007c: 2253)

miko eoni nenu? 2SG be.at where ‘Where are you?’

Wa (Austro-Asiatic) is a SVO/vso language, SVO is the most common

word order, and VSO is used less commonly. However, in its wh-questions (and

polar questions as well), VSO order is used more frequently than SVO (Zhou and

Yan 1984: 87-9).2

(13) Wa (Zhou and Yan 1984: 55)

tɕhuh patiʔ tan? move what there ‘What’s moving over there?’

2 Zhou and Yan (1984) is a brief description of the Baraoke dialect of Wa. However, Zhao

(2006: 242) proposes differently that in the Wa dialect of the Wa language, wh-questions prefer SVO order, but the Awa dialect and Burao dialect (= the Baraoke dialect; see Zhou and Yan 1984: 100) prefer VSO.

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

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Note that word order change from SOV to SVO, VOS to SVO, and SVO to

VSO does not necessarily suggest a change of wh- in situ, because the relative

ordering of S and O does not change in SOV → SVO. Moreover, it is very likely

to be a matter of S fronting/postposing in VOS → SVO and SVO → VSO, rather

than O postposing. In other words, the position of the object, which is normally

occupied by pronominal wh-phrases like who, what, which, and where (adverbial

how, when, and why are not relevant here), is not changed in these alternations.

An observation from the discussion above is that SVO order is widely

adopted if a SOV language has an alternative order in its wh-questions.

Vennemann (1974) proposes that, historically, some languages are found to have

their order changed from SOV to SVO, but never the other way around. Are the

languages mentioned here, namely, Guiqiong, Dongxiang, Esatern Yugur, and

Kangjia, going to take SVO order in the future, now that they already have it in

their wh-questions? Is word order change in wh-questions a trigger for a change

in general word-order type?

Chinese behaves differently. From Ancient Chinese to Modern Chinese,

SVO is the basic clause order in declaratives (in some rhetorical questions and

negative declaratives, SOV order is also used); however, SOV order is found in

its wh-questions with pronominal objects (see e.g. Wang 1980: 211, 218,

357-367). (14) Ancient Chinese (a, Wang 1980: 360)

吾谁欺？欺天乎？（论语） a. wu shui qi? (Lunyu, 5-6th Century, BC)

1SG who cheat ‘Who shall I cheat?’ (I won’t cheat anybody.)

良问：大王来何操？（史记·项羽本纪） b. dawang lai he cao? (Shiji, 1st Century, BC)

king come what bring ‘My King, what do you have with you?’

The most common clause order of Modern Chinese wh-questions is SVO.

SOV order is very rare, especially when O is a patient (15a). In some cases,

however, SOV order is used, even if O is a patient. In the following examples,

(15b) is a rhetorical question, (15c) is a contrast, and (15d) is to question a part

of a whole. A similar case is also reported in Shanghai Wu (see Xu and Liu 1998:

261-2).

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

215

(15) Standard Chinese (Xu and Liu 1998: 261-2; Lu and Xu 2003)

a. *ni na ben shu mai le? 2SG which CL book buy PST

Intended reading: ‘Which book did you buy?’

b. ta shenme shiqing zuo de hao? 3SG what thing do RES well ‘What can s/he do well?!’ (S/he can not do anything well.)

c. ni daodi3 shenme dongxi yao chi, 2SG on.earth what thing want eat

shenme dongxi bu yao chi? what thing not want eat ‘What do you want to eat, and what won’t you eat?’

d. women dianli shafa hen duo, na-yi-zhong ni xihuan?

1PL shop sofa very many which-one-kind 2SG like ‘We have a lot of sofas here. Which kind do you like best?’

The word order in declaratives and wh-questions in Classical Chinese and

Modern Chinese is summarized in the following table.

Classical Modern

wh-questions SOV SVO/sov Declaratives SVO/sov SVO

SOV is a default order in wh-questions in Classical Chinese, but is marked

in Modern Chinese. The word order in declaratives, however, is consistently

SVO, though Classical Chinese also has a less common SOV order. In both

Classical Chinese and Modern Chinese, SOV is an alternative order in

wh-questions, though it is used more frequently in the ancestor language than in

its offspring language.

3 dao-di, literally, ‘reach-bottom’, is an attitudinal adverb similar to English on earth (see

Huang et al. 2009: 237).

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

216

5.3.2. Wh-questions with coordination in Sinitic

In English, it is not grammatical to question a part of a coordinate structure. For

example, it is not allowed to question ‘John’ or ‘Thomas’ in He beat John and

Thomas. → *Whom did he beat John and? *Whom did he beat and Thomas?4

In Standard Chinese and most (if not all) other Sinitic languages, however,

there are no such constraints like in English, and it is grammatical to question a

part of the coordinate structure, though the wh-phrase takes an in situ position. (16) Standard Chinese

a. ta da-le Zhangsan he Lisi. 3SG beat-PST Zhangsan and Lisi ‘He beat Zhangsan and Lisi.’

b. ta da-le Zhangsan he shui? 3SG beat-PST Zhangsan and who Literally, ‘S/he beat Zhangsan and whom?’

c. ta da-le shui he Zhangsan? Literally, ‘S/he beat whom and Zhangsan?’ More examples like (16b) in Sinitic languages: (17) Xiang (native speaker informants)

a. tɕiε ta-li tsaŋsan kεn nako? (Hengyang Xiang)b. tɕi ta-liau tsaŋsan xuo najiko? (Qiyang Xiang)

(18) Gan (personal knowledge and native speaker informants)

a. tɕiε ta-li tsaŋsan kεn nako? (Nanchang Gan)b. kiɛ ta-li tsaŋsan xœju neikə? (Jishui Gan) c. tɕi ta-li tsaŋsan toŋ nawo? (Yongxin Gan)

(19) Hui (native speaker informants)

a. tɕi ta-lə tsaŋsan kuai xakə? (Qimen Hui) b. khə tà-tsɿ tsaŋsan tε xuókǎ? (Wuyuan Hui)

4 Admittedly, English allow echo questions in this context, e.g. He beat John and whom?

However, such questions are marginal in English (compare also 16c and ?He beat whom and John?), but very common in Sinitic languages.

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

217

5.4. The reduplication of wh-phrases

In Tibeto-Burman languages, reduplication of wh-phrases can frequently be

found in wh-questions, conveying a plural meaning of the very wh-phrase.

(20) Baima (Sun, Chirkova, and Liu 2007: 78)

a. ndε53 tʃhɿ53 tε53 re13? DEF what ATTRIBUTIVE be ‘What’s thisSG?’

b. tɕhɿø53 tʃhɿ53 tʃhɿ53 ȵø53 kho13 ʒø341? 2SG what what buy carry have ‘WhatPL did you buy?’ (Which things did you buy?) Reduplication in wh-phrases is rarely found cross-linguistically.5 In Germanic

languages, for example, it is ungrammatical to ask a questions like (25b), e.g.

English *What what did you buy?, German *Was was hast du gekauft?. In Sinitic

languages, wh-reduplication is also ungrammatical, e.g. Standard Chinese *ni

mai-le shenme shenme?6 (2SG buy-PST what what), Nanchang Gan *nεn mæ-li

ɕili ɕili? (2SG buy-PST what what).

In this section, we are looking into reduplication in wh-phrases in the

languages of China, analyzing the semantics and syllable patterns of reduplicated

wh-phrases, and providing a list of languages that demonstrate this strategy.

5 In some dialects of Italian, wh-phrases can also be reduplicated. However, the forms and

meanings are different from what we concerned with here. In particular, in some Italian dialects, the second wh-phrase normally occurs sentence-finally, not right after the first one, and does not express any quantity increase in meaning. E.g. Illasi Italian Ndo e-lo ndat endoe? (where is-he gone where) ‘Where has he gone?’ (Poletto and Pollock 2005; see also Manzini and Savoia 2011).

6 In colloquial Standard Chinese (and many other Sinitic languages as well), reduplication in wh-phrases is used in very limited cases, but never in questions. For example, ta shuo ta mai-le shenme shenme (3SG say 3SG buy-PST what what) ‘S/he said that s/he bought this and that.’, ta shuo ta qu-guo nali nali (3SG say 3SG go-ASP where where) ‘S/he said that s/he has been to here and there.’

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5.4.1. Languages with reduplication in wh-phrases

In the 138 languages of China examined in the present study, 30 languages are

found to have reduplication in interrogative phrases, including 26 Tibeto-Burman

languages (4 Tibetan, 8 Yi, 5 Jingpo, 5 Burmese, and 4 Qiangic), 3 Altaic

languages (1 Turkic, 1 Mongolian, and 1 Manchu-Tungusic), and 1 Austronesian

language (Formosan).

Geographically, Tibeto-Burman languages in China are spoken in the

Southwest, mainly covering the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province,

and Yunnan Province. The three Altaic languages are spoken in the north, in

particular, Kazak is spoken in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, Eastern

Yugur (a highly endangered language) is spoken in Gansu Province, and Evenki

is spoken in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang

Province. The Formosan (Austronesian) language Pazeh is spoken in Taiwan.

Table 5.3. 30 languages with reduplication in wh-phrases Family Languages with wh-reduplication

Sino-Tibetan Tibetan, Menba, Baima, Cangluo (Tibetan 4/4; Tibeto-Burman)

(26/85) Yi, Lisu, Hani, Jinuo, Mo’ang, Kazhuo, Rouruo, Nusu

(Yi 8/15; Tibeto-Burman)

Jingpo, Dulong, Geman, Darang, Anong

(Jingpo 5/9; Tibeto-Burman)

Achang, Zaiwa, Langsu, Xiandao, Bola

(Burmese 5/6; Tibeto-Burman)

rGyarong, Muya, Ersu, Lawurong (Qiangic 4/12; Tibeto-Burman)

Altaic Kazak (Turkic 1/9)

(3/22) Eastern Yugur (Mongolian 1/7)

Evenki (Manchu-Tungusic 1/6)

Austronesian (1/16)

Pazeh (Formosan)

Notes: As to the fractions in the table, the numerators are the number of languages attested

and the denominators are the total number of languages of the group or family to which a language (group) belongs.

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219

It can be seen that in Sino-Tibetan languages, reduplication in interrogative

phrases is a unique feature of Tibeto-Burman (26 languages are attested in a total

number of 46 languages), as it is not found in Sinitic, Kam, and Hmong-Mien

(Miao-Yao) languages. Reduplication in wh-phrases is also not found in

Austro-Asiatic, Indo-European, and Creole languages in China, but attested in a

very limited number of Altaic (3 lgs) and Austronesian languages (1 lg).

5.4.2. Which wh-phrases can be reduplicated?

English wh-phrases mainly include who, what, where, which, when, why, how,

how many/much, and how long (time). In the 30 languages with reduplication in

wh-phrases, who and what are the two common interrogative phrases found in

reduplication. Less commonly, we found where and which, followed by how,

when, and why; nevertheless, how many/much and how long (time) are not

attested. In particular, 30 languages are found to have reduplication in their

wh-phrases, among which 23 languages have reduplication in who, 17 languages

in what, 14 languages in where, 8 languages in which, 6 languages in how, 3

languages in when, 1 language in why, and no languages are found to have

reduplication in how many/much or how long (time).

Languages that demonstrate reduplication in interrogative phrases and the

reduplicated wh-phrases are summarized in the following table. Table 5.4. Wh- phrase reduplication in 30 minority languages in China Languages

who

what

where

which

how

when

why

how many/ much

how long (time)

Tibetan + + +

Menba +

Baima + + +

Cangluo + + Yi + + +

Lisu + + + +

Hani + + + + +

Jinuo +

Mo’ang +

Kazhuo + +

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Languages

who

what

where

which

how

when

why

how many/ much

how long (time)

Rouruo + + +

Nusu + + Jingpo + + + + + +

Dulong + + +

Geman +

Darang +

Anong + + + Achang + +

Zaiwa + +

Langsu + + +

Xiandao + +

Bola + + rGyarong + +

Muya +

Ersu + +

Lawurong + + Kazak + + +

E. Yugur + + +

Evenki + +

Pazeh + + A general explanation for the uneven distribution of reduplicated wh-phrases is

that the semantic meaning of individual wh-phrases determines their capability

of being reduplicated. In almost every language, wh-phrase reduplication directly

suggests an increase in quantity (see Section 5.4.3). The table shows that who,

what, where, and which can be reduplicated very easily in these languages, and

how, when, and why bear some difficulty, while how many/much and how long

(time) can hardly be reduplicated. In other words, reduplication of wh-phrases is

only possible if a certain phrase can carry a pluralized meaning semantically (see

below). The semantics of reduplicated wh-phrases in content questions is the

topic of the next section.

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221

who → which people when → at which times what → which things why → in what reasons where → which places how many/much → ? which → which ones how long (time) → ? how → by which means

One more matter that deserves to be mentioned is that the wh-phrases in some

languages in Table 5.4 may show ambiguity, but such details are not reflected in

the table. For example, Standard Chinese zenme means both ‘how’ and ‘why’ (i.e.

MANNER = REASON; see Section 6.3.1). For a typology of ambiguity in

wh-phrases, e.g. PERSON = THING, MANNER = QUANTITY, THING = REASON, see

Cysouw (2005).

5.4.3. Semantics of reduplicated wh-phrases

Reduplication in wh-phrases normally suggests an increase in quantity of the

very wh-phrase. In the 30 languages with reduplication in wh-phrases, 27 are in

line with the generalization, and only 3 languages are unknown (for a list of

these languages, see Table 5.5 in Section 5.4.4). The following are examples of

how quantity increases in reduplication of who, what, where, which, how, and

when, respectively. (21) Yi (Chen et al. 1985: 125)

khadi khadi ko a la sɿ? who who.RDP 3 NEG come still ‘WhoPL still didn’t come?’ (Which people still didn’t come?)

(22) Baima (Sun, Chirkova, and Liu 2007: 78)

tɕhɿø53 tʃhɿ53 tʃhɿ53 ȵø53 kho13 ʒø341?2SG what what.RDP buy carry have ‘WhatPL did you buy?’ (Which things did you buy?)

(23) Hani (Li and Wang 1986: 84)

xa55ge33 ge33? where RDP ‘Where?’ (Which places?)

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(24) Achang (Dai and Cui 1985: 35)

xoi55ʑuʔ55 xoi55ʑuʔ55 ni55?which.one which.one.RDP be.in‘Which people are here?’ Literally, ‘Which ones are here?’

(25) Jingpo (Dai and Xu 1992: 59)

shan2hte ga1ning1 ning1 rai1ga1lo ma31ni3?3PL how how.RDP do PRT ‘By which means did they do?’

(26) Zaiwa (Xu and Xu 1984: 51)

naŋ51 kha51khun51 khun51 tʃoŋ31 toʔ31 ʒa51?2SG when when.RDP school go PRT ‘At what periods of timePL do you have classes?’

A generalization from these examples is that what a content interrogative

with wh-reduplication questions is only a part of the whole quantity, in other

words, the quantity increased in wh-reduplication is not very great. This could be

seen by the fact that by reduplicating who, they do not ask ‘everyone’ but only

‘which ones’; by reduplicating what, they do not ask ‘everything’ but only

‘which things’; and so on.

However, the ‘several’/partitive meaning is no longer maintained if a

reduplicated wh-phrase is not used in an interrogative sentence. On the contrary,

a whole/pervasive meaning is very frequently expressed. In the 30 languages

with reduplication in wh-phrases, 14 languages are also found to have

reduplication in wh-phrases in non-interrogative sentences. (27) Ersu (Sun 2007c: 959)7

7 In Standard Chinese, a similar sentence also expresses a whole quantity, e.g. ta shenme

dou bu zhidao. (3SG what all not know) ‘S/he knows nothing.’ But note that Standard Chinese does not reduplicate wh-phrases.

In fact, except for Standard Chinese (and many other Sinitic languages), whole quantity by wh-phrases is also attested in many other languages in China, like Bengni-Boga’er (Ouyang 1985: 35), Sulong (Li 2004: 122), Bengru (Li 2007a: 714), Qiang (Sun 1981: 83, 85); Dongxiang (Liu 1981: 52); Korean (Xuan et al. 1985: 29); Amis (Zeng 1991: 123); and Huihui (Zheng 1997: 78).

5 Wh-phrases and wh-questions

223

dʒo55 tha55 ka55 kε55 kha55 kha55 la55 zu55 dʒo35. river DEF CL LOC where where all fish have ‘Fish are everywhere in this river.’

(28) Menba (Lu 1986: 57)

su53 su53 me35 cεʔ35cuʔ53 neʔ35.who who NEG go.FUT have ‘Nobody will go (there).’

A comparison of reduplicated wh-phrases and normal wh-phrases (i.e. no

wh-reduplication) in interrogative sentences and non-interrogative sentences is

summarized as follows.

wh-forms Sentence types Quantity (if relevant) Languages attested

wh-redup. interrogative ‘several’ (increase in quantity)

27 languages

non-interrogative whole 14 languages wh- interrogative ‘several’ (no increase

in quantity) widespread

non-interrogative whole widespread

It deserves to be pointed out that reduplication in wh-phrases may express a

plural meaning, but a plural meaning in individual languages is not necessarily

expressed via reduplicated wh-phrases. Nevertheless, some other strategies are

also adopted by many languages with wh-phrase reduplication. For example, in

Jingpo (Tibeto-Burman), ga1dai ‘who’ can be reduplicated and expresses a

‘which people’ meaning in wh-questions, but a more common plural form of it is

adding a noun ni ‘people’, and bringing ga1daini ‘who.PL’ (Dai and Xu 1992: 47).

In Kazak (Turkic), kim ‘who’, ne ‘what’, and qajsə ‘which’ can be reduplicated

in wh-questions to give it a plural meaning, but a more common strategy of

pluralization is to add suffixes onto these wh-phrases (Gen and Li 1985: 53-4).

5.4.4. Syllable pattern of reduplicated wh-phrases It can be seen in examples (21)-(26) that individual languages adopt different

syllable patterns in their reduplicated wh-phrases. For example, Yi, Baima, and

Achang are found to have full reduplication, while Hani, Jingpo, and Zaiwa are

found only to reduplicate the second syllable of a certain wh-phrase.

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224

In the 30 languages that demonstrate reduplication in wh-phrases, 11

languages normally reduplicate the whole syllables if a wh-phrase is

non-monosyllabic (normally disyllabic), 10 languages normally reduplicate the

latter syllable, 2 languages are optional in choosing a full reduplication or partial

reduplication, 5 languages are irrelevant (because only monosyllabic

reduplication examples are found), and 2 languages lack such information.

Syllable pattern ABAB AB(A)B ABB n/r n/i

Languages attested 11 2 10 5 2

For more details regarding the syllable pattern in the 30 languages, see the

table below. To wind up the discussion of this section, the feature of quantity in

reduplicated wh-phrases is also provided. Table 5.5. Wh-reduplication in 30 minority languages in China

Families

Languages

Syllable patterns

Quantity increase in wh-questions

Whole quan- tity in non- interrogatives

Sino-Tibetan Tibetan AA, ABAB + +

(Tibeto-Burman) Menba (AA) + +

Baima AA, ABAB + +

Cangluo AA, ABAB + + Yi AA, ABAB + +

Lisu ABB + n/i

Hani ABB + +

Jinuo ABB + +

Mo’ang ABB n/i n/i

Kazhuo ABAB + n/i

Rouruo AA, ABAB + +

Nusu ABAB + + Jingpo AA, ABB + +

Dulong ABB + +

Geman (AA) + (+)?

Darang (AA) n/i +

Anong ABAB + (+)?

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225

Achang AA, AB(A)B + n/i

Zaiwa AA, ABB + +

Langsu AA, ABB + n/i

Xiandao AA, AB(A)B + n/i

Bola AA, ABB + n/i rGyrong (AA) + n/i

Muya n/i + n/i

Ersu (AA) + +

Lawurong AA, ABB + n/i Turkic Kazak AA, ABAB + n/i Mongolian E. Yugur AA, ABAB + n/i Manchu-Tungusic Eveki AA, ABAB + n/i Austronesian Pazeh n/i n/i n/i

Notes:

1. Some languages have more than one syllable pattern, e.g. AA and ABAB, because there

are monosyllabic and disyllabic wh-phrases.

2. The parenthesis, e.g. (AA), indicate that a syllable pattern (AA) is not very clear, though

there are attested examples of this kind.

3. n/i: no information. As to Pazeh (Austronesian), all relevant information is missing,

though it is claimed that Pazeh can reduplicate its wh-phrases (Zeng 2007, page 2211).

Finally, the phonological change in the reduplicated interrogative phrases

deserves mention. For example, some languages have a tonal change on the

reduplicated syllable, cf. Rikaze Tibetan su53 ‘whoSG’ → su55su53 ‘whoPL’ (Gesang

and Gesang 2002: 43-44).

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5.5. Summary

In Section 5.1, I compared the position of interrogative phrases in content

questions in 138 languages of China with Dryer’s (2005c) sample based on 803

languages. Quite different from Dryer’s findings, I found that wh- in situ (in

Dryer’s classification, “not obligatorily initial”) is not only a characteristic of

content interrogatives in Standard Chinese (which has been well-addressed in

literature, see e.g. Huang 1982, Cheng 1991), but also a common feature of the

languages in China. The language atlas showing the position of wh-phrases is

plotted in Map 9 in Appendix II.

Situ positions are not the only positions for wh-phrases in many languages,

not even in Standard Chinese, a typical wh- in situ language. Following Lü

(1984), in Section 5.2, I further propose two matters that limit the so-called

wh-fronting, i.e. definiteness and topicality, which should be taken into

consideration.

As to the clause order alternations in wh-questions, the general finding is

that in the languages in China, the SVO order is widely adopted if a SOV

language has an alternative order in its wh-questions. Section 5.3 also argues that

there are no constraints in questioning a part of coordinate structures in Sinitic

languages.

An uncommon phenomenon, i.e. wh- reduplication in interrogative phrases,

is found in 30 languages (mostly Tibeto-Burman). The discussion in Section 5.4

shows that individual wh-phrases vary in the capability of reduplication, in

particular words like who, what, where, and which can be reduplicated very

easily, and how, when, and why bear some difficulty, while how many/much and

how long (time) can hardly be reduplicated. A proposed explanation is that

wh-phrase reduplication is only possible when a certain phrase can semantically

carry a plural meaning.

In the next chapter, a rare type of wh-questions, i.e. content questions

formed by interrogative verbs, is discussed, together with two other types of

verb-related (polar) questions.

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227

Chapter 6

Three types of verb-related questions This chapter investigates three types of verb-related questions in the languages of

China, namely, questions formed by a pre-verb interrogative marker (for short,

Q-VP; also known as ke-VP questions, see below), verb-reduplication (for short,

VV), and interrogative verbs (for short, IVs). The first two types are polar

questions, and the third type is a content question (but cf. Ultan 1978). To

exemplify: (1) Kunming Mandarin (Zhu 1985)

ni kə-khə? 你格去？ (Q-VP)2SG Q-go ‘Are you going (there)?’

(2) Naxi (Yi, Tibeto-Burman; He 1987: 63)

nvq leel lee lei? (VV)2SG come come PRT ‘Will you come?’

(3) Colloquial Standard Chinese (Hagège 2008)

nǐ zài gànmá? (IV)2SG PROG do.what ‘What are you doing?’

In Sections 6.1-3, the structure of the three types of questions will be

analyzed, and their genetic and geographical distribution will be charted. Section

6.4 concludes that the three types of verb-related questions are clear cases of

morphological operations, which dispels the assumption that Sinitic languages

lack inflectional morphology.

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228

6.1. Q-VP questions1

An examination of 138 languages of China found that Q-VP questions are used in

17 Sino-Tibetan languages, including 5 Sinitic languages and 12 Tibeto-Burman

languages.

6.1.1. Q-VP in Sinitic

In Sinitic languages, Q-VP questions are found in Gan, Hakka, Mandarin, Min,

and Wu.

Mandarin

Q-VP questions are used in many varieties of Mandarin, especially in

Jiang-Huai Mandarin and Southwest Mandarin (the latter also known as Xinan

Mandarin), though Q-VP questions sound archaic in Contemporary Standard

Chinese. For example, in Jiang-Huai Mandarin, ke- is found in the Caoxian

dialect, and hai- is found in the Huai-an and Huaiyin dialects.

(4) Chaoxian Mandarin (Huang et al. 1996: 693)

a. ta ke-lai? 他克来? 3SG Q-come ‘Will he come?’

b. ta ke-lai-zi? 他克来吱?

3SG Q-come-PEF ‘Did he come?’ (5) Huai-an Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 14)

a. zhe jian yishang hai-haokan a? 这件衣裳还好看啊？ DEF CL clothes Q-good.looking PRT ‘Does this suit look nice?’

1 Q-VP questions are also known as ke-VP questions, as ke 可 is a common pre-verb

interrogative marker in many Sinitic languages. Nevertheless, considering that some other markers (e.g. a 阿, hai 还) with similar functions are also found, this work uses the general

term Q, to cover ke, a, hai, and the like.

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229

b. Shanghai ni hai-qu-guo de a? 上海你还去过的啊？

Shanghai 2SG Q-go-PST DE PRT ‘Have you ever been to Shanghai?’

In some dialects of Southwest Mandarin spoken in the Yunnan Province,

e.g. Kunming Mandrin (see example 1 above) and Heqing Mandarin, pre-verb

interrogative markers are also reported.

(6) Heqing Mandarin (Huang et al. 1996: 700-1)

a. xiawu ke35-qu youyong? 下午给去游泳？

afternoon Q-go swimming ‘Are you going to swim this afternoon?’

b. ni ke35-chi liangcha? 你给吃凉茶？

2SG Q-eat herbal.tea ‘Would you like to drink some herbal tea?’

One fact that deserves to be pointed out is that Q-VP questions in Southwest

Mandarin have very likely been introduced by immigrants who spoke Jiang-Huai

Mandarin. In the early Ming dynasty (around 1381 – 1387), tens of thousands

military forces were ordered to go to Yunnan (southwest China) to fight the local

ethnic tribes and the forces of the past Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty. After the war,

they were required to stay there and do agricultural work, in order to keep

Yunnan a more controllable place. A considerable proportion of the remaining

army (notably the generals) was from Anhui, a southeast province with many

varieties of Q-VP questions. Anhui was the hometown of the emperor (Zhu

Yuanzhang). The language of the high officials was influential, and Q-VP

questions were kept there. In 1389, the emperor sent millions of peasants to

Yunnan shortly after the war, most of them from southern and eastern China,

with a considerable number from Anhui and Jiangsu, and their language,

Jiang-Huai Mandarin, was the more privileged one. (See Zhang 1990: 36-7 for

more discussion.)

Central Mandarin does not have Q-VP questions2 except that the Suining

variety uses the pre-verb interrogative marker hai-, which is also reported in

2 In Zhouqu Mandarin, a variety of Central Mandarin spoken in the Gansu Province, north-

central China, verb-reduplicating questions are also reported (see Section 6.2.1.).

6 Three types of verb-related questions

230

many varieties in Jiang-Huai Mandarin and Southwest Mandarin, and resembles

the ke- in many Q-VP questions. (7) Suining Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 11)

a. hai-xiang qu? 还想去？

Q-want go ‘Do you want to go (there)?’

b. hái xiang qu. 还想去。

still want go ‘I want to go there again.’ Note that hai is unstressed and in a neutral tone (qingsheng 轻声; see, e.g. Wang

1997) in (7a). When hai keeps its original (high rising) tone (hái; cf. 7b), it is not

an interrogative prefix but an interrogative adverb. This is a matter of iconicity,

in particular, of sound symbolism, for semantic importance requires phonetic

emphasis, and an affix (or clitic) is not able to receive such emphasis.

It is very likely that Suining Mandarin borrowed Q-VP questions via areal

contact, as Suining is very close to the districts where Jiang-Huai Mandarin is

spoken (rich in hai-VP questions), in particular, form Suining it is less than

300km to Nanjing and Hefei, the capital cities of the Jiangsu and Anhui Province,

respectively, and even closer to some other Jiang-Huai Mandarin districts, like

Sùzhōu, Shuyang, and Huai-an, with only a distance of about 100km.

Gan

Q-VP questions are not found frequently found in Gan, although several

clear examples are reported in Taihe Gan and Ji-an Gan, in which the pre-verb

interrogative markers are a213 and i55, respectively. (8) Taihe Gan (Huang et al. 1996: 691; fieldwork notes)

a. ȵi34 a213-lən34-xɤ213ɕy44? 2SG Q-PFT-study ‘Did you study?’

b. ȵi34 a213-sʅ44 lau213sʅ44? 2SG Q-be teacher ‘Are you a teacher?’

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231

c. a213-sʅ44 thiɛn44tɕhiaŋ34? Q-be sunny ‘Is it sunny?’ (9) Ji-an Gan (Shao et al. 2010: 213)

a. nən34 i55 ɕiau213tɛ34? 3

2SG Q know ‘Do you know that?’ (9a) is a neutral and not a leading question. Biased questions adopt a different

strategy, i.e. taking a sentence-final question particle a55, as it is shown in (9b).

b. nən34 ɕiau213tɛ34 a55?

2SG know PRT

‘Do you know that?’ Hakka

In the varieties of Hakka spoken in the south Jiangxi Province, questions

with Q-VP are mainly found in two types, an-/am-/æn-VP and khə-VP. The

former is found in Quannan Hakka, Longnan Hakka, and Dingnan Hakka, and

the latter is found in Xinfeng Hakka.

In Quannan Hakka, a polar question is usually formed by an am-VP or am-

PEF-VP structure, indicating non-perfective and perfective aspect, respectively.

(10) Quannan Hakka (Zhang 1990: 45)

a. ni am-sε tsha? 你暗食茶？

2SG Q-eat tea ‘Would you like to have a cup of tea?’

b. ni am-tɕiæn-tau-kuo peitɕiŋ? 你暗前到过北京？

2SG Q-PEF-go-PST Beijing ‘Have you been to Beijing?’

3 The strategy, however, is not confirmed by a native speaker. My fieldwork also suggests

that young people’s polar questions are very similar to Standard Chinese. Being spoken in the political and economic center of the district, Ji-an Gan, is being mandarinized very fast.

6 Three types of verb-related questions

232

A similar construction is found in Longnan Hakka, which is spoken in

Longnan, a neighboring county of Quannan County. For example, ni-kɤ kua

æn-pu thiæn? (2SG-GEN melon Q-not sweat) ‘Is your (melon) sweet?’ (Zhang

1990: 45). Zhang (1990: 46) proposes that Quannan am and Longnan æn very

likely evolved from the alloforms of the Chinese interrogative adverb gǎn 敢 ‘Is

it true that…?’, by losing the initial consonant. This assumption sounds

reasonable, because sān ‘three’ in Standard Chinese is pronounced sám in

Dingnan Hakka, spoken in a neighboring county of Longnan and Quannan,

though the consonant -m is no longer kept in Longnan or Quannan because of

replacement in recent history.

Dingnan Hakka also has pre-verb question markers.

(11) Dingnan Hakka (fieldwork notes)

a. ni an-ɕi-a kantsou? 你暗去呀赣州？

2SG Q-go-PRT Ganzhou ‘Are you going to Ganzhou?’

b. ni a-nəŋ-ɕi-kuo kantsou? 你阿能去过赣州？

2SG Q-PST-go-PST Ganzhou ‘Have you been to Ganzhou?’ The distinction between perfect and non-perfect aspects in Dingnan Hakka is

exactly the same as in Taihe Gan (see example 8 above), in which a- and anəŋ-

are used respectively. Nevertheless, Dingnan Hakka also use questions with a

V(P) plus a final particle, like ɕi mε? (go PRT) ‘Are you going (there)?’ ɕiː a? (go

PRT) ‘Have you been there?’, or a [Q-verb-particle] structure, like ni an-ɕi-a?

(2SG Q-go-PRT) ‘Are you going (there)?’

Xinfeng Hakka and Nankang Hakka are different from Dingnan Hakka,

Longnan Hakka, and Quannan Hakka in that khə-VP questions are used.

(12) Xinfeng Hakka (fieldwork notes)

nei44 khə22-sɛ 42? 你可食？

2SG Q-eat ‘Would you like to eat?’

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Wu

In Wu there are two types of interrogative verb morphologies, the prefixing

type and the reduplicating type (the latter is commonly found in the Zhejiang

Province, see Section 6.2.1.). The former is commonly found in Shanghai Wu

and its neighboring districts in the southern Jiangsu Province, like Suzhou Wu.

(13) (old) Shanghai Wu, and Suzhou Wu (Liu 1991)

noŋ a-tɕhi? 侬阿去？

2SG Q-go

‘Are you going (there)?’ It is odd if one uses a-VP question (13) nowadays, since the interrogative prefix

is no longer kept in Contemporary Wu, instead, the final interrogative particle va

is normally used, e.g. noŋ tɕhi va? (2SG go PRT) ‘Are you going (there)?’

Min

Polar questions in Min (including the dialects of Min in Taiwan) are

commonly found to have a V(P)-neg-V(P) structure, though some dialects of it

are of the prefixing type. For example, in Zhangzhou Min (Fujian Province) and

Tainan Min (Taiwan), there is a kan/kam-V(P) question, like kan/kam-you fan?

(Q-have food) ‘Is there some food?’ (see Zhang 1990: 41-2, Yue-Hashimoto

1991, for further discussion.)

Clearly, kan/kam continues the Archaic Chinese kan 敢, which was an

adjective in its earlier usage (‘brave’, ‘courageous’), it then also functioned as a

verb (‘dare to do’) and an interrogative adverb, which can be used both in

questions which seek no answer and in cases of uncertainty. All the three usages

are kept in Xiamen Min, which has three allomorphs of kan, that is, [kam], [kan],

and [kan]. [kam] is an adjective and a verb, [kan] is an interrogative adverb

which only ask rhetorical questions, [kan] functions as adjective, verb, or adverb.

As an adverb, [kan] can be used to ask polar questions without answer bias, for

example, ni kan-you he yi jiang ke? (2SG Q-have to 3SG say PRT) ‘Did you tell

her/him something?’ (Zhang 1990: 43).

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6.1.2. Q-VP in Tibeto-Burman

Tibetan

Two Tibetan languages, Anduo Tibetan and Baima, are reported to have

interrogative prefixes on verbs. In the following examples, ə is used in Anduo

Tibetan, and ə53 is used in Baima.

(14) Anduo Tibetan (Sun 1995)

tɕho nthoŋ ə-re? 2SG drink Q-be ‘Did you drink?’

(15) Baima (a, Sun 1995; b, Sun 2007a: 224)

a. tɕhø53 kho53 ə53-ue35-uɛ13? 2SG carry Q-come-PRT ‘Have you carried it here?’

b. ə53ndʑi53? ‘Go?’ ə53dʑa341? ‘Sew?’ ə53dzuɛ341 ‘Dig?’ Yi

Rouruo is different from other Yi languages (see Section 6.2.2) in that the

verb-reduplicating strategy is not used. Instead, the prefix ta53 is usually used to

question the semantic content of the verb.

(16) Rouruo (Sun 2007e: 461)

ȵau31 tsu55 ta53-tsou31? 2SG meal Q-eat ‘Have you eaten?’

More examples of Rouruo are collected in Sun (2002: 90), e.g. ta53tso33 ‘Eat?’,

ta53ȵi55 ‘Look?’, ta53phõ13 ‘Open?’, ta53pa53 ‘Hit?’, etc.

Jingpo

In two dialects of Dulong (a Jingpo language), the prefixing strategy is

adopted, in particular, gɯ55- is found in Nujiang Dulong, and ma55- is found in

Dulongjiang Dulong.

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(17) Nujiang Dulong (Sun 1995)

a. ăŋ53 gɯ 55-khe55?

he Q-eat ‘Did he eat?’

b. na55 gɯ 55-nɯ31-dʑi53?

2SG Q-2-go ‘Did you go (there)?’ (18) Dulongjiang Dulong (Sun 1995; see also Sun 1982: 176)

a. na53 i55ɟɯʔ 55 ma55-na55-sɯ31-dat55-păŋ55wan55?

2SG rope Q-2-CAU-break-PRT ‘Do you want to break down the rope?’

b. nɯ55nĭŋ55 nuŋ55ŋwa53 ma55-nɯ31-săt55-păŋ55wan55? 2SG.PL ox Q-2-kill-PRT ‘Are you going to kill the ox?’ Qiangic

In Qiangic languages, interrogative morphology on verbs is commonly used.

In the eight languages that demonstrate such a strategy, four are prefixing, one is

infixing, and three are both prefixing and suffixing. This is consistent with (and

also a nature of) the general marking typology of these languages, which are

head marking or double marking (see Nichols 1986, 1992; Nichols and Bickel

2005a, b, c).

In rGyarong, the interrogative prefix attached on a verb is mo-, although it

is found only in second person and third person.

(19) rGyarong (Lin 1993: 245-6)

a. no mo-tə-pə-u? 2SG Q-2-do-2SG ‘Would you like to do (this)?’

b. no mo-tə-zə-u? 2SG Q-2-eat-2SG

‘Would you like to eat (this)?’

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The prefix mo- is only used in present or future tenses. When one wants to

question a past event, an allomorphy mə- is used, which precedes the tense prefix

(to- or nɐ-).

c. no mə-to-tə-za-u?

2SG Q-PST-2-eat-2SG ‘Have you eaten?’

d. no məʃer mə-nɐ -tə-rmɐ-n? 2SG yesterday Q-PST-2-sleep-2SG

‘Did you sleep yesterday?’

Ergong also has prefixing, although there is a small difference in the

pronunciations between the dialect in the Dasang Township, Danba County, and

the northern dialect.

(20) Ergong (a, Sun 2007b: 942; b, Sun 1995)

a. ȵi ɛ -ɕin? (Dansang Township, Danba County) 2SG Q-go ‘Are you going there?’

b. nɟjə53 ə53-dzən13? (Northern dialect) 2SG Q-eat ‘(Do you like to) Eat?’

In Lawurong one can question a verb simply by adding an interrogative

prefix ji- or ɕə-. A similar strategy is also reported in Namuyi.

(21) Lawurong (Huang 2007b: 1056)

a. ȵe35 dʑæ55 ə-ji55/ɕə55-the-n53? 2SG tea Q-drink-2SG ‘Would you like to have a cup of tea?’

b. cçə53 ɣə dʑæ5 nə-ji55/ɕə55-the53? he AGT tea PFV-Q-drink ‘Did he drink tea?’ (22) Namuyi (a-b, Huang and Renzengwangmu 1991a: 169; c, Liu 2007: 979;

d, Sun 1995)

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a. nuo31 ʁuo53dzʉ31 mo31 a33-dʑi33? 2SG Tibetan people Q-be ‘Are you Tibetan?’

b. nuo31 mo33ʂɿ31 dzi53 a33-ntɕhi55 mæ55 ntɕhi55? 2SG horse.meat eat Q-ever not ever ‘Did you ever eat horse meat?’

c. no53 bi53ji31 a53-pa13? 2SG bag Q-have ‘Do you have a bag?’

d. no55 mi33 ɛ55-dzɿ53 ɛ33? 2SG Q-eat ‘Have you eaten?’ Note that in Huang and Renzengwangmu’s description (1991a), Namuyi is called

Namuzi, and the interrogative prefix is documented as a33 (and the second person

singular is nuo31), while it is a53 (and the second person singular is no53) in Liu

(2007), and ɛ55 (and the second person singular is no55) in Sun (1995),

respectively.

In Ersu the interrogative affix a55 can be added before or after a verb which

questions the semantic meaning of the very verb, though there is a difference in

meaning according to its placement.

(23) Ersu (Sun 2007c: 962)

a. tiã55jĩ 55 thɛ 5 wo55 nɛ

55 dzo55ro55-a55-gɛ 55?

film this CL 2SG watch-Q-PRT ‘Would you like to watch the film?’

b. tiã55jĩ 55 thɛ5 wo55 nɛ55 a55-dzo55ro55? ‘Did you watch the film?’

In Pumi (also known as Primi) the prefix ɛ13 can be added onto a verb to

phrase polar questions.

(24) Pumi (Lu 1983: 81)

a. nɛ13 sĩ13tʃhø55 ɛ13-dziɯu55si55? 2SG breakfast Q-eat ‘Have you had breakfast?’

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b. tə55gɯ55 ȵa13mi55 ɛ13də13?

he Naxi be ‘Is he a Naxi people?’

c. lau13sə55 tʃə55mie55 ɛ13ʒø55? teacher home be.in ‘Is the teacher at home?’

d. tʂa55ʂə55 bie55ŋãu55 ɛ13bõ55? Zhaxi money have ‘Does Zhaxi have money?’

Shixing is exactly the mirror image of Ersu in that the interrogative prefix ɛ

55 (or a55) normally precedes the verb in future tense (post-posing in marginal

cases), and is postposed in past tense. (25) Shixing (Sun 2007f: 991-2)

a. ɔ55rɛ55 mɛ53 khɛ55xui35ga55-a55-wɛ 33? we today have.meeting-Q-be ‘Are we going to have a meeting today?’

b. thi55 ȵo55 la55 dzi35-ɛ55-tɕyɛ53? he 2SG PRT beat-Q-PRT ‘Did he beat you?’

In Muya the infix æ55 is used between the verb stem and its suffix(es) in

non-perfective (26b-d); in perfective aspect, in second person the prefix changes

its tone to 15 (sometimes the vowel of the prefix also changes), or, in third

person, the infix æ55 is added between the verb stem and its suffix sə33 or

question particle ra55 (26e-h; Huang 1991b: 120-1). (26) Muya (Huang 1991b: 121; see also Huang 2007c: 917)

a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.

t‘ɐ53βə53

t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pæ33? t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pe33? t‘ɐ33βə55æ55pi33? t‘æ15βy33? t‘æ15βe33? t‘u33βə55æ55sə33? t‘u33βə55a55ra33?

‘do’ ‘Will youSG do (this)?’ ‘Will youPL do (this)?’ ‘Will he/they do (this)?’ ‘Have youSG done (this)?’ ‘Have youPL done (this)?’ ‘{Has he/Have they} done (this)?’‘{Has he/Have they} done (this)?’

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6.1.3. Summary

Q-VP questions found in Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages are summarized

in the following table.

Table 6.1. Q-VP in Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages Groups Languages Dialect groups Dialects Question markers

Sinitic Mandarin Southwest Kunming kə- Mandarin Southwest Heqing ke35- Mandarin Jiang-Huai Caoxian ke- Mandarin Jiang-Huai Huai-an hai- Mandarin Jiang-Huai Huaiyin hai- Mandarin Central Suining hai- (neutral tone) Gan Ji-Cha Taihe a213- Gan Ji-Cha Ji-an i55- Hakka Ning-Long Quannan am- Hakka Ning-Long Longnan æn- Hakka Ning-Long Dingnan a(n)- Hakka Ning-Long Nankang khə- Hakka Ning-Long Xinfeng khə- Wu Taihu Shanghai a- Wu Taihu Suzhou a- Min Quan-Zhang Zhangzhou kan-, kam- Min Quan-Zhang Tainan kan-, kam- Min Quan-Zhang Xiamen kan- Tibeto-Burman Tibetan Anduo ə- Baima ə53- Rouruo ta53- Dulong Nujiang gɯ55- Dulong Dulongjiang ma55- rGyarong mo- (mə-) Ergong Danba ɛ- Ergong North ə53- Lawurong ji55-,ɕə55- Namuyi a33- (a53-, ɛ55-) Ersu a55-, -a55 Pumi ɛ13- Shixing ɛ55- (a55-) Muya -æ55-

6 Three types of verb-related questions

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As the table shows, a is a common interrogative marker in Sinitic and

Tibeto-Burman languages, which is in accordance with Benedict’s (1976, 1985)

reconstruction of the Proto-Sino-Tibetan interrogative *ga(ng) ~ *ka. Also, Q-VP

questions are only found in Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages, not in the

other languages of China, which can be taken as further evidence supporting the

Sino-Tibetan grouping (Benedict 1972).

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6.2. Verb-reduplicating questions

Verb-reduplicating questions are found in 14 Sino-Tibetan languages in China,

including 6 Sinitic, 7 Tibeto-Burman (in particular, Yi languages), and 1

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao).

6.2.1. Verb-reduplication in Sinitic

Mandarin

A verb-reduplicating strategy is reported in many varieties of Jiang-Huai

Mandarin, e.g. Hongze, Huaiyin4, Shuyang, Siyang, and Xishui.

(27) Huaiyin Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 15; Huang 1996: 696, 700)

a. ni you-you xiangqi a? 你有有象棋啊? 2SG have-have Chinese.chess PRT ‘Do you have a Chinese chess?’

b. ni mei-mei shangxue a? 你没没上学啊? 2SG not.have-not.have go.study PRT ‘You didn’t go to school today?’ (28) Lianshui Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 67)

a. dao-dao-guo Shanghai? 到到过上海?

arrive-arrive-PST Shanghai ‘Have you ever been to Shanghai?’

b. ni gege you-you erzi? 你哥哥有有儿子? 2SG elder.brother have-have son ‘Does your elder brother have a son?’ A native Lianshui Mandarin source suggests that colloquial Lianshui and

Huai-an (including Huaiyin) do not have any prefixing or verb-reduplicating

interrogative sentences, instead, they invariably take a V(P)-neg-V(P) structure,

which is exactly the same as in Standard Chinese, like you-mei-you

(have-not-have) ‘have or not?’, qu-bu-qu (go-not-go) ‘go or not?’. The source

also suggests that Lianshui, Huai-an, and Huaiyin demonstrate only very little

4 Huaiyin Mandarin has also the pre-verb interrogative marker hai- (see Section 6.1.1).

6 Three types of verb-related questions

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dialectal difference, no greater than the difference between a senior person’s

language and that of a young man’s. It is too early to conclude that the findings

in Zhang (1990) and Huang (1996) are not valid, as we have only very limited

data here.

(29) Xishui Mandarin (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. mai zhe-ge-niu chu-chu-bu-qi qian? 买这个牛你出出不起钱? buy DEF-CL-ox pay-pay-not-ACM money ‘Can you afford the ox?’

b. ni he-he-bu-liao? 三大缸子水，你喝喝不了?

2SG drink-drink-not-PRT ‘Are you able to drink the (three big glasses of) water?’ (30) Shuyang Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 67)

ni chi chifan? 你吃吃饭?

2SG eat eat.meal ‘Do you like to eat?’

(31) Siyang Mandarin (the county town) (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. ta shi shi Shanghai ren? 他是是上海人?

3SG be be Shanghai people ‘Is s/he Shanghainese?’

b. neng neng xi ganjing? 能能洗干净?

can can wash clean ‘Could it be cleaned?’ or ‘Can you clean it?’

The compact form, i.e. the VV structure, is only found in the non-perfective

in Shuyang Mandarin and Siyang Mandarin, whereas a more complex form, i.e.

V-neg-V construction is adopted in perfective, for example, shi-bu-shi

‘be-not-be’, chi-bu-chi ‘eat-not-eat’, etc. Nevertheless, VV is also reported in the

perfective in Huaiyin Mandarin and Hongze Mandarin. (32) Huaiyin Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 67)

mei mei chi-guo-a? 没没吃过啊？

not.have not.have eat-PEF-PRT ‘Have you eaten?’

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(33) Hongze Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 67)

mei mei qilai-a? 没没起来啊？

not.have not.have get.up-PRT ‘(Someone) Still hasn’t get up?’

Interestingly, there are both youyou (you ‘have’) and meimei (mei ‘not have’) in

Huaiyin (see example 27 above) and Hongze, used in non-perfective and

perfective respectively. This distinction is, however, not yet fully developed in

the Xinquan dialect of Liancheng Hakka (see Xiang 1990), in which only a

wuwu (wu ‘not have’) is found in the non-perfective.

In the Xinquan dialect of Liancheng Hakka (see example 41 below), some

reduplicating verbs undergo a process of tone shift, followed by tone merging,

which result in some complex tones, e.g. 3551 (Xiang 1990). A lengthened

articulation of the verb, though not the same as in Liancheng Hakka, is found in

the Zhenglou dialect of Siyang Mandarin, in which the structure of the

reduplicated verbs is not VVP but VP, with V (bold emphasis of the examples

below) pronounced twice as long as when it is pronounced as a normal verb

(Zhang 1990: 67).

(34) Siyang Mandarin (Zhenglou dialect) (Zhang 1990: 67)

a. ni hai yoou qian a? 你还有-钱啊？

2SG still have money PRT ‘Do you still have some money?’

b. ta shii Shanghairen a? 他是-上海人啊？

3SG be Shanghainess PRT ‘Is s/he Shanghainess?’

c. ni chii huasheng? 你吃-花生？

2SG eat peanut ‘Do you like to eat peanuts?’

More examples of verb-reduplicating questions are reported in Hefei,

Yangzhou, Yancheng (Huang et al. 1996: 700), and some Mandarin languages in

the Anhui Province, like the languages in Fu(yang)-Su(zhou) (Central Mandarin)

and (He)Fei-Wu(hu) (Jiang-Huai Mandarin) districts (Zhang 1990: 30).

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In Suizhou Mandarin (Hubei Province), a dialect of Southwest Mandarin,

negators in V-neg-V constructions are completely dropped, i.e., it simply uses a

VV structure, without any pause in between. This structure is reported both in

primary predicate (35a-b, non-perfective; 35c, perfective) and secondary

predicate (35d).

(35) Suizhou Mandarin (Huang et al. 1996: 695; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. b. c. d.

ququ? (go go) ququde? (go go DE) ququ(de)le? (go go DE PRT) ququ kan xi? (go go watch opera)

‘Are you going there?’ ‘Is it okay to go there?’ ‘Has (someone) been there?’ ‘Are you going to watch the opera?’

The adjective-reduplicating (AA) structure, often co-existing in languages with

V-(neg)-V questions, is, however, not found in Suizhou, in which the full form

adj-neg-adj structure is used.

Xiantao Mandarin (Hubei Province), a variety of Southwest Mandarin,

resembles Liancheng Hakka (see example 41 below) in that it also undergoes

tone shift, i.e., the tone of the negation constituent is moved onto the preceding

verb, while the original tone of the very verb is dropped. The tone shifted onto

the verb is consistently a 35 tone, because the tone of the negation word bu ‘not’

is 35.

(36) Xiantao Mandarin (Zhang 1990: 67)

a. ni xiang-xiang qu? 你想想去？

2SG like-like go ‘Would you like to go (there)?’

b. ta shi-shi ni gege? 他是是你哥哥？

he be-be 2SG elder.brother ‘Is he your brother?’

c. hai you-you fan? 还有有饭？

still have-have rice ‘Is there still some food?’

d. qu-qu-guo Beijing? 去去过北京？

go-go-PST be-be ‘Have you ever been to Beijing?’

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A similar structure is found in Chongqing Mandarin (though it has interrogative

verbs; see Section 6.2.3).

(37) Chongqing Mandarin (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

ni ren rende ta? 你认认得他？

2SG know know 3SG ‘Do you know her/him?’

In Zhouqu Mandarin, a variety of Central Mandarin, it is possible to

reduplicate the predicate verb to ask polar questions (or tag questions).

(38) Zhouqu Mandarin (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

zhi duo hua xiangzi hen, shi shi? 致朵花香子很，是是？

DEF CL flower good.smell very yes yes ‘The flower smells very good, dosn’t it?’

Verb-reduplicating interrogatives are also reported in Binxian Mandarin, a

variety of Northwest Mandarin spoken in the Heilongjiang Province, and in

Laifeng Mandarin, a variety of Southwest Mandarin spoken in the Hubei

Province (Dai and Zhu 2010).

Hakka

In the Hakka-spoken districts of the south Jiangxi Province, Yudu and

Huichang are reported to reduplicate the verb (VV)5 to ask polar questions. (For

Q-VP questions in Hakka, see Section 6.1.1.)

(39) Yudu Hakka (a, Liu 2001: 335; b, Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. ti-tsa-kua sε-sε-tε? 底只瓜食食得?

DEF-CL-melon eat-eat-able ‘Is this melon edible?’

b. miεn-tsau ŋan ɕiau-ɕiau koŋtɕiu? 明朝你去去赣州？ tomorrow 2SG go-go Ganzhou ‘Are you going to Ganzhou tomorrow?’

5 Some aspect markers can also be reduplicated to ask polar questions, e.g. xən

tshən-tshən-si-fan? (2SG PEF-PEF-eat-meal) ‘Have you already eaten?’

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(40) Huichang Hakka (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

tiɕiε-kuotsi si-si-tε? 底些果子食食得？

this-fruit eat-eat-able ‘Is these fruits edible?’

My Hakka fieldwork notes, however, are in disagreement with the findings of

Liu and Shao. Two native speaker sources suggest there is no verb-reduplicating

strategy in Yudu or Huichang Hakka. In Yudu the only preferred structure is

(V-)neg-V(P), e.g. xən (sε) ŋ/mɔ sε fan? (2SG (eat) not/not.have eat meal) ‘Would

you like to eat?/Have you eaten?’, xən mɔ tɕhiε (nε)? (2SG not go (PRT)) ‘Have

you been there?’. In Huichang, (V-)neg-V(P) is also the most favored structure,

although it also uses a tonal V(P) question, for example, ŋan miεntsau

ɕiau-ŋ-ɕiau koŋtɕiu?  (2SG tomorrow go-not-go Ganzhou) ‘Are you going to

Ganzhou tomorrow?’, wei ɕiau? (will go) ‘Are you going (there)?’, ŋ ɕiau? (not

go) ‘Are you going (there) or not?’. Considering that both languages have

V-neg-V structures, and the negation constituent ŋ is very easily dropped in a

conversation, leaving only a very short pause in articulation, the statements

proposed by Liu and Shao are not far from the truth, though a native speaker

would reject their point of view without any hesitation. Nevertheless, a fact that

must be pointed out is that the native speaker informants are all in their 30s, and

information from senior citizen’s Hakka would be necessary, if it is a question of

age.

One can also use the other polar question structures which are frequently

encountered in other Sinitic languages, like V(P)-neg, V(P)-prt, and V(P) plus a

raising tone, and these are mutually understandable, though these questions are

not favored in contemporary Yudu Hakka or Huichang Hakka, and the addressee

gets a strong impression that the speaker is of a different regional (especially,

Mandarin) background or s/he is giving a more or less formal talk.

Verb-reduplicating questions are also reported in the Xinquan dialect of

Liancheng Hakka (Fujian Province). It is worth noting that the tone of the

negation word ŋ35 (41a) is shifted onto the previous verb (41b). What is more

interesting is that the two verbs can even be merged together, resulting in a

single verb, with the tone merged, i.e. 3551, as in (41c).

(41) Liancheng Hakka (Xiang 1990; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

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a. ɕi51-ŋ35-ɕi51fa33 tʂa11 k‘ie11? like-not-like DEF CL ‘(Do you) like this (clothes) (or not)?’

b. ɕi35 ɕi51fa33 tʂa11 k‘ie11?

c. ɕi3551fa33 tʂa11 k‘ie11? The medial part of the merged tone always takes a shorter time in articulation.

As in (41c), tone 55 take just the same time span of a single 5 tone, which makes

3551 sounds like 351.

In Changting Hakka (Fujian Province), polar questions also adopt a tonal

shift strategy. In (42), the former verbs both take a rising tone (24), which is the

tone of the negation word originally in between, though, they do not go as far as

Liancheng Hakka, which keeps only one verb and has the tones of two verbs on

it. (42) Changting (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. tsu24-tsu42-kuŋ? 做做工？

do-do-work ‘Do you like to work (or not)?’

b. ɕiau24-ɕiau42-phi? 削削皮？

peel-peel-skin ‘Do you like to have the fruit peeled (or not)?’ Jin

In the Wutai subgroup of Jin, verb-reduplicating is very common in dialects

like Shuozhou, Pinglu, Daixian, Lanxian, and so on. In its Shanyin dialect, one

of the reduplicated verbs can be dropped, though the remaining verb keeps a

longer time in articulation, in particular, the remaining verb is pronounced as

long as two verbs, e.g. shi-bu-shi? (yes-no-yes) ‘Yes or no?’ → shi-shi? → shii? (43) Wutai Jin (Guo 2010)

a. ta zai zai? (Shuozhou dialect) 3SG be.in be.in ‘Is s/he here?’

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b. jinnian shoucheng bulai, shi shi? (Pinglu dialect) this.year harvest not.bad yes yes ‘The harvest this year is not bad, isn’t it?’

Min

In the following examples of Fuzhou Min (spoken in the capital city of the

Fujian Province), the preceding verb has a nasalized ending, which is a part of

the negation constituent in between, cf. -n in (44a) and -m in (44b), which are

clearly variants of the negation constituent ŋ in many Sinitic languages in south

China (e.g. Cantonese, Hakka).

(44) Fuzhou Min (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5; Huang et al. 1996: 266)

a. ny44 sεn45 sε21? 2SG wash wash ‘Will you wash (it) (or not)?’

b. i45 mεm45 mε21? 2SG buy buy ‘Will you buy (it) (or not)?’

Wu

In many districts of Zhejiang, a neighboring province of Shanghai and

Jiangsu, polar questions frequently have verb-reduplicating structures. This is

reported in Shaoxing, Jinhua, Shengxian, Wuyi, and Zhuji.

(45) Shaoxing Wu (Huang et al. 1996: 701; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. yi lai-lai dong-wu-li? 伊来来东屋里？

3SG come-come east-room-LOC ‘Is s/he coming to the east room?’

b. ruo yao-yao yi lai? 诺要要伊来？

2SG want-want 3SG come ‘Do you want to have him/her here?’

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(46) Jinhua Wu (Zhang 1990: 66; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. nong yuan-yuan qu? 侬愿愿去？

2sg want-want go ‘Do you like to go (there)?’

b. ju ken-ken lai? 巨肯肯来？

3SG will-will come ‘Would s/he come?’ (47) Shengxian Wu (Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. wandao zhong-(wu)-zhong lai? 晚稻种(勿)种来？

autumn.rice plant-not-plant PRT ‘Are you going to plant the autumn rice?’

b. xia-(wu)-xia laojiu lai? 呷(勿)呷老酒来？

sip-not-sip PN PRT ‘Do you like to drink some Huangjiu (a kind of alcohol)?’ (48) Wuyi Wu (Zhang 1990: 66; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. a-ben-shu nong wang-wang? 阿本书侬望望？

DEF-CL-book 2SG read-read ‘Do you like to read the book?’

b. nong fan shi-shi na? 侬饭食食哪？

2SG meal eat-eat PRT ‘Do you like to eat?’ (49) Zhuji Wu (Zhang 1990: 66; Shao et al. 2010: 224-5)

a. qi you-you lai-guo xian? 其有有来过咸？

3SG have-have come-PST PRT ‘Did s/he come here?’

b. ni shu you-you xian? 你书有有咸？

2SG book have-have PRT ‘Do you have (the) book?’ It is very likely that these verb-reduplicating questions are due to the omission of

the negator between two verbs (phrases). This can be seen clearly in the

Shengxian Wu example (47), in which the negation word wu is optional.

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Admittedly, an opposite argument could be made, namely that the V(P)-neg-V(P)

questions are derived from V(P)-V(P). Nevertheless, the latter hypothesis is less

plausible because V(P)-neg-V(P) occur earlier than V(P)-V(P) in the history of

the Chinese language (see Section 7.2 for more discussion).

Xiang

Xiang, also known as Hunan Chinese, is not rich in verb-reduplicating

interrogatives, though some studies claim them for some dialects, e.g. Guiyang

Xiang. The verb-reduplicating strategy is, also to omit the negation word

between two verbs (phrases), this shares common feature with many varieties of

Wu in Zhejiang Province (see above, especially the Shengxian examples).

(50) Guiyang Xiang (Ouyang 2009)

a. ni chi-chi yefan? 你吃吃夜饭？

2SG eat-eat supper ‘Do you like to have supper?’

b. guiyang-jie-shang ni mingri qu-qu? 桂阳街上你明日去去？

Guiyang-street-LOC 2SG tomorrow go-go ‘Are you going to the Guiyang town tomorrow?’

6.2.2. Verb-reduplication in Yi

The structure of verb-reduplicating interrogatives in Yi languages (Tibeto-

Burman) is to reduplicate the (last) syllable of the first verb, i.e. to reduplicate

the syllable if the first verb is monosyllabic, or reduplicate the last syllable if the

first verb has more than one syllable, and change the tone of the (last) syllable.

(51) Yi (Chen et al. 1985: 94; Chen et al. 2007: 265)

a. la33 ‘come’, la44la33 ‘Come?’ b. lɔ55pɔ21 ‘help’, lɔ55pɔ21pɔ33 ‘Help?’

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The rule of tonal change is as follows: when the tone of the (last) syllable of

the preceding verb6 is 55, 44, or 21, then the first syllable keeps its own tone,

while the latter is changed into 33; when reduplicating a 33-toned syllable, the

latter syllable changes into 44, that is, the latter syllable of the reduplicated verb

must bear a 33 tone, regardless of the tone of the previous one.

(final) verb reduplicated verbs

V55 V55V33 V44 V44V33 V21 V21V33 V33 V44V33 In Modern Naxi, verb-reduplicating interrogatives are used only in marginal

cases, with also a tonal change on the verb.

(52) Naxi (a-b, He 1987: 63; c-e, He and Jiang 1982: 49)

a. nvq leel lee lei? 2SG come come PRT

‘Will you come?’

b. bbigv tv heeq bbaiqnei ddol ddoq ddeq? in.forest bird scrawl see see PRT ‘Did you see that the bird is clawing the soil happily?’

c. bɯ55 bɯ33 le33? go go PRT ‘Go (or not)?’

d. phiə55 phiə31 le33? like like PRT ‘Like it (or not)?’

e. sɯ55 sɯ33 le33? know know PRT ‘Know it (or not)?’

6 In Yi, adjectives can also be reduplicated to ask polar questions, e.g. mbo21 ‘good’ →

mbo21mbo33? ‘(Is it) good?’; a33vu55 ‘blue’ → a33vu55vu33? ‘(Is it) blue?’ (Chen et al. 1985: 101).

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Tonal change on the verb, however, is not common in Tanglang and

Kazhuo, two languages with verb-reduplicating interrogatives.

(53) Tanglang (Gai 2007: 372)

a. ʑi31 ʑi31? go go ‘(Will you) Go (or not)?’

b. mv53 χã33 χã33? rain drop drop ‘Is it going to rain?’ Literally, ‘Will the rain drop or not?’ (54) Kazhuo (Mu 2003a: 211-2; He 2007: 431)

a. nɛ33 zɿ53 zɿ53? 2SG sleep sleep ‘Would you like to sleep?’

b. nɛ33 ŋ24 mo323 mo323? 2SG look see see ‘Did you see (that)?’

According to Mu (2003a: 210, and p.c.), three other Yi languages, namely,

Hani, Lahu, and Lisu also have verb-reduplicating interrogatives. Mu (2003a:

246) notes that adjective-reduplicating questions are only found in Yi and

Kazhuo, not in other Yi languages. This demonstrates that Yi and Kazhuo are

closer genetically or in closer areal contact than the other languages; also,

adj-reduplicating interrogatives are less common than verb-reduplicating ones,

i.e. adj-reduplicating interrogatives imply verb-reduplicating interrogatives. (Cf.

Suizhou Mandarin in Section 6.2.1.)

6.2.3. Verb-reduplication in Hmong-Mien

So far only one Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) language, Baiwu Miao, is

reported to express interrogatives through verb-reduplication, e.g. ti55ti33 ‘go

(or not)?’, ma55ma53 ‘cut (or not)?’, men55men22 ‘go (or not)?’, etc. (see Hu

2008).

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Hu (2008) proposes that verb-reduplicating questions in Baiwu Miao are

shortened forms of V-neg-V questions, and that the tone of the negation word

(a55) is shifted to the first verb while it is merged, via a process of Vx 1 a

55Vx 2 →

V551 V x

2 , which is commonly found in Sinitic languages. Given that Miao is greatly

influenced by Chinese, the abridgement between word boundary and tone shift is

very likely to be a case of borrowing via language contact.

6.2.4. Summary

The languages with verb-reduplicating questions are the following.

Sinitic (6 languages)

Mandarin

Jiang-Huai (Central-East): Hefei, Hongze, Huaiyin, Lianshui,

Shuyang, Siyang, Wuhu, Yancheng, Yangzhou

Central: Fuyang, Sùzhou, Zhouqu

Southwest: Chongqing, Laifeng, Suizhou, Xiantao

Northeast: Binxian

Hakka: Changting, Huichang, Liancheng (the Xinquan dialect), Yudu

Jin: Wutai (incl. Daixian, Lanxian, Pinglu, Shanyin, Shuozhou, etc.)

Min: Fuzhou

Wu: Jinhua, Shaoxing, Shengxian, Wuyi, Zhuji, etc.

Xiang: Guiyang

Yi (7 languages): Hani, Kazhuo, Lahu, Lisu, Naxi, Tanglang, Yi

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao; 1 language): Miao (the Baiwu dialect)

Two conclusions can be drawn here. First, both Sinitic languages and Yi

languages are relatively rich in verb-reduplicating questions, though VV is a rare

strategy in the languages of China. This is further evidence for the genetic

relationship of Sino-Tibetan languages. Second, verb-reduplicating questions in

other languages are very rare, which indicates borrowing from the two groups of

languages by language contact (e.g. Baiwu Miao).

Verb-reduplicating questions are found in Sinitic and Yi, and Q-VP

questions are found in Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman. The synchronic distribution

sheds light on the history of Sino-Tibetan languages. In particular, Tibeto-

Burman and Yi are different in interrogative verb morphology, but they both

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share common features with Sinitic. As a conclusion, Sinitic, rather than the

other two, is more likely to be the early ancestor. Moreover, the pace of language

change becomes obvious by investigating the rise and fall of Q-VP interrogatives

in Yi and verb-reduplicating interrogatives in Tibeto-Burman.

An implicational universal is that having adj-reduplicating interrogatives

implies having verb-reduplicating interrogatives. The evidence is found in

varieties of Mandarin (e.g. Suizhou Mandarin; see Section 6.2.1) and Yi

languages (Section 6.2.2).

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6.3. Interrogative verbs

According to Hagège (2008), an interrogative verb (IV) is “a kind of word which

both functions as predicate and questions the semantic content of this predicate”.

Interrogative verbs “can also occur as secondary predicates, equivalent to

adverbial modifiers”. (Idiatov and van der Auwera 2004 call it “interogative

pro-verb”.)

It is worth noting that IV as a whole is not synchronically analyzable into a

verb and an interrogative pronoun, i.e., it is a verb(-complex), not a verbal phrase.

This is important because there is a huge amount of analyzable examples in the

languages of China and elsewhere, and such verb + interrogative pronoun

constructions are not at issue here. For example, in Tianjin Mandarin, ganma is

not an IV but a verbal phrase, as ma is analyzable and free (meaning ‘what’), and

could function as a modifier alone.

(55) Tianjin Mandarin (personal knowledge and native speaker informants)

a. ní zāi gàn mà ne? 2SG PROG do what QP ‘What are you doing?’

b. mà dier? what place ‘Where?’

Note that also questions with interrogative verbs are clear cases of content

questions (meaning V-wh), though Ultan (1978) claims that a question affix

appended onto a predicate implies a yes-no question (see Ultan’s universals No.

5 on segmental elements).

6.3.1. Interrogative verbs in Sinitic

Interrogative verbs are found in Colloquial Standard Chinese (Hagège 2008; see

the example of gànmá in the beginning of this chapter), Luyi Mandarin (and

many other varieties of Central Mandarin), Chongqing Mandarin, and Yongxin

Gan.

In Colloquial Standard Chinese, except for gànmá ‘do what’, there is

another IV, i.e. zěnme ‘do how’.

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(56) Colloquial Standard Mandarin

tā zěnme nǐ le? 3SG do.how7 2SG pst ‘How did s/he treat you?’

In fact, in many varieties of Mandarin, there is a counterpart of gànmá and zěnme,

i.e. za ‘do how’. For example, Tianjin Mandarin zà (though it does not have

gànmá, see above), and Chongqing Mandarin záge /tsako/. Chongqing Mandarin

also has a ‘do what’ IV, i.e. zuǎzi /tsuatsɿ/.

(56) Chongqing Mandarin (personal knowledge and native speaker source)

zuǎzi? (do.what) ‘What do you want to do?’ zuazi is a merged form of zuo ‘do’ and sazi ‘what’, which sounds similar to the

word ‘claw’ (dirty hands) in Chongqing Mandarin and many other Sinitic

languages.

A similar strategy is also found in Yongxin Gan, in which zū /tsu/ ‘do’ and

guá /kua/ ‘what’ are merged into zuá /tsua/ ‘do what’, it functions as an

interrogative verb.

(57) Yongxin Gan8

a. jin tɕhei kiɛ(taŋ) tsua? 2SG PROG here do.what ‘What are you doing here?’

b. jin tsua (miæntɕhiŋ) iau tɕhiɛ peitɕiŋ 2SG do.what thing will go Beijing ‘Why do you want to go to Beijing?’

7 zěnme has three meanings, ‘how’ (= zěnmeyàng), ‘why’ (= wèishénme), and ‘do how’. The

‘do how’ meaning is only found in colloquial conversations. For the first two meanings, cf. nǐ zěnme xiě xiǎoshuō? (2SG why/how write novel) ‘How/Why do you write novels?’ (Li and Thompson 1981: 523-4)

8 The interrogative verb tusa is only found in the dialect spoken in the Townships Wenzhu, Gaoxi, Longtian, and part of Shashi, not in the dialect spoken in the county town (Hechuan Township) and nearby, where ‘do what’ is more frequently pronounced as tsu ga, and ga ‘what’ is an (analyzable) object of the verb tsu ‘do’.

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In fact, tsu, gua, and tsu gua could be used independently meaning ‘do’, ‘what’,

and ‘do what’ respectively, however, tsua as a whole only functions as an IV,

which act as the predicate (57a) or secondary predicate (57b).

Interrogative verbs are also found in Luyi Mandarin and many other Central

Mandarin varieties in the Henan Province9 (Jue Wang, p.c.), e.g. tsuà (< tsuò sà)

‘do what’.

(58) Henan Mandarin10

A: shèi? ‘Who (is that)?’ B: wò! ‘(It’s) Me!’ A: tusà? ‘What are you doing?’ B: niào! ‘(I’m) Peeing!’

6.3.2. Interrogative verbs in Formosan

IVs are reported in many Formosan languages, such as Amis, Atayal,

Kavalan, Puyuma, and Rukai (see Lin 2012 and references given therein; see

also H. Chang 2000: 149-165 for Kavalan).

(59) Amis (Lin 2012)

a. mi-maan ci-panay? AV

11-what NCM-Panay ‘What is Panay doing?’

b. na maan-en isu kura wacu? PST what-PV 2SG.GEN that.NOM dog ‘What did you do to that dog?’ (60) Kavalan (Lin 2012; cf. H. Chang 2000: 155-161)

9 tusà is also found in Weihui Jin, a neighbouring language of Central Mandarin spoken in

the Henan Province. Nevertheless, tusà is a clear case of borrowing via areal contact because a native speaker of Taiyuan Jin suggests there is no such IV in their language. I therefore do not include Weihui Jin to be an IV language of this kind.

10 This is one of Hou Baolin’s well-known comic dialogues (Xiàngsheng). The context of the following example is that a man is alerting someone unknown at night.

11 Lin’s abbreviations: PV patient voice, AV agent voice, NCM non-common noun marker.

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a. naquni-an-su m-kala ya/tu sunis a yau? do.how-PV-2SG.ERG AV-find ABS/OBL child LNK that ‘How did you find that child?’

b. tanian-an-su m-nubi ya/*tu kelisiw-ta? where-PV-2SG.ERG AV-hide ABS/OBL money-1PL.GEN

‘Where did you hide our money?’ (61) Puyuma (Zeng 2007b: 2321)

kəmakuda muimu ɖ aɖ ua kaɖ ini?do.what 2PL two be.here

‘What are you two doing here?’ (62) Rukai (Wu 2007: 2243)

aj-ʔikakua-ta, la aj-kanɨ -ta sa manɨma?FUT-do.how-1PL FUT-eat-1PL ACC thing ‘How should we do to get food?’

6.3.3. Hagège (2008)

Hagège (2008) reports 28 languages with IVs, including one language from

China, i.e. Colloquial Standard Chinese. In Section 6.3.1, I show that IVs are

found in some other varieties of Mandarin, e.g. Luyi Mandarin and many

varieties of Central Mandarin, Chongqing Mandarin, Tianjin Mandarin, and in a

variety of Gan, Yongxin Gan. Section 6.3.2 includes five Formosan languages

with IVs, namely, Amis, Atayal, Kavalan, Puyuma, and Rukai. I classify the IV

languages into two groups, languages outside China (27 languages, excluding

Colloquial Chinese), and those in China (7 languages), and compare the meaning

of IVs and some morphosyntactic features between the two sets of languages.

In the Sinitic languages with IVs, Colloquial Standard Chinese, Luyi

Mandarin, Chongqing Mandarin, and Yongxin Gan (see Section 6.3.1), IVs

invariably mean ‘do what’ or ‘do how’ (the latter is only found in Colloquial

Standard Chinese). Nevertheless, IVs also convey some other meanings, e.g. ‘do

why’, ‘be where’, ‘do how many’, etc. The following table compares the

meanings of IVs reported in Hagège (2008) and Lin (2012) as well as in the

present work.

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Table 6.2. Meanings of interrogative verbs I (27 lgs; Hagège 2008) II (7 lgs; Formosan is based on Lin 2012)12

Meanings No. of lgs Meanings No. of lgs

do what 18 do how 6 be who/what 12 do what 6 do/be how 3 do why 3 be/go where 3 do how long, do how many times 3 say what 2 do how many 2 put/take where 2 It can be seen that ‘do what’, ‘do how’, and ‘be who/what’ are the most common

meanings of IVs. This is not surprising because interrogative verbs naturally

involve some actions.

The following table shows some other morphosyntactic features in the two

groups of languages. Table 6.3. A comparison of IV languages in China and beyond

Parameters Group I (27 lgs; Hagège 2008) Group II (7 lgs)

Locus HM 8, DM 11, H/DM 8 DM 5, NM 2 Adposition Pr 8, Po/S 18 Pr 7 Clause order SOV 11, SOV/SVO 4, SVO 5,

SVO/VSO 5, VSO 1 VSO 3, VSO/VOS 2, SVO 2

NP order GN 15, NG 9, GN/NG 2 GN 3, NG 3, NG/gn 1 Alignment acc 13, erg 8, split 4, act 1, nom 1 neu 3, erg 2, n/i 2 Notes: 1. In the 7 languages of China, ‘locus’ is locus of marking in the clause (Nichols and

Bickel 2005a), and ‘alignment’ is alignment of case marking of full noun phrases (Comrie 2005). There might be some differences in the parameters if Hagège calculated not in this way.

2. Hagège’s abbreviation: Po/S postposition or case suffix. There are two striking differences. One is that in group I, languages with

postpositions or case suffixes are much more than those with prepositions, while

all the languages in group II are prepositional. Another is that the SOV order is

common in the languages in group I, but never occurs in group II.

12 Lin (2012) includes four Formosan languages and three dialects of Atayal. The three

dialects of Atayal are counted as one language.

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6.4. Conclusion

Of the three types of verb-related questions, Q-VP is more common than the

other two, especially in Sinitic languages and Tibeto-Burman languages; VV and

IV are rare, although VV is a general feature of Yi languages, and IV is

characteristic of many Formosan languages.

This chapter fine-tunes some of the details of Q-VP questions and VV

questions. For example, previous studies have claimed that Ji-an Gan has Q-VP

questions, Lianshui Mandarin, Huai-an Mandarin, Huichang Hakka, and Yudu

Hakka have VV questions, but such claims have not been substantiated in my

fieldwork (see Sections 6.1.1, 6.2.1).

A detailed list of the pre-verb interrogative markers in Sinitic languages is

also provided in Section 6.1.3, which adduces further evidence of the

Sino-Tibetan affiliation (Benedict 1972) in that a is a common interrogative

marker in Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages (cf. Benedict’s 1976, 1985

reconstruction of Proto-Sino-Tibetan interrogative *ga(ng) ~ *ka), not in the

other languages in China.

Verb-reduplicating questions are formed by omitting the negation words

between two verbs (or verb phrases). Tonal shifts are always found in such an

interrogative strategy (Sinitic languages and Yi languages are all tonal

languages), and the rule is Vx negy Vx → Vy Vx, that is, the tone of the negation

word (y) is shifted onto the first verb, and the second verb keeps its original tone

(x).

Languages with interrogative verbs are rare (Ultan 1978). Section 6.3

introduced another interrogative verb, zěnme ‘do how’, in Colloquial Standard

Mandarin, and presented IVs in more Sinitic languages, i.e. Yongxin Gan zuá

/tsuá/ ‘do what’, Chongqing Mandarin zuǎzi /tsuǎtsi/ ‘do what’ and zǎ(ge) /tsǎkə/

‘do how’, Luyi Mandarin (and many varieties of Central Mandarin) zuà /tsuà/

‘do what’, Tianjin Mandarin (and many other varieties of Mandarin in north

China) zà /tsà/ ‘do what’. Also, a comparison of two groups of IV languages, i.e.

languages within vs outside China, reveals some differences and similarities. In

particular, IV languages outside China are commonly found to be SOV and

postpositional, while languages within China are all prepositional and many of

them are VSO, not SOV. It is found, though, ‘do what’ and ‘do how’ are the

most common meanings in IVs.

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Sinitic languages are widely assumed to lack inflectional morphology. This

chapter dispels the myth, because the three types of verb-related interrogatives

are clear cases of morphological operations, in particular, pre-verb interrogative

marking is prefixation, verb-reduplication is clearly reduplication, and

diachronically, IVs are commonly formed via suffixation of the ‘what’ lexicon,

e.g. -ma in Colloquial Standard Chinese, -sazi in Chongqing Mandarin and many

varieties of Mandarin in the Sichuan Province, -sa in Henan Mandarin and

Tianjin Mandarin (and many other varieties of Mandarin in north China), and

-gua in Yongxin Gan.

This chapter demonstrates that the inventory of interrogative strategies

varies in individual (groups of) languages. The diversity in interrogatives

challenges some ‘universal’ notions. For example, wh-phrases are words that

question the noun phrases, cf. who (which person), what (which one), where

(which place), why (what reason), when (what time), etc. Interrogative verbs,

however, question not the semantic content of noun phrases but verbs. To

distinguish from IVs, the term ‘wh-phrases’ is more appropriate to labeled as

‘wh-noun phrases’ or ‘interrogative noun phrases’.

Interrogative verb morphology correlates with many other morpho-

syntactic parameters. For example, Greenberg’s (1966) universal No. 8

(“question affixes in yes-no questions are relatively rare, and question suffixes

are found principally in SOV languages”) correlates question affixes with

sentence-types as well as clause orders, but this is contradicted by the findings in

the present work (see Section 7.1 in the next chapter for more discussion).

For language atlas of interrogative verb morphology, see Map 6 in

Appendix II.

6 Three types of verb-related questions

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7 Typological and area-historical assessment

263

Chapter 7

Typological and area-historical assessment Interrogative strategies do not work alone. Some earlier typological studies on

interrogatives has provided extensive results regarding the ways in which

languages vary structurally and regarding correlations among different features.

For example, in Greenberg’s (1966) pioneering work on word order universals,

interrogatives are collected in his universals No. 8-12. The universals concern

the placement of interrogative intonation (No. 8), the relation between question

particles/affixes and adpositions (No. 9) or basic word order (No. 10), as well as

the relation between question word/affixes and constituent sequencing (No.

11-12). Ultan (1978) examines the interrogative systems of 79 languages, and

presents altogether 23 universals with reference to interrogatives, of which 3

concern intonation, 3 word accent, 10 word order, and 7 segmental elements.

(For a discussion of some of their universals on interrogatives, see Section 7.1;

see also Plank 2009.)

Interrogative strategies vary and change in space and time. For example,

Bencini (2003) argues that diachronically-typologically, “interrogative marker

for yes/no questions are derived from or formally similar to one of two elements

in the language: the negative marker not and the marker for the disjunction or.”

Aldridge (2011) presents that Chinese final question particles are evolved from

negation words. (See Section 4.3 for disjunct-final particles as disjunctions, and

Section 7.3 for negation and interrogation.)

Typology and area-historical linguistics are related in various ways. One is

that the synchronic data being compared are not always (or always not?) at the

same diachronic level (or, strata) because features in certain (groups of)

languages are changed but remain unchanged in others. This has been well

addressed in literature, e.g. Meillet (1925).

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

264

Quiconque a fait des travaux de grammaire comparée sait combien on souffre de ce

que les faits rapprochés offrent des différences de niveau dont il faut faire abstraction:

le comparatiste qui travaille sur les langues indo-européennes se sert de données dont

les dates s’étendent sur un espace de quelque trios mille ans, qui abondent à certains

moments et manquent tout à fait à d’autres, qui existent pour une région alors que,

pour tel autre domaine, toute indication manque. [Whoever has written works of

comparative grammar knows how we suffer from the fact that the facts compared

present differences of level which we must disregard: the comparatist who works on

the Indo-European languages makes use of data whose dates stretch over a space of

some three thousand years, which abound at certain moments and are completely

lacking at others, which exist for one area while all information is lacking for another.]

(Meillet 1925: 65; English version 1970: 83)

Another is that the motivations of change in features are, very commonly, areal

factors (see e.g. Koptjevskaja-Tamm 2011 for a survey of cross-linguistic

research on contact-induced change). For the present purpose, Section 7.2 argues

that geographical factors, notably contact with (and borrowing from) Chinese in

many groups of languages, as well as historical factors, notably the pace of

change, i.e. pertinacity or transience in individual interrogative structures and in

individual groups of languages, play important roles in the diachrony of

interrogatives.

In this chapter, assessments in typological and area-historical perspectives

are presented, to bring together the discussions in the previous chapters.

Typologically speaking, interrogative strategies correlate among themselves

(internally) and with other morphosyntactic parameters (externally), e.g. word

order, locus of marking, and alignment of case marking. The correlations are

summarized in 31 generalizations, in a frequency-based approach (Section 7.1).

In the area-historical dimension, changes in individual types of

interrogatives, namely, yes-no, X-neg-X, alternative, as well as three types of

verb-related questions in Sinitic languages, are investigated (Section 7.2; a

further topic for diachronic interrogation and negation is addressed in Section

7.3).

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

265

7.1. Correlations of interrogativity1

An investigation into three parameters of interrogatives addressed in Dryer

(2005a, b, c), i.e. question particles (QP), position of polar question particles

(PPQP), and position of interrogative phrases in content questions (PIPCQ),

reveals some patterns. One obvious is that most languages in China have

sentence-final question particles and wh- in situ.

Generalization 1. Most languages use question particles (129/138), and

most question particles are sentence-final (119/129); most languages are wh- in

situ (130/138).

Greenberg’s (1966) universal No. 9 claims that the position of question

particles or affixes is related with the position of adpositions.

With well more than chance frequency, when question particles or affixes are

specified in position by reference to the sentence as a whole, if initial, such elements

are found in prepositional languages, and, if final, in postpositional. (Greenberg 1966,

universal No. 9)

Based on a survey of a 79-languages sample, in a more or less similar assertion,

Ultan’s (1978) claims that question particles tend to occur either sentence-final

(notably SOV languages), or sentence-initial (other types of languages) (for

correlations between clause order and final questions particles, see also Dryer

1991).

Most QPs occur in sentence-initial (or enclitic to the initial constituent) or in

sentence-final position. QPs almost always occur finally in SOV languages and show

a greater tendency to occur initially in other types. (Ultan 1978, universal No. 7 on

word order)

The two universals by Greenberg and Ultan have many counter examples in the

languages in China. The examination of 138 languages, however, shows that

most languages have question particles in sentence-final position (119/138),

1 Note that the claims and generalizations in this section are based on the languages of

China (Section 7.1.4.2 on interrogativity and ergativity is an exception). I do not claim all of them are universally applicable. However, it merits collecting the “Chinaversals” because some of them are indeed universals, and genealogical and/or areal skewings are also reflected in these generalizations.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

266

among which many languages, notably Tibeto-Burman languages, are SOV and

postpositional.

Greenberg and Ultan also include some universals on the position of

wh-phrases and clause order types.

If a language has dominant order VSO in declarative sentences, it always puts

interrogative words or phrases first in interrogative word questions; if it has dominant

order SOV in declarative sentences, there is never such an invariant rule. (Greenberg

1966, universal No. 12)

QWs [interrogative words] tend to occur in sentence-initial positions in languages of

all types; the ratio in favor of this is approximately three to one. However, the ratio in

SOV languages is only about one to one. (Ultan 1978 universal No. 5 on word order)

I summarize the position of interrogative phrases in content questions in 14

VSO languages and 72 SOV languages in China in the following table.

Table 7.1. PIPCQ in SOV and VSO languages in China PIPCQ SOV SOV/svo VSO VSO/vos VSO/SVO VSO/VOS In situ 67 3 5 1 2 3 Mixed 0 0 0 0 1 1 n/i 2 0 0 0 0 1 The distribution is in contridiction to Greenberg’s universal No. 12, as it can be

seen that interrogative phrases in both VSO and SOV languages favor in situ

positions.

Also, most languages in China (130/138) are wh- in situ (see Section 5.1),

which is a clear counter example of Ultan’s universal No. 5 on word order.

7.1.1. Correlations with interrogative strategies

7.1.1.1. Intonation and other interrogative strategies

There is no clear evidence showing that polar questions formed by

intonation-only have close relationship with X-neg-X questions, nor are they

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

267

closely related to or vs or/or? typology in disjunctions (Alt1)2. Nevertheless, the

intonation parameter is related to the position of disjunctions in interrogatives

and interrogative verb morphology, as it is demonstrated in the following two

tables.

Table 7.2. Intonation ~ Alt2 (Position of disjunctions in interrogatives) Alt2 (pre) pos pre pre/pos n/i

Inton N 0 20 10 0 15 Y/N 0 0 1 0 0 Y? 0 0 0 0 2 y 0 0 9 0 0 Y 0 4 8 0 3 Yc 0 1 2 0 2 Yf 0 1 0 0 0 Yr 0 4 13 1 8 n/i 1 6 6 0 21

Generalization 2. Languages without polar questions formed by intonation-

only are more commonly found to have post-posed disjunctions in their

alternative questions; languages with polar questions formed by intonation-only

are more commonly found to have pre-posed disjunctions in their alternative

questions.

Table 7.3. Intonation ~ IVM (Interrogative verb morphology) Into N y Y Y/N Y? Yc Yf Yr n/iIVM N 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Affix 28 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 IV 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 2 6 prtV 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 prtV/IV 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 prtv/vv 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 prtv/vv/iv 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Vtone 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 VV 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 VV/pref 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 n/i 10 0 11 0 0 0 1 18 24

2 Alt1: disjunctives in alternative interrogatives. For more abbreviations, see the notes and

conventions for Appendix I.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

268

Note: “Affix” includes those by interrogative prefix/suffix/infix. One language, Naxi (Yi; Tibeto-Burman), with “VV/affix”, is not invluded.

Generalization 3. Languages without polar questions formed by intonation-

only normally have interrogatives formed with verb affixes or verb-reduplication;

interrogative verbs and pre-verb interrogative particles are mainly used in

languages with polar questions by intonation-only.

7.1.1.2. X-neg-X questions and other interrogative strategies

Table 7.4. X-neg-X ~ Alt1/Alt2 Alt1 Alt2 prt or or/or (pre) pos pre pre/pos XnX N 19 7 4 1 20 9 0 y 3 0 2 0 4 1 0 Y 5 18 25 0 10 38 1 Y? 1 0 0 0 1 0 0

Generalization 4. Commonly, languages with particle disjunctions lack

X-neg-X questions, and languages with normal disjunctions (regardless if they

are or-languages or or/or?-languages) have X-neg-X questions.

Generalization 5. Languages without X-neg-X questions are more likely to

have post-posed disjunctions, while languages with X-neg-X questions are more

likely to have pre-posed disjunctions.

Table 7.5. X-neg-X ~ IVM XnX N N? y Y Y? n/i IVM N 1 0 0 3 0 0 Affix 14 2 6 4 2 6 IV 15 0 0 1 0 0 prtV 0 0 0 5 0 0 prtV/IV 0 0 0 1 0 0 prtv/vv 0 0 0 1 0 0 prtv/vv/iv 0 0 0 1 0 0 Vtone 0 1 0 0 0 0 VV 1 0 0 9 0 0 VV/pref 0 0 0 1 0 0 n/i 19 1 0 37 0 7

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

269

Generalization 6. Most languages with interrogative verbs or interrogative

verb affix(es) as major interrogative strategies do not have X-neg-X questions,

while languages with interrogatives formed by pre-verb interrogative particles or

verb-reduplication are commonly found to have X-neg-X questions.

7.1.1.3. Alternative questions and others

Table 7.6. Alt1 ~ Alt2 Alt2 (pre) pos pre pre/pos n/i Alt1 prt 0 29 0 0 0 or 0 4 21 0 0 or/or 1 2 28 1 0 n/i 0 1 0 0 51

Generalization 7. Particle disjunctions are invariably post-posed, while

normal disjunctions are normally pre-posed.

Table 7.7. Alt1/Alt2 ~ IVM Alt1 Alt2 prt or or/or n/i (pre) pos pre n/i

IVM N 1 0 3 0 0 1 3 0 Affix 13 2 6 13 1 17 4 12 IV 0 3 1 12 0 0 4 12 prtV 0 1 2 2 0 0 3 2 prtV/IV 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 prtv/vv 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 prtv/vv/iv 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Vtone 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 VV 1 5 2 2 0 2 6 2 VV/pref 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 n/i 14 13 15 22 0 15 26 22

Generalization 8. Languages with interrogative verb affixes are more

commonly found in languages with particle disjunctions than those by normal

disjunctions (or or or/or?).

Generalization 9. Languages with post-posed disjunctions commonly have

interrogative verb affixes; languages with pre-posed disjunctions are much more

commonly found to have interrogative verb morphologies (IVM), though the

types of IVM of those with pre-posed disjunctions are hard to predict.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

270

7.1.2. Interrogatives and word order

7.1.2.1. Adpositions

Table 7.8. Intonation ~ Adposition Adp Po Pr Pr/po n/i Inton N 42 3 0 0 y 0 9 0 0 Y 4 11 0 0 Y/N 0 1 0 0 Y? 0 2 0 0 Yc 1 4 0 0 Yf 1 0 0 0 Yr 6 20 0 0 n/i 15 14 1 4

Generalization 10. Most languages without polar questions formed by

intonation-only are postpositional (42/45).

Generalization 11. Languages with polar questions formed by interrogative

intonation-only are more commonly prepositional (prepositional languages 44,

postpositional languages 12).

Generalizations 10-11 are basically in line with Ultan’s (1978) universal No.

1 on intonation:

YNQ [yes-no interrogatives] intonation types consisting of rising terminal, higher

pitched, or special stress contours are found in nearly all languages: always in

prepositional, almost always in postpositional languages. Therefore, nonoccurrence of

a rising terminal, higher pitched, or special stress YNQ-contour implies postpositional

language. (Ultan 1978 universal No. 1 on intonation)

Table 7.9. X-neg-X ~ Adposition Adp Po Pr Pr/po n/i XnX N 34 15 1 0 N? 3 1 0 0 y 6 0 0 0 Y 15 48 0 0 Y? 2 0 0 0 n/i 9 0 0 4

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

271

Generalization 12. X-neg-X questions are more common in prepositional

languages (48 lgs) than postpositional languages (21 lgs); prepositional

languages are more commonly to have X-neg-X (48 lgs) than without such a

question type (15 lgs); postpositional languages are more commonly to be

without X-neg-X questions (34 lgs) than with such a question type (21 lgs).

Table 7.10. Alt1/Alt2 ~ Adposition Adp Po Pr Pr/po n/i Alt1 prt 28 1 0 0 or 10 15 0 0 or/or 9 23 0 0 n/i 22 25 1 4 Alt2 (pre) 1 0 0 0 pos 35 1 0 0 pre 12 37 0 0 pre/pos 0 1 0 0 n/i 21 25 1 4

Generalization 13. Languages with particle disjunctions are mostly

postpositional.

Generalization 14. Most languages with post-posed disjunctions are

postpositional, and languages with pre-posed disjunctions are commonly found

to be prepositional; postpositional languages are commonly having disjunctions

post-posed, while prepositional languages more commonly having disjunctions

pre-posed.

Table 7.11. IVM ~ Adposition Po Pr Pr/po n/i IVM N 1 3 0 0 Affix 34 0 0 0 IV 0 16 0 0 prtV 0 5 0 0 prtV/IV 0 1 0 0 prtv/vv 0 1 0 0 prtv/vv/iv 0 1 0 0 Vtone 0 1 0 0 VV 6 4 0 0 VV/pref 1 0 0 0 n/i 27 32 1 4

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

272

Generalization 15. Languages with affixing verb morphology are

postpositional, while languages with pre-verb interrogative particles are

prepositional.

Generalization 16. Languages with interrogative verbs are prepositional.

Generalization 17. Languages with verb-reduplicating as a major

interrogative strategy are commonly postpositional, though few prepositional

languages also use this as a minor interrogative strategy.

Table 7.12. PQ ~ Adposition Po Pr Pr/po n/i PQ IVM 1 3 0 0 IVM? 0 1 0 0 QP 25 35 1 1 QP/ivm 0 5 0 0 QP/IVM 27 14 0 0 QP/IVM? 15 5 0 0 QP+IVM 0 1 0 0 n/i 1 0 0 3

Generalization 18. Languages with interrogative verb morphology are

commonly postpositional rather than prepositional.

7.1.2.2. Clause order

Table 7.13. S.O.V ~ Intonation S.O.V SOV SVO VOS VSO Inton N 41+1svo 2+1sov 0 0 y 0 9 0 0 Y 4 9+1sov 0 1 Y/N 0 0 0 0+1vos Y? 0 0 0 1+1VOS Yc 1 1 0 1+2VOS Yf 1 0 0 0 Yr 5+1svo 17+1vso 0 1+1SVO n/i 17+1svo 8+1osv+1sov 1 1+2SVO+2VOS

Note: ‘+number+clause order’ indicates the number of languages with alternative orders.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

273

Generalization 19. Languages without polar questions formed by

intonation-only are mostly with SOV clause order.

Table 7.14. S.O.V ~ X-neg-X SOV SVO VOS VSO XnX N 34+1svo 0 1 5+3SVO+1vos+5VOS N? 3 0+1sov 0 0 y 6 0 0 0 Y 15 44+1osv+2sov+1vso 0 0 Y? 2 0 0 0 n/i 9+2svo 2 0 0

Generalization 20. Most SVO languages and VSO languages have X-neg-X

questions3.

Table 7.15. S.O.V ~ Alt1/Alt2 Alt1 Alt2 prt or or/or n/i (pre) pos pre pre/pos n/iS.O.V SOV 28 10 9 22 1 35 12 0 21 SOV/svo 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 SVO 1 11 21 13 0 1 31 1 13 SVO/osv 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 SVO/sov 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 SVO/vso 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 VOS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 VSO 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 4 VSO/SVO 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 VSO/vos 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 VSO/VOS 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 4

Generalization 21. SVO languages prefer normal disjunctions, not particles,

which are mainly found in SOV languages (note that SOV languages have

normal disjunctions as well).

Generalization 22. SVO languages prefer pre-posed disjunctions; SOV

languages prefer post-posed disjunctions (but the ratio is lower).

3 Note that X-neg-X structures are mainly an areal feature, which have not much to do with

clause order.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

274

Table 7.16. S.O.V ~ PQ PQ IV Affix prtV VV Vtone N n/i S.O.V SOV 0 18(+14) 0 6+1 0 1 29 SOV/svo 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 SVO 1 0 8 3(+1) 0 3 30 SVO/osv 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 SVO/sov 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 SVO/vso 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 VOS 0(+1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 VSO 3(+2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 VSO/SVO 1(+2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 VSO/vos 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 VSO/VOS 4(+1) 0 0 0 0 0 0

Generalization 23. Some patterns in polar interrogative strategies:

interrogative verbs are mainly found in VSO languages, interrogative verb

affix(es) in SOV languages, pre-verb interrogative particles in SVO languages,

and verb- reduplicating interrogatives in SOV and SVO languages.

Greenberg’s (1966) universal No. 10 notes,

Question particles or affixes, when specified in position by reference to a particular

word in the sentence, almost always follow that word. Such particles do not occur in

languages with dominant order VSO.

Now that question particles or affixes question the semantic content of predicates,

I correlate interrogative verb morphology and clause order in the following table

(irrevelant data, e.g. interrogative verbs and verb-reduplication, are not included

here).

Table 7.17. S.O.V ~ IVM IVM inf pref pref? VV/pref pref/suf suf prtV S.O.V SOV 1 10 14 1 3 4 0 SOV/svo 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 SVO 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 VOS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 VSO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The table suggests that the number of languages with post-verbal interrogative

particles or affixes is less than those with proceeding verb. Nevertheless, indeed,

such particles or affixes do not occur in languages with dominant order VSO.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

275

This is more or less in line with Ultan’s findings, except that 35 languages with

interrogative affixes are found in the total number of 138 languages, which is not

“rare”.

Q-affixes in YNQs [yes-no questions] are relatively rare. Q-suffixes are found

principally in SOV languages. (Ultan 1978 universal No. 8 on word order)

Note that the eight languages with pre-verb interrogative particles included in the

table are not counted as languages with interrogative affixes.

7.1.2.3. Order of NP modifiers

The following generalizations can be deduced from Table 7.18 (see the next

page):

Generalization 24. (i) Most languages with NG order have polar questions

formed by interrogative intonation only, while GN languages are not predictable.

(ii) In much higher frequency, NG languages have X-neg-X questions, while GN

languages are not predictable. (iii) Most NG languages use normal disjunctions

rather than particle disjunctions, which is mainly found in GN languages. (iv)

Most NG languages use pre-posed disjunctions, while GN languages are not

predictable. (v) Languages with interrogative affixes have a GN order.

Generalization 25. (i) Most AdjN languages have polar questions formed by

interrogative intonation-only, while NAdj languages are unpredictable. (ii) NAdj

languages use X-neg-X questions twice as much than those without them; AdjN

languages use X-neg-X questions twice as less than those with them. (iii) More

NAdj languages use normal disjunctions, rather than particle disjunctions, while

AdjN languages show no preference regarding this feature. (iv) Both AdjN and

NAdj languages show no preference in the order of disjunctions and the

alternative disjuncts (pre-/post-posed). (v) Languages with interrogative verb

affixes or verb-reduplicating interrogatives are more commonly found to be of

NAdj order, but languages with interrogative verbs are more frequently found to

be of AdjN order.

7 T

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6

Tab

le 7

.18.

O

rder

of

noun

mod

ifie

rs ~

Int

erro

gati

ve s

trat

egie

s

Into

XnX

Alt1

Alt2

IVM

N

y

Y

Y/N

N

yY

prt

or

or/or

pos

pre

Aff

prtV

VV

IV

N

N.G GN

43 10 23 1

43

835

27

16

20

34

30

34

6

10

6

4

GN/ng

0

0

0

0

1

01

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

N|G

0

0

0

0

0

01

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

NG

2

1

20 0

8

023

1

8

8

1

15

0

2

1

8

0

NG/gn

0

0

4

0

2

03

0

1

2

0

3

0

0

0

2

0

N.A AN

1

11 15 1

32

012

11

4

12

12

16

5

5

1

11

3

AN/na

0

0

1

0

1

01

1

0

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

N|A

1

0

0

0

2

00

1

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

2

0

NA

29 0

24 0

16

437

7

15

18

12

27

20

2

4

3

0

NA/an

14 0

5

0

3

413

9

5

1

10

5

7

1

6

0

1

N.D DN

15 10 19 1

38

318

15

7

17

18

21

15

5

3

10

3

DN/nd

2

0

0

0

0

02

1

1

0

2

0

0

0

1

0

0

N|D

4

0

2

0

2

13

2

1

2

3

2

5

0

0

1

0

ND

15 1

23 0

10

332

7

13

10

8

21

9

2

5

4

1

ND/dn

9

0

3

0

2

18

4

3

3

5

6

5

1

2

0

0

N.M N|M

0

0

5

1

3

04

2

1

2

2

3

1

0

0

1

0

NM

40 0

7

0

19

719

17

8

8

24

10

28

1

7

2

1

NM/mn

3

0

2

0

1

13

2

0

2

2

1

2

0

0

0

0

MN

2

11 31 0

30

033

8

13

19

8

32

3

7

4

13

3

MN/nm

0

0

2

0

0

04

0

3

1

0

4

0

0

0

0

0

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

277

More generalizations from Table 7.18:

Generalization 26. (i) It seems that the order of demonstratives and head

nouns does not have close relationship with the pattern of interrogative

intonation. (ii) In DN languages, there are approximately two times more

languages lacking X-neg-X questions than those having such a type of question;

in ND languages, there are approximately four times more languages having

X-neg-X questions than those lacking such a type of question. (iii) In DN

languages, the number of alternative questions formed by normal disjunctions

and those by particles are basically the same; in ND languages, approximately

three times more languages are found to use normal disjunctions than those use

particle disjunctions. (iv) In DN languages, the number of questions formed by

pre-posed disjunctions and those with post-posed disjunctions are basically the

same; in ND languages, about two times more languages are found with

pre-posed disjunctions than with post-posed disjunctions. (v) The order of

demonstratives and head nouns can hardly predict the interrogative verb

morphology, though languages with interrogative verbs are more likely to be in

DN order than ND order.

Generalization 27. (i) Most languages without polar questions formed by

intonation-only are in NNum order, and languages in NNum order are mostly

without polar questions by intonation-only; nevertheless, about three times more

languages with polar questions have NumN order than NNum order. (ii) It is

hard to predict the existence of X-neg-X questions in certain languages by their

order of numerals and head nouns, as the ratios of NNum to NumN and

+[X-neg-X] to –[X-neg-X] are both approximately 1:1. (iii) Languages with

disjunct-final particles (in alternative questions) are more commonly to have

NNum order; NumN languages are more commonly to have normal disjunctions.

(iv) More NNum languages are with post-posed disjunctions, and much more

NumN languages are with pre-posed disjunctions. (v) Languages with

interrogative verb affixes mostly have NNum order, while languages with

pre-verb interrogative particles or interrogative verbs mostly have NumN order.

7.1.3. Interrogatives and locus of marking

Locus (of marking), also known as head/dependent marking, by brief definition,

refers to that “in any kind of phrase, overt morphosyntactic marking reflecting

the syntactic relations within the phrase may be located on the head of the phrase,

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

278

on a non-head (i.e. on a dependent), on both, or on neither.” (Nichols and Bickel

2005a, b, c; see also Nichols 1986, 1992).

Three features are included here, locus of marking in the clause (Cla),

which concerns P (direct or primary object) is head- or dependent-marked, locus

of marking in the possessive noun phrase (PNP), which concerns the possessor is

head- or dependent-marked, as well as locus of marking in whole-language

typology (WLT), which concerns the combined value of Cla and PNP is

consistent (head- or dependent-marking) or inconsistent (see Nichols and Bickel

2005a, b, c).

Generalizations from Table 7.19 (see the next page):

Generalization 28. (i) In languages with P dependent marked, more

languages do not have polar questions formed by interrogative intonation-only

than those having such a strategy; in languages with no marking on P, much

more languages have polar questions formed by intonation-only than those

lacking such a strategy. Languages without polar questions formed by

intonation-only are mostly P dependent marked; languages with polar questions

formed by intonation-only are commonly found to be without marking on P. (ii)

Similar distributions of (i) are also found in the relationship between locus of

marking in clause structures and X-neg-X questions. (iii) Most languages

without marking on P use normal disjunctions, rather than particle disjunctions.

(iv) More (twice as much) P dependent marked languages are with post-posed

disjunctions than those with pre-posed ones; much more (approximately seven

times) languages with no marking on P are with pre-posed disjunctions than

those with post-posed ones. (v) Languages with interrogative verb affixes or

interrogative verbs are frequently found to have P dependent marked, while

languages with pre-verb interrogative particles have no marking on P.

Generalization 29. (i) Languages with double marking in possessive noun

phrases (PNP) have polar questions formed by intonation-only, lack X-neg-X

questions, frequently use particles as (post-posed) disjunctions, and use

interrogative verb affixes. (ii) Languages with interrogative verb affixes or

interrogative verbs are commonly with the possessor dependent marked in PNP.

Generalization 30. (i) Languages consistently dependent marked in whole

language typology (WLT) normally do not have X-neg-X questions, but

frequently use interrogative verb affixes and/or interrogative verbs. (ii) Most

languages with interrogative verbs are consistently dependent marked.

7 T

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9

Tab

le 7

.19.

L

ocus

of

mar

king

~ I

nter

roga

tive

str

ateg

ies

Into

XnX

Alt1

Alt2

IVM

N

y Y

Y/N

N

yY

prt

or

or/or

pos

pre

Aff

prtV

VV

IV

N

Cla DM

36 2 17 1

49

616

23

13

8

30

15

27

0

7

15

0

DoM

2

0 0

0

0

00

0

0

1

0

1

2

0

0

0

0

HM

1

0 0

0

1

00

1

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

NM

6

9 30 0

4

247

5

12

23

5

34

4

8

4

1

4

PNP DM

20 2 9

1

26

36

6

6

6

8

10

14

0

4

15

1

DM/nm

5

9 3

0

2

013

1

2

12

2

13

5

6

1

1

3

DM/NM

11 0 5

0

3

411

7

3

2

9

4

10

0

1

0

0

DoM

0

0 8

0

20

00

11

2

1

11

3

3

0

0

0

0

HM

1

0 0

0

1

00

1

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

NM

0

0 2

0

0

02

0

2

0

0

2

0

0

1

0

0

NM/dm

8

0 20 0

2

131

3

10

11

5

18

1

2

4

0

0

WLT dm

15 0 0

0

4

45

7

2

2

10

2

14

0

1

0

0

DM

15 2 8

1

24

16

4

6

4

6

8

9

0

4

15

0

HM

1

0 0

0

1

00

1

0

0

1

0

1

0

0

0

0

i/o

11 9 13 0

23

317

14

6

14

16

18

9

6

3

1

4

nm

3

0 24 0

2

033

3

9

12

3

20

1

2

2

0

0

NM

0

0 2

0

0

02

0

2

0

0

2

0

0

1

0

0

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

280

7.1.4. Interrogatives and alignment

7.1.4.1. Alignment of case marking

Two features will be checked here, alignment of case marking in full noun

phrases (NP) and alignment of case marking in pronouns (PRO). Pronouns profit

from the separation from full noun phrases, because “in many languages

pronouns have a different case marking system from full noun phrases” (see

Comrie 2005 for definition of the values and WALS data).

Note that several languages included in the alignment of case marking in

full noun phrases (left columns) are not included in the alignment of case

marking in pronouns (right columns), because in some languages, “the sources

are not sufficiently explicit to enable the reader to reach a firm conclusion”

(Comrie 2005).

Nevertheless, another feature, alignment of verbal person marking (cf.

Siewierska 2005), is not included in the present work, mainly because it is

relevant only to a handful of languages in China.

Table 7.20. Alignment of case marking ~ Interrogative strategies NP PRO Acc Acc? Erg Erg? Neu Neu? Acc Erg Erg? Neu

Into N 32 1 6 2 3 1 34 6 2 3 Y 0 0 1 0 9 0 0 1 0 9 Y 11 0 2 1 31 0 11 4 1 29 Y/N 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 XnX N 33 0 9 2 3 1 33 12 2 0 y 6 0 2 0 0 0 6 2 0 0 Y 13 1 0 0 49 0 16 0 0 47 Alt1 prt 22 0 4 1 1 1 22 4 1 1 or 9 0 1 0 15 0 10 3 0 12 or/or 6 1 1 1 23 0 7 1 1 23 Alt2 pos 27 1 4 1 2 1 29 4 1 1 pre 11 0 2 1 36 0 11 4 1 34 IVM Aff 25 1 6 2 0 0 26 6 2 0 prtV 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 8 VV 6 0 0 0 5 0 7 0 0 4 IV 0 0 5 1 4 0 0 8 1 1 N 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 3

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

281

Generalization 31. With regard to alignment of case marking (both full

noun phrases and pronouns), (i) a bigger proportion of accusative languages use

post-posed disjunctions, lack polar questions formed by interrogative

intonation-only and X-neg-X questions, but have interrogative verb affixes or

verb-reduplicating questions. (ii) A similar distribution as in (i) is also found in

ergative languages. (iii) In neutral languages, however, more languages have

pre-posed (normal) disjunctions and polar questions formed by interrogative

intonation-only as well as X-neg-X questions, but without interrogative verb

affixes. (iv) Languages with pre-verb interrogative particles are neutral in case

marking both in full noun phrases and pronouns; languages with

verb-reduplicating questions are either accusative or neutral in case marking;

languages with interrogative verbs are either ergative or neutral in case marking.

7.1.4.2. Ergativity

This episodic section examines interrogative strategies in ERGATIVE languages,

mainly via a survey of an 80-languages sample, to correlate interrogative

strategies and alignment strategies (case marking and verbal person marking) in

ergative languages.

Basically, the sample languages are randomly selected: 77 languages

recorded as ERGATIVE in WALS are included, with three languages not recorded

as ERGATIVE, namely, Dyirbal, Kham, and Tibetan, added to the list. The three

languages are chosen because they are frequently mentioned in literature on

ergativity (see, e.g. Dixon 1994; DeLancey 1982, 1984; inter alia), and also

because they are comparatively well documented.

The 80 languages are from 43 different families: 11 Austronesian languages

(11/311), 7 Australian (7/161), 5 Arawakan (5/30), 4 Sino-Tibetan (4/131), 4

Trans-New Guinea (4/90), 4 Nakh-Daghestanian (4/28), and other families

include one or two languages (for the features of the ERGATIVE languages

concerned here, see Luo 2011: 152-157). Note that the numerators in the

fractions are the languages included in the sample, and the denominators are the

total number of languages included in WALS.

Here, “ergativity” includes the ergative/active/tripartite alignment of case

marking in full noun phrases (NP) and pronouns (PRO), and the ergative/

active/split alignment in verbal person marking (VERB) (see Comrie 2005,

Siewierska 2005). We define the notion in a broad sense, namely by including

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

282

active/tripartite case marking and active/split verb person marking as ERGATIVE

because in these alignment types the agent-like argument (A) is marked, and

differentiates the patient-like argument (P) and the sole argument of the

intransitive verb (S) in these languages. Figure 7.1. ERGATIVE alignment

Case marking of pronoun

Case marking of full noun phrase

Alignment of verbal person marking

ergative (A/SP) ergative ergative active (ASa/SpP) active active

ERGATIVE (NP/PRO)

tripartite (A/S/P) tripartite split

ERGATIVE (VERB)

accusative (AS/P) accusative accusative neutral neutral neutral none hierarchical

In Section 7.1.4.2., the term ERGATIVE is used to refer to ergative alignment in

such a broad sense, and ergative keeps its standard usage, referring to a type of

alignment of case marking and verbal person marking.

7.1.4.2.1. Interrogativity in general and ERGATIVE languages

The following tables show the inventories of interrogative strategies in

general languages (Dryer 2005a, b, c) and ERGATIVE languages. Table 7.21. Polar questions in general and ERGATIVE languages

PQ4 general lgs (842 lgs) ERGATIVE lgs (80 lgs)

QP 520 (61.76%) 26 (32.50%) IVM 155 (18.41%) 20 (25.00%) IIO 138 (16.39%) 12 (15%) IWO 12 (1.43%) 1 (1.25%) mix 12 (1.43%) 1 (1.25%) ADM 4 (0.05%) 0 NIDD 1 (0.01%) 0 n/i 0 20 (25.00%) 4 Abbreviations:

QP: question particle, IVM: interrogative verb morphology, IWO: interrogative word order, mix: a mixture of the previous two mechanisms, IIO: interrogative intonation only, ADM: absence of declarative morphemes, NIDD: no interrogative-declarative distinction

1st /2nd/final: first/second/final place, No: no question particles, n/i: no information Not: not in first position, mixed: position of interrogative phrases is mixed

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

283

Table 7.22. Position of polar question particles in general and ERGATIVE

languages

PPQP general lgs (777) ERGATIVE lgs (80)

No 310 (39.90%) 33 (41.25%) final 272 (35.01%) 8 (10.00%) 1st 118 (15.19%) 5 (6.25%) 2nd 45 (5.79%) 7 (8.75%) other 32 (4.12%) 2 (2.50%) n/i 0 25 (31.25%) Table 7.23. Position of interrogative phrases in content questions

in general and ERGATIVE languages PIPCQ general lgs (803) ERGATIVE lgs (80)

Not 542 (67.50%) 31 (38.75%) 1st 241 (30.01%) 18 (22.50%) mixed 20 (2.49%) 3 (3.75%) n/i 0 20 (25.00%)

It can be seen that many similarities are shared by ERGATIVE languages and

general languages in the three strategies, though there are also some differences.

For instance, in polar question (PQ) strategies, 520 general languages have

question particles (QP), that is, 61.76%, while in ERGATIVE languages the

number of languages and ratio is 26 and 32.5%, respectively; also, 155 general

languages (18.41%) use interrogative verb morphology (IVM), while 20

ERGATIVE languages (25%) are found to be of this strategy. In the strategies of

the position of polar question particles (PPQP), 272 general languages (35.01%)

take sentence-final question particles, while only 8 languages (10%) are found

in the 80-languages sample; also, 118 general languages (15.19%) take

sentence-initial position, and 45 languages (5.79%) take sentence-second

position, nevertheless, 5 ERGATIVE languages (6.25%) take sentence-initial, and

7 (8.75%) take sentence-second.

The following sections focuses mainly on morpho-syntactic parameters, in

particular, alignment, word order (clause order, order of NP modifiers, and the

position of adpositions), locus of marking (head/dependent marking), and

correlations among the three interrogative parameters (PQ, PPQP, and PIPCQ).

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

284

7.1.4.2.2. PQ, PPQP, and PIPCQ

The following are the correlations among three interrogative parameters

(here PQ is set as the starting point for comparison).

Table 7.24. Correlations of PQ, PPQP, and PIPCQ in ERGATIVE languages PQ PPQP PIPCQ

QP 26 1st 5, 2nd 7, final 7, other 2, n/i 5 1st 8, mix 3, Not 13, n/i 2 IIO 12 No 12 1st 4, Not 7, n/i 1 IVM 20 No 20 1st 3, Not 9, n/i 8 IWO 1 No 1 1st 1 mix 1 final 1 n/i 1 n/i 20 n/i 20 1st 2, Not 2, n/i 16 Some generalizations can be drawn from the table:

Erg 1. The most common strategies of polar questions in ERGATIVE

languages are question particles, interrogative verb morphology, and

interrogative intonation, the other strategies are very rare.

Erg 2. Non-initial positions are the most common placement of

interrogative phrases in content questions, though initial position is also

frequently attested.

Erg 3. For those ERGATIVE languages that use interrogative intonation only

(IIO) or interrogative verb morphology (IVM) or interrogative word order (IWO),

there is no question particle.

7.1.4.2.3. Alignment types

The correlations between interrogative strategies and alignment types in

ERGATIVE languages are summarized in the following table.

Some generalizations drawn from Table 7.25 (see the next page):

In polar questions of ERGATIVE languages,

Erg 4. Compared to other strategies, question particles are used most

widely.

Erg 5. Interrogatives formed by word order are rare.

Erg 6. Interrogative-intonation-only languages are not found having active

alignment of case marking of pronouns.

7 T

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nd a

rea-

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oric

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t

28

5

Tab

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.25.

C

orre

lati

ons

betw

een

inte

rrog

ativ

e st

rate

gies

and

ali

gnm

ent t

ypes

in E

RG

AT

IVE la

ngua

ges

Abb

revi

atio

ns:

Act

/Erg

/Acc

/Neu

: act

ive/

erga

tive

/acc

usat

ive/

neut

ral a

lign

men

t of

full

noun

phr

ases

/ pr

onou

ns /

verb

al p

erso

n m

arki

ng

Tri

: tri

part

ite

alig

nmen

t of

case

mar

king

of

full

nou

n ph

rase

s / p

rono

uns

Spl

: spl

it a

lign

men

t of

alig

nmen

t of

verb

al p

erso

n m

arki

ng

Non

e: n

one

of th

e ab

ove

NP

PRO

VERB

Act

6

Erg

33

Tri

2

Acc

2

Neu

14

Act

5

Erg

20

Tri

2

Acc

7

Neu

16

None

2

Act

26

Erg

19

Spl

8

Acc

13

Neu

13

PQ

QP 26

3

8

1

1

7

3

5

1

3

4

2

11

6

2

3

4

IIO 12

0

4

1

0

3

0

2

1

1

4

0

3

4

3

0

2

IVM 20

2

13

0

0

3

2

9

0

1

6

0

3

2

2

6

6

IWO 1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

mix 1

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

PPQP

1st 5

1

0

1

0

2

1

1

1

0

0

1

0

3

1

0

1

2nd 7

0

4

0

0

1

0

1

0

2

2

0

3

1

1

0

2

final 8 0

5

0

0

2

0

3

0

0

1

0

4

1

0

3

0

other 2 1

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

No 33

2

17

1

0

6

2

11

1

2

10

0

7

6

5

6

8

PIPCQ

1st 18

0

7

2

0

4

0

3

2

2

4

1

4

7

4

1

2

Not 31

5

15

0

1

5

4

10

0

3

8

0

8

5

3

6

8

mixed 3 0

1

0

0

1

0

2

0

0

0

0

1

1

0

1

0

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

286

More generalizations from Table 7.25:

Erg 7. Languages with question particles in second position or final position

are found to have ergative alignment of case marking of full noun phrases or

pronouns only.

Erg 8. Languages with sentence-initial question particles are not expected to

have active alignment in verbal person marking.

Erg 9. In content questions of ERGATIVE languages: interrogative-phrase-

initial order is mainly used in languages with ergative/tripartite alignment of full

noun phrases or pronouns, not active alignment; interrogative-phrase-not-initial

order is mainly used in languages with active/ergative alignment of full noun

phrases or pronouns, not tripartite alignment.

7.1.4.2.4. Word order

Position of adpositions Table 7.26. Correlations between interrogative strategies and position of adpositions in ERGATIVE languages Adp Po 47 Pr 14 Inpo 1 No 7 n/i 11PQ QP 26 12 7 0 5 2 IIO 12 6 5 0 1 0 IVM 20 19 0 0 1 0 IWO 1 0 1 0 0 0 mix 1 1 0 0 0 0 n/i 20 9 1 1 0 9 PQP 1st 1 3 0 0 1 2nd 3 0 0 3 1 final 5 3 0 0 0 other 1 1 0 0 0 No 25 6 0 2 0 n/i 12 1 1 2 9 IPCQ 1st 9 5 0 2 2 Not 22 6 0 3 0 mixed 0 3 0 0 0 n/i 16 0 1 2 9

Some generalizations drawn from Table 7.26:

In ERGATIVE languages,

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

287

Erg 10. Postposition is widely used, but not in languages with polar

questions by interrogative word order, or languages with content questions that

have mix-positioned interrogative phrases.

Erg 11. Preposition is not used in languages with polar questions by

interrogative verb morphology, or languages with sentence-second-positioned

polar question particles.

Erg 12. Polar questions by interrogative verb morphology are expected to

use postpositions (if there is an adposition).

Clause order Table 7.27. Correlations between interrogative strategies and clause order S.O.V OSV

1 OVS 1

SOV 31

SVO 7

VOS 3

VSO 3

n/d 22

n/i 12

PQ QP 26 0 0 8 3 1 1 11 2 IIO 12 1 1 2 3 0 2 3 0 IVM 20 0 0 16 0 1 0 2 1 IWO 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 mix 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 n/i 20 0 0 4 0 1 0 6 9 PPQP 1st 5 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 2nd 7 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 final 8 0 0 4 1 1 0 1 1 other 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 No 33 1 1 18 4 1 2 5 1 n/i 25 0 0 5 1 1 0 9 9 PIPCQ 1st 18 0 0 3 2 0 1 10 2 Not 31 1 1 19 4 0 1 4 1 mixed 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 n/i 28 0 0 9 1 2 0 7 9

Some generalizations drawn from Table 7.27:

In ERGATIVE languages,

Erg 13. Languages using interrogative intonation only are found to be of

various clause orders, but VOS order is not attested. In other words, if a

language uses interrogative intonation only, then its clause order is hard to

predict, but with marginal possibility to be of a VOS sequencing.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

288

Erg 14. Languages that have interrogative verb morphology predominately

favor SOV order, though VSO is seldom attested, that is, if a language uses

interrogative verb morphology, then its basic clause order (if there is one) is

SOV (much more common) or VOS (less common).

Order of NP modifiers Table 7.28. Correlations between interrogative strategies and the order of modifiers of noun phrases PQ PPQP PIPCQ QP IIO IVM IWO 1st 2nd fin No oth 1st mxd NotN.G NG 6 4 0 1 3 0 2 5 1 5 3 4 GN 14 8 20 0 2 5 3 28 1 11 0 23 N|G 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 4 N.A NA 13 7 12 1 2 2 4 20 2 8 2 18 AN 6 4 7 0 2 0 3 11 0 4 1 9 N|A 6 0 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 5 0 3 N.D ND 7 4 4 0 2 0 3 8 2 3 2 8 DN 14 5 14 1 2 6 3 20 0 11 1 17 mix 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 3 N.Num NNum 6 3 8 0 0 1 4 11 0 2 1 12 NumN 15 7 6 1 4 3 3 14 2 12 2 15 N|Num 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 N.R NR 10 6 5 0 4 2 1 11 1 9 2 7 RN 1 0 8 0 0 0 0 8 1 1 0 7 mix 6 4 0 0 1 1 3 4 0 3 1 4 i/h 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 Some generalizations drawn from the table above:

In ERGATIVE languages,

Erg 15. Languages with polar questions formed by interrogative verb

morphology invariably use GN order.

Erg 16. Languages use interrogative verb morphology to phrase polar

questions and languages that have question particles at sentence-second position

are found to have GN order only.

Erg 17. Languages with question-particle-second only use DN order.

Erg 18. Languages with question-particle-initial only use NumN order.

Erg 19. Languages with interrogative intonation-only use NR order only.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

289

Erg 20. GN, NAdj, ND, NumN, and NR orders are favored in ERGATIVE

languages, though there are counter-examples in that (i) the tendency is not

obvious in the order of Num and N, (ii) languages with polar questions formed

by IVM are commonly found to have NNum order, (iii) languages with

wh-phrases ‘not obligatorily initial’ show no special preference in using NR and

RN orders.

More generalizations can be made. The 20 generalizations addressed here

are only the most obvious ones. The generalizations are preliminary and tentative.

It is not claiming here that all (or even most) of them are unique features of

ERGATIVE languages, as ACCUSATIVE languages and general languages need to be

examined and compared. They are listed, nevertheless, only for a better

understanding of the correlations between interrogativity and ergativity, an

important topic in alignment, as the title of Section 7.1.4 suggests.

For a detailed discussion on interrogatives in ERGATIVE languages, see Luo

(2011: 61-71, 89-95, 107-8, 113-4, 125-6, 129-32).

7.1.5. Conclusion

Individual interrogative strategies demonstrate some dominant patterns and also

correlate with each other (Section 7.1.1). Morphosyntactic parameters on word

order, locus of marking, and alignment correlate with interrogative strategies as

well (Sections 7.1.2-4). The correlations are mainly summarized in 31

generalizations (with also 20 generalizations on ERGATIVE languages).

This work does not claim that the findings or generalizations are universally

applicable. Nevertheless, it deserves collecting them in that some of them are

indeed universals and genealogical and/or areal skewings are also reflected in

these generalizations. Moreover, the ‘Chinaversals’ concerned here readily

confirm or modify some ‘universals’ of interrogatives in the literature (e.g.

Greenberg 1966, Ultan 1978; see also Dryer 1991).

In Section 7.2, some area-historical factors in Sinitic languages are

investigated, which presents also explanations for some patterns of interrogative

strategies addressed in Section 7.1.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

290

7.2. Changes in questions: areal and historical perspectives

I include here a brief history of the Chinese language to facilitate the discussion,

because it is mentioned very frequently in this section (and elsewhere).

Table 7.29. A brief history of the Chinese language (Wang 1980: 35; Xiang 1993: 41-3) Chinese Centuries Dynasties

Ancient – 3rd Shang (1600 – 1046 BC), Xi Zhou (1046 – 771 BC), Chun-Qiu

(770 – 476 BC), Zhanguo (475 – 221 BC), Qin (221 – 207 BC), Han (202 BC – 220 AD)

Middle 4 – 12th Wei-Jin (220 – 420), Nan-Bei (386 – 589), Sui (581 – 618), Tang (618 – 907), Wudai (907 – 960), Song (960 – 1279)

Early Modern 13 – 20th Yuan (1206 – 1367), Ming (1368 – 1644), Qing (1616 – 1911)

Modern5 20th – Republic of China (1911 – )

7.2.1. Yes-no questions

Many Minority languages, especially those spoken in southern China, i.e. Kam,

Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao), Austro-Asiatic, and some Tibeto-Burman, have a

very similar inventory of question particles found in Sinitic languages. For

example, Bai (Titeto-Burman) uses mo33, nε55, and ma35 (Xu and Zhao 1984:

87-90); Zhuang (Kam) uses lwi/ma, la, luma, and ba (Wei and Qin 1980: 55-6);

Biaomin Mian (Miao-Yao) uses ma33, ba33 (Mao 2004: 239-40); She (Miao-Yao)

uses ma1/ma6 and nji6/ne1/e1 (Mao and Meng 1986: 62) (see Chapter 2 for more

discussion). Paiwan, a Formosan language, also borrowed a question particle

from Mandarin Chinese (Chen 2010).

A similar case is found in final particles, the other Sinitic languages share

many similarities with Standard Chinese, and minority languages share many

similarities with Sinitic languages. See, for example, two detailed lists of final

particles in wh-questions and reduced wh-questions in Section 3.3.

5 In some literature, ‘Early Modern Chinese’ and ‘Modern Chinese’ are also called ‘Modern

Chinese’ and ‘Contemporary Chinese’ respectively.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

291

It is not easy to conclude that minority languages borrowed question

particles and/or final particles from Sinitic languages, and also too early to claim

they share some common origins in question particles. This is because question

particles demonstrate common features in syllable structures, i.e. nasal or bilabial

consonants plus front low/mid vowels, e.g. a, e. Frequently, the descriptive

sources are not sufficiently explicit to enable the reader to reach a firm

conclusion, which is a pity, but note that Mao and Meng (1986: 62) clearly point

out that She (Hmong-Mien) borrowed a whole set of question particles and final

particles from Chinese.

Nevertheless, we are on solid ground, that a common feature of Sino-

Tibetan languages is the pre-verb interrogative marker *ga(ng) ~ *ka. Benedict

(1976, 1985) proposes that *ga(ng) ~ *ka are cognates of Proto-Sino-Tibetan

interrogatives, and provides evidence in Sino-Tibetan languages including Old/

Archaic/Middle Chinese, Burmese-Lolo, Central/Proto Loloish, Chang-Tangsa,

Jinghpaw, Kuki-Naga, Lushai, Mikir, Meitei, Proto-Yamang, Written Burmese,

West Himalayish, and Written Tibetan, etc. (Notes: Lolo is also known as Yi,

and Jinghpaw is also known as Jingpo.)

Benedict’s reconstruction is supported by some subsequent studies, for

example, Sun (1995) provides further data in dozens of Sino-Tibetan languages.

More evidence is collected in Section 6.1. and Section 7.2.4.2. of the present

thesis. Note that interrogative prefixes from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ga(ng) ~ *ka

can not only be appended to the predicate to ask polar questions, but also to

nominal words to form wh-words and phrase wh-questions, e.g. Baima

(Tibeto-Burman) ka35lε53 ‘who’, ka13la53 ‘where’, ka13tʂo53 ‘how’ (Sun, Chirkova,

and Liu 2007: 190).

7.2.2. X-neg-X questions

Chinese X-neg-X questions evolved this way: first, [X qp, neg X qp] questions

appeared, at the latest in the Shang dynasty, which is reported in the Oracle Bone

Script (Jiaguwen); second, the first question particle turns into a disjunction,

bringing [X disj neg X qp] (cf. Dixon 2012: 399-400, 428, claiming that an

alternative question marker may develop into a straightforward polar question

marker); third, the final particle dropped, resulting in a [X disj neg X]

construction, now that a question particle is redundant in disjunctive

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

292

constructions; finally, the disjunction is dropped, resulting in [X neg X]

questions (see, e.g. Song 1993).

The X-neg-X-lization route of Minority languages is not very clear, though

there are several possibilities, among which borrowing seems to be the most

convincing.

First, the same route as in Chinese may have happened to individual

Minority languages. This idea is less likely to be held. On the one hand, dozens

of Minority languages take X-neg-X questions now, and it is hard to imagine that

their interrogative structure evolved in the same way and at a more or less

similar speed, now that Chinese does not share a genetic relationship with

Austro-Asiatic, Kam, Hmong-Mien, or Austronesian languages, in which

X-neg-X questions are used; on the other hand, X-neg-X questions are not

reported elsewhere outside China, and are not proved to be an ideal interrogative

strategy that every individual language should take in its diachronic

development.

Second, Minority languages may have borrowed a part of X-neg-X

structures and then developed the whole set. For example, Kam languages used

to have [predicate – negator] order, but they gradually took Chinese [negator –

predicate] order, cf. Mulao kəu53nəu35 ‘eat-not’, a55pi ‘not-go’ (see Liang 2007:

123; Mu 2003b: 128); it is possible that in this way Kam languages developed

X-neg-X questions. This is also not likely to be ture, or at least not the whole

story, because many other languages did not borrow such a sequence from

Chinese, and there are equal possibilities that languages took Chinese word order

and borrowed X-neg-X questions at the same time, or even borrowed the latter in

an earlier period.

Third, the story could be that Minority languages borrowed X-neg-X

questions from Chinese. That dozens of minority languages of China turned to

use X-neg-X questions can only be explained by borrowing. The most crucial

evidence is based on the fact that some Austro-Asiatic and Kam languages

outside China do not use any X-neg-X questions, whereas those spoken in China

use such questions. For example, Standard Thai and Standard Lao (both Kam;

Schaffar 2000; see also Long 2012: 15-21 for Thai), Vietnamese (Austro-Asiatic;

Clark 1989: 212; Quyen Nguyen, p.c.) and Burmese (Tibeto-Burman; Ehrman

1972) are reported to be free of such an interrogative strategy. Wu (2008)

proposes that the borrowing is motivated by means of language contact, e.g.

bilingual school education, TV programs, and business activities, though another

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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reason, i.e. the so-called Putonghua Enhancement Movement, which has been

carried out since Mao in the 1950s, may also count.

7.2.3. Alternative questions

In Section 4.2.2, a list of disjunctions of 32 or/or? minority languages in China is

provided, among which at least 13 languages borrowed the Chinese declarative

disjunction xuo51(tʂɣ214) and the alternative question disjunction xai35ʂʅ51, as it is

shown in the following table (for references, see Table 4.2 in Section 4.2.2).

Table 7.30. Disjunctions borrowed from Chinese in 13 or/or? Minority languages Families/Groups Languages Disj. in declaratives Disj. in alternative Qs

Tibeto-Burman Kazhuo mε33sɿ55 Xiandao mɣ55ʂɿ31 Kam Cun hɔk1 (huan4/za5)si5 Gelao hue31tse33 Kam ho2kaːi1 ɕi6 Lingao huk8tse3 ha4ti4 Mulam hɔ6si6/hɔ6tse3 sɿ /a6si6 Yanghuang hwə5 (tsa2) hai1sɿ1 Hmong-Mien She fek8 Manchu-Tungusic Manchu xuəʂʅ xεʂʅ Austronesian Huihui hok24tsak43 ʔa11ti11 Austro-Asiatic Buxing pusɣ haisɿ Jing hwak8 hai1la2

In the 25 or-languages, there are at least 8 languages that borrowed

disjunctions from Chinese, as it is shown in the following table (for references,

see Table 4.3 in Section 4.2.2).

Table 7.31. Disjunctions borrowed from Chinese in 8 or Minority languages

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Families/Groups Languages Disjunctions

Tibeto-Burman Tujia xo55 Hmong-Mien Hmong (Miao) ho44 Mien (Mian) ha6tsei4 Kam Biao waː k10tsε1 Maonan wo3 Mo haːi4sɿ1 Pubiao haːi53ʂʅ213 Shui ɣo3si3 It can be seen from the two tables above that Kam languages favor borrowing

disjunctions from Chinese. But note that languages may also keep part of their

own disjunctions, for example, disjunctions in alternative questions in Kazhuo

mε33sɿ55 and Xiandao mɤ55ʂɿ31 are from Chinese mei shi or mo shi (both means

‘not be’), but Kazhuo mo55ni31/ma31ŋ33 and Xiandao lau55/51 have nothing to do

with Chinese disjunctions; Gelao, quite different from Kazhuo and Xiandao,

borrowed hue31tse33, but not haishi.

In the evolution of X-neg-X questions in Chinese, the final process is

disjunction dropping, i.e. X disj neg X → X neg X (see discussions above). In

Pingba Gelao, a disjunctive-negative meaning takes a structure of V(P) (disj)

V-neg or A (disj) A-neg, depending if X is a verb (phrase) or an adjective. To

have a disjunction in between is the original form, which is known from the fact

that it is used among elderly-aged people, and younger people prefer to drop the

disjunction in between (Zhang 1993: 156).

(1) Pingba Gelao (Zhang 1993: 156)

a. su33sa33 mu33 (la42) mu33 ə42? 2.PL come or come not ‘Will you come or not?’

b. san13 mpa33 nu42 nan42 (la42) nan42 ə42? CL pig DEF fat or fat not ‘Is that pig fat or not?’

In Chinese, disjunctions in alternative questions may diachronically evolve

from question particles. In Yi, however, the final particle da31 functions also as a

disjunction, but it is too early to make any assertion on the directions of change.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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(2) Yi (Chen et al. 1985: 166)

a. nɯ33 a31 bo33 da31? 2SG not go PRT ‘You won’t go (there)?’

b. tshɿ33 m(u)44 mo33 bo33 da31 tʂhɯ33 tsɿ33 bo33? 3SG.M land plough go PRT seedling plant go ‘He is going to plough the land or plant the seedlings?’

7.2.4. Three types of verb-related questions in Sinitic

In Chapter 6, three types of verb-related questions, Q-VP, verb-reduplication

(VV), and interrogative verbs (IV), are analyzed. This section focuses on the

diachrony of these questions in Sinitic languages. For the sake of convenience, I

repeat the questions here.

(3) Kunming Mandarin (Zhu 1985)

ni kə-khə? 你格去？ (Q-VP)2SG Q-go ‘Are you going (there)?’

(4) Naxi (Yi, Tibeto-Burman; He 1987: 63)

nvq leel lee lei? (VV)2SG come come PRT ‘Will you come?’

(5) Colloquial Standard Chinese (Hagège 2008)

nǐ zài gànmá? (IV)2SG PROG do.what ‘What are you doing?’

Morphologically, the three types can also be labeled as reduplicating, prefixing,

and suffixing, respectively.

Very little attention has been paid to the diachrony of verb-reduplicating

questions (including VV and V-neg-V), though a great deal of research is

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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dedicated to find out whether an individual language has both reduplicating and

prefixing, because Zhu’s (1985) pioneering paper claims that V-neg-V questions

and ke-VP questions are not coexisting in one language. The history of prefixing

and suffixing is also not very clear. This section investigates the historical

development of the three types of interrogative strategies, trying to find out what

is transient and what is pertinent in the history of Sinitic questions, and to

uncover why certain structures or features are less likely to change, while some

others are weak and disappeared quickly.

7.2.4.1. Verb-reduplicating questions

7.2.4.1.1. Ancient Chinese

In Ancient Chinese, [VP neg] questions appeared first and were used most

commonly, followed by [VP neg prt] and [VP neg V] questions. [VP neg V]

questions were very rare.

The most ancient example of [VP neg] question found so far dates back to

the middle Xi Zhou dynasty (1046 – 771 BC)6, though it was not in fully-

fledged form. Qiu (1988) reports that there is a VP neg question sentence in the

inscriptions of a sacrificial tripod7.

(6) Ancient Chinese (Xi Zhou dynasty) 正乃讯厉曰：女贾田不？

ru gu tian fou? 2SG sell farmland NEG ‘Do you want to sell the farmland or not?’

In (6), fou is not a question particle but a referential element which negates its

antecedent gu tian, meaning ‘not to sell the farmland’. In other words, (6) is an

abbreviated form of ru gu tian bu gu tian? (bu ‘not’).

6 Cf. Bloomfield (1933: 321) “The progress of historical linguistics showed that the standard

language was by no means the oldest type, but has arisen, under particular historical conditions, from local dialects.”

7 The tripod, Wu Si Wei Ding 五祀卫鼎, found in an archaeological excavation in 1975,

records a land transaction between nobles in the Xi Zhou dynasty. It shows that land transactions were possible by permission of the nobles, which is clearly an evidence of the near end of slavery.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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[VP neg] questions are then used more frequently in the dynasties Chun-Qiu,

Zhanguo, Qin, and Han (see e.g. Aldridge 2011).

[VP neg prt] questions first appeared in the Zhanguo dynasty.

(7) Ancient Chinese (Zhanguo dynasty)

如此，则动心否乎？（孟子·公孙丑上）

a. ru ci, ze dongxin fou hu? like DEF then interest NEG PRT

‘If it is like that, are you interested in it?’ 子之持戟之士一日而三失伍，则去之否乎？（孟子·公孙丑下）

b. ze qu zhi fou hu? then leave.CAU 3 NEG PRT ‘Will you make them leave or not?’

[VP neg V] questions are reported in the Shuihudi bamboo books, which

documented some legal provisions in the Qin dynasty in a form of question-and-

answer. The quasi-colloquial text is very likely to be a standard language, though

some linguists (e.g. Zhu 1990) argue that the text is a dialect of Northwest China

in the Qin dynasty. Zhu’s statement is not likely to be held because one’s

common sense suggests that a tripod can only be owned by the emperor and his

family, or the nobles. The language of the influential people is more likely to be

standard than to be a dialect.8 (8) Ancient Chinese (Qin dynasty) 智人通钱而为臧，其主已取钱，人后告臧者，臧者论不论？

a. cang-zhe lun bu lun? hide-people punish NEG punish ‘Should people be punished or not if they hide the (stolen) money?’

8 However, we do not claim that such (more or less) standard structures are older than the

other forms used at that period. Cf. Bloomfied (1933: 321), “The progress of historical linguistics showed that the standard language was by no means the oldest type, but has arisen, under particular historical conditions, from local dialects.”

Shuihudi Qinjian 睡虎地秦简, which was written between late Zhangguo dynasty (The

Warring States, 476 – 221 BC) and Qin dynasty (221 – 207 BC). The bamboo books were found in an archaeological excavation in 1975.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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甲告乙盗牛，今乙贼伤人，非盗牛也，问甲当论不当？

b. jia dang lun bu dang? Jia should punish NEG should ‘Should Jia be punished or not?’ 吏从事于官府，当坐伍人不当？

c. dang zuo wuren bu dang? should punish neighbor NEG should ‘Should an official also be punished or not because

of his neighbors (committed an offence)?’ (a) is the most compact form, i.e., X in X-neg-X is a monosyllabic verb, while it

is a verbal phrase in (b) and (c), where modal verbs are reduplicated.

[VP neg V] questions in Shuihudi bamboo books are not found in Han, the

dynasty that follows Qin, in which only [VP neg] is documented. Nevertheless, a

big change in the Han dynasty is the enrichment of the referential negation words

in [VP neg] questions. In the early days of Ancient Chinese (i.e. before the Han

dynasty), negation word is invariably fou (written as 不 or 否, which are of very

similar pronunciation), while the Han dynasty has wu, wei, fei, and so on.

(9) Ancient Chinese (Han dynasty) 世间羸瘦，有剧我者无?（贤愚经，卷一）

a. shijian lei shou, you ju wo zhe wu? world weak thin have worse 1SG people NEG

‘Is there anybody skinnier and weaker than me?’ 君除吏已尽未?（史记·魏其武安侯列传）

b. jun chu li yi jin wei? 2SG.HON nominate officer already finish NEG ‘Have you done your nomination of the officials or not?’ 若伯夷叔齐可谓善人者非耶?（史记·伯夷列传）

c. ruo boyi shuqi ke wei shanren-zhe fei ye? those Boyi Shuqi could say good-man NEG PRT ‘Can one call the people like Boyi or Shuqi good man or not?’ In Ancient Chinese, a sentence-final referential negation word is actually a

question marker. When it has a final particle that follows (cf. ye in 9c), it is no

longer a question marker but acts only as a part of [VP neg] construction, and

has a tendency to be a clitic of the previous VP. This tendency becomes even

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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stronger if the VP is a short monosyllabic verb, that is, a [VP(-)neg prt] structure

is preferred in polar questions. (In fact, [VP neg prt] questions are found in

documentations before the Han dynasty, cf. example 7 above.)

7.2.4.1.2. Middle Chinese

In Middle Chinese, every variety of [VP neg VP] questions is fully-fledged,

such as [VP neg], [VP neg VP], and [VP neg V]. There are even [VP prt neg]

and [V prt neg VP] questions.

As mentioned above, the structure of [VP neg V] questions found in the

Shuihudi bamboo books is invariably [VP neg] in the documentations in the Han

dynasty (late Ancient Chinese). The situation remains unchanged till the Nan-Bei

dynasty (early Middle Chinese), covering a time span of about 800 years.

That [VP neg] questions kept a dominant strategy is very likely to be a

matter of stylistics, because the Shuihudi bamboo books documented

quasi-colloquial questions-and-answers, while the literature later on was always

found to be in an archaic style9.

The situation changed in the Tang dynasty, where [VP neg VP] questions

are found, though the most popular polar question is still [VP neg].

(10) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty) 春草年年绿，王孙归不归？（王维·送别）

a. wangsun gui bu gui? 2.HON go.back not go.back ‘Will you come back?’

9 Colloquial Chinese and written Chinese have been different to a great extent in the long

history of China. This is mainly because only the sons of (politically) influential families were educated and able to (and prefered to) write and speak in an archaic manner, which was a privilege, while the average people were normally not well educated or received no education at all, and could speak only in a colloquial way. The situation was kept unchanged till the Vernacular Movement (Báihuàwén Yùndòng) in 1917, urged people to write Chinese the way it is spoken (see Duanmu 2000: 7). That year is considered to be the beginning of Modern Chinese because of the movement.

In fact, the so called Archaic Language Movement (Gǔwén Yùndòng) in the Tang dynasty also advocates to write clearer, simpler texts, as the archaic words are clearer and simpler than the all-rhythmic, difficult, and meaningless writings popular at that time.

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已下便即讲经，大众听不听？能不能？愿不愿？（敦煌变文集）

b. dazhong ting bu ting? neng bu neng? yuan bu yuan? people listen not listen can not can will not will ‘Will people listen or not? Understand or not? Like it or not?’ （师）又上堂云：本自圆成，不劳机杼。诸上座出手不出手？（祖堂集）

c. zhu shangzuo10 chushou bu chushou? PL PN do not do ‘Will you all, Shangzuo, do it or not?’ Another subtype of [VP neg VP] question, i.e. [VP neg V], was also first found

in the Tang dynasty.

(11) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty ~ Wudai) 霸王问曰：捉得不得？（敦煌变文集）

zhuo de bu de? catch ACM NEG ACM ‘Have you caught them or not?’

During the time of the Tang dynasty and Wudai, [V prt neg VP] questions

were developed, which were the near ancestors of verb-reduplicating, i.e. [V

V(P)] questions.

(12) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty ~ Wudai) 从城外排一大阵，识也不识？（敦煌变文集）

shi ye bu shi? know PRT NEG know ‘Do you know this?’

7.2.4.1.3. Early Modern Chinese and Modern Chinese

Early Modern Chinese has all the subtypes of [VP neg VP] questions,

among which [VP neg] and [VP neg V(P)] are most common. In early Early

Modern Chinese [VP prt neg] and [V prt neg V] questions are also very common,

but they died out gradually. In its contemporary descendant languages, [VP prt

neg] is not used in Standard Chinese, but only in some Sinitic languages

(especially in its dialects of northern Mandarin), and the particle in [V prt neg V]

is dropped, resulting in a [V neg V] question. In some Sinitic languages, the

10 Shangzuo 上座, Sanskrit Sthavira, is a honorific title to address monks of higher rank.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

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negators are dropped, as a result of syllable assimilation (e.g. in fast utterance),

and produce a verb-reduplicating question, i.e. [V V(P)] question. See Section

6.2 for examples in Sinitic, Yi, and Miao-Yao languages.

To sum up, the most recent origin of verb-reduplicating questions [V V(P)]

are [VP neg VP] and [V prt neg V(P)] questions that first appeared in Middle

Chinese, in particular at the time of the Tang dynasty and Wudai. The

mechanism of reduplication is to assimilate adjacent syllables.

7.2.4.2. Q-VP questions

7.2.4.2.1. Q VP in Ancient, Middle, and Early Modern Chinese

ke 可 functions as a (modal) verb in its early usage. According to Shuowen

Jiezi, it is equivalent to ken 肯, which means ‘agree (to do)’ or ‘will’11.

ke then functions also as an interrogative adverb, though it was not the only

one in Ancient, Middle, or Early Modern Chinese. There are at least two

equivalents, i.e., ning 宁 and qi 岂, which were simply not as pertinent as ke and

vanished gradually.

The story is like this: ke, ning, and qi are used in rhetorical (no-doubt)

questions and common speculative questions in the early time (ke and ning are

used first in rhetorical questions, and then in normal questions). This is a

redundant interrogative system, as the three words are totally parallel in usage. In

their later competitions, ning (both usages) dropped out first, followed by the

speculative usage of qi, and finally the no-doubt usage of ke was lost (see Jiang

1990 for more discussion). Table 7.32. A history of three interrogative adverbs in Chinese Ancient

Chinese Middle Chinese

Early Modern Chinese

Modern Chinese

ning no-doubt Q no-doubt Q speculative Q

- -

qi no-doubt Q speculative Q

no-doubt Q speculative Q

no-doubt Q (no-doubt Q)

ke no-doubt Q no-doubt Q speculative Q

speculative Q (speculative Q)

11 According to Shuowen Jiezi, ‘可, 肯也’. Shuowen, edited by Xu Shen (58 – 147 AD), is

the first Chinese philology dictionary that analyzes the structure of characters and gives rationale behind them.

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Notes: 1. Minus – means a certain usage does not exist; parenthesis () means a certain usage is not

very common. 2. In contemporary Standard Chinese qi is still used marginally in rhetorical questions,

normally it is used in written language, with a strong archaic flavor, e.g. qibushi ‘Isn’t…?’. qi is also used in a very limited number of Sinitic languages, such as Chao-Shan Min.

3. The speculative ke is also withdrawing to a trivial role in Standard Chinese (Lü et al 1980: 334), though qi (and its variants) is still kept in many Sinitic languages (see Section 6.1 for detailed discussion).

Some scholars argue that the earliest examples of ke VP questions appeared

in Middle Chinese (for example, Ye 2008: 94-5 proposes it was first found in

documentations of the Tang dynasty). However, several clear cases of ke-VP

questions are found in Ancient Chinese literature, though not very often.

(13) Ancient Chinese (Chun-Qiu dynasty) 弗慎厥德，虽悔可追？（尚书）

a. fu shen que de, sui hui ke zhui? not carefully miss merit though regret KE remedy ‘Is it possible to remedy if people regret that they did something bad?’ 夫民虑之于心而宣之于口，成而行之，胡可雍也？（国语·周语）

b. hu ke yong ye? Q KE jam PRT ‘How could one jam it?’ 愿以子之辞行赂焉。其可赂乎？（国语·鲁语上）

c. qi ke lu hu? 3 KE persuade PRT

‘Is he persuadable?’ It is reasonable to argue that (13a-b) are not real [ke VP] questions, because they

are questions without doubt. Nevertheless, an important difference which lies in

(13a) and (13b) is that ke questions the action zhui ‘to remedy’ and negates it

(hence the label ‘no doubt’) at the same time in (13a), but it does not negate the

action yong ‘to jam’ in (13b), though one could still claim that interrogativity is

partly conveyed by the question word hu ‘how’. Sentence (13c) is a clear [ke VP]

question.

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ke-VP questions are more frequently encountered in literature of the Tang

dynasty. According to a corpus study of Zu Tang Ji (祖堂集, a Buddhism classic

which collects the deeds and dialogues of monks) by Ye (2008: 94-5), there are

14 ke-VP questions, among which 13 are common yes-no questions (e.g. 14abc),

and one is VP-neg question (14d).

(14) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty) 太子语曰：此草可能惠施小许，不为爱惜？（卷一，第七释迦牟尼佛）

a. ci cao ke neng hui shi xiaoxu? DEF grass KE can kindly give me ‘Could you kindly give the plant to me?’ 如是解时，不可断他众生善恶二根，可是菩提耶?（卷三，司空山本净和尚）

b. ke shi puti ye? KE be Buddha PRT ‘Could it be of Buddha(’s deeds)?’ 师曰：可年七十八摩？（卷四，药山和尚）

c. ke nian qishiba me? KE year seventy-eight PRT

‘Are you seventy-eight years old?’ 马师曰：可有成坏不？（卷三，怀让和尚）

d. ke you cheng huai fou?12

KE have PN PN not ‘Does it have any Cheng or Huai13?’

12 Nevertheless, the earliest circumfix-like ke…fou questions appear much earlier than the

Tang dynasty (Middle Chinese). As is exemplified in the following, such questions could date back to the Han dynasty (Ancient Chinese).

(15) Ancient Chinese (Han dynasty)

臣汤问仲舒：祠宗庙或以鹜当凫，鹜非凫，可用否？（春秋繁露）

a. ke yong fou? KE use not ‘Is it okay to use that?’

问曰：天独怒而不应和人，宁可知否？（太平经）

b. ning ke zhi fou? rather KE know not ‘Who knows that?’ (Why it is?)

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In Early Modern Chinese [ke VP] questions have some variants, like [ke VP

neg prt], [ke VP neg VP], and [ke VP prt]. It can be seen that ke is a redundant

interrogative strategy because except for ke, [VP neg prt], [VP neg VP], and [VP

prt] are very frequently used questions in Early Modern Chinese.

7.2.4.2.2. Q-VP in contemporary Sinitic languages

It is not easy to assert that the ke in ke-V(P) (note the hyphen) functions as

an interrogative prefix in Ancient, Middle, or Early Modern Chinese. It is

equally difficult to deny the possibility of the existence of ke-V(P) at that time.

This might simply be because we lack in well documented literature (missing,

unnoticed, or not existing), or because of practical reasons, such as no good

methods of voice recording were available at that time. Nevertheless, in many

contemporary Sinitic languages there is good evidence of different strata,

indicating that ke has been functioning as an interrogative prefix (see Zhang

1990: 30-48, 134-63).

· In Suīníng Mandarin (the county town, Caiji, and Qing-an) hai in hai-VP (a

variant of Q-VP) is pronounced with a zero tone.

· In Huai-an Mandarin hai of hai-VP is pronounced with a weakened

phonological strength, which is different to an independent hai (the

adverbial)13.

· In many Jianghuai Mandarin and Xinan Mandarin languages [khə] is

pronounced as [kə].

· In many dialects of the Anhui province ke is pronounced in a checked tone

(rusheng) if the language has a checked tone.

· In Xiamen Min the equivalent of ke, gan /khan/ has three pronunciations:

/kam/, /kan/, and /kã/, all prefer a back velar.

· In some Hakka languages spoken in the southern Jiangxi Province (e.g.

Quan-nan, Long-nan), the syllable structure of the equivalents of ke in

ke-VP are, however, without syllable-initial consonants, e.g. /am/, /an/.

· In Kunming, Hefei, and many other Mandarin languages, ke [khə] is

pronounced as [kə].

Cheng (Sanskrit vivarta-kalpa) and Huai (Sanskrit samvarta-kalpa) are terms of

Buddhism referring to two periods of the life circle of the world. 13 Whereas in the Héxià Township of Huai-an, ke-VP has died out.

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· In Shantou Min, qi /tɕhi/ is pronounced in a checked tone. In Yongxin Gan

and many Mandarin languages (e.g., Shǎnběi, Shānxī, Shùyáng), ke [khə] is

pronounced as [khə ]14.

The phenomenon points to the fact that ke and its dialectal variants have been

undergoing a phonological erosion process. First, the front velar [kh] is replaced

by a back [k] in many languages, which is weaker in phonation. Second, in some

languages, the original falling-rising tone is replaced by a checked tone or even

dropped (zero tone). One obvious result (or evidence) of this is, that there are

many homophone words to record the quasi-real pronunciation in different

languages, for example, 克[khə ] and 格[kə] are very frequently encountered in

Jianghuai Mandarin and Xinan Mandarin. This is what people can do most

because a written system is far from being fully-fledged in Sinitic languages

(Mandarin is an exception).

7.2.4.3. Interrogative verb gan-ma

7.2.4.3.1. A history of ma

It is generally accepted that me 麽 and ma 嗎 are derived from wu 無 (see,

e.g. Wang 1980: 452-4). The argument is very likely to be maintained because

there are no labiodentals in Ancient Chinese; all the latter-appeared labiodentals

were consistently pronounced as bilabials, that is, [f], [fh], [v], [ɱ] are

pronounced as [p], [ph], [b], [m] respectively. This is termed gu wu qingchunyin

古无轻唇音 in Chinese literature, proposed by Qian Daxin (1728 – 1804). The

phenomenon is still kept in many Sinitic languages nowadays, such as wu is

pronounced mou in Cantonese and pronounced mau in many Gan languages (e.g.

Yongxin, Ji-an, Nanchang) and Hakka languages (e.g. Nankang Hakka).

wu 无, according to Shuowen, is a synonym of wang 亡 meaning ‘to flee

away’15. Later on, wu and wang both derived the meaning ‘not have’, as it is

exemplified by the following example, in which wang is glossed as wu.

(16) Ancient Chinese 14 An early example is the phonological translation of the title of the Mongolian emperor,

[khə xán] is written as 可汗, which is pronounced [khə xàn] in Standard Chinese. 15 wu (无, traditionally also written as 無) has the homophone wu 无, meaning ‘the

northwest part of the sky collapsed’ (Shuowen).

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306

司马牛忧曰：人皆有兄弟，我独亡。（论语·颜渊）

ren jie you xiongdi, wo du wang. people all have brother 1SG alone not.have‘Everyone has brothers except me.’

wang kept its ‘leaving, losing’ meaning all the time, but this is not the case

with wu, as it then also functioned as an interrogative particle (17). When it

comes to the Tang dynasty, a pure interrogative particle, me (from the Tang

dynasty to Wudai, written as 摩, 磨), came into vision (18a-b).

(17) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty)

晚来天欲雪，能饮一杯无?（白居易·问刘十九）

wanlai tian yu xue, neng yin yi bei wu?evening sky about snow can drink one CL not ‘It is going to snow tonight. Can you come and have a drink?’

(18) Middle Chinese (Tang dynasty)

六祖见僧，竖起拂子，云：还见摩？（祖堂集·卷二·慧能） a. liuzhu jian seng, shuqi fuzi, yun: hai jian me?

Liuzhu see monk raise Fuzi say if see ME ‘Liuzhu saw the monk and raised the Fuzi (whisk): “Can you see it?”’

将他物己用，思量得也磨？（王梵志诗） b. jiang ta wu ji yong, siliang de ye me?”

DISP other thing self use think get PRT ME ‘Isn’t it bad for someone to steal something from other people?’

Later in the Song dynasty, me and wu are used interchangeably, though me

么 has two pronunciations from then on, that is, [mə] and [ma], the latter is the

original form of ma 吗, though it did not have a written form in the beginning.

This could be seen from the rhyme schemes of poems at that time.

(19) Early Modern Chinese (Song dynasty; Zhong 1997; Sun 1999: 105)

风炉煮茶，霜刀剖瓜，暗香微透窗纱，是池中藕花。 高梳髻鸦，浓妆脸霞。

玉尖弹动琵琶，问香醪饮么？（米芾·醉太平）

Rhymed syllables: cha – gua – sha – hua – ya – xia – ba – ma

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

307

The rhyme of the above poem is /-a/, that is, all the sentences should end with an

/-a/ rhyme. 么 (me) is a character to record the real pronunciation of ma, and me

itself is an interrogative particle. The same strategy is also found in some other

poems, e.g., Xin Qiji’s poem Jiangshenzi (see Zhong 1997; Sun 1999: 105).

In fact, 么 is not the only character for recording [ma]. Some other

characters are also used before an independent character was invented. For

example, 嘛 is found in the same period.

(20) Early Modern Chinese (Song dynasty; Zhong 1997; Sun 1999: 105)

济楚好得些。憔悴损、都是因它。那回得句闲言语，傍人尽道，你管又还鬼那人

唦。 得过口儿嘛？直勾得、风了自家。是即好意也毒害，你还甜杀人了，怎

生申报孩儿。（黄庭坚·丑奴儿）

Rhymed syllables: ta – sha – hua – ma – jia – ŋa16

Before 吗 ma became the most frequently used interrogative particle, some

other written forms (e.g. 麻) are also used in literature. Nevertheless, 么 me is

the most frequently used interrogative particle before 吗 ma took its place. Even

in Contemporary Mandarin Chinese, me is commonly used.

7.2.4.3.2. The suffixation of -ma and its equivalents

ganma became an interrogative verb only after it was no longer analyzable,

that means, ma alone is meaningless but questions the action gan – the two parts

were merged.

In some other Sinitic languages, the suffixing IVs are found abridging their

syllables. As the ‘do what’ IVs discussed in Section 6.3, [tsukua] is pronounced

[tsua] in Yongxin Gan, [tsusatsi] is pronounced [tsuatsi] in Chongqing and many

Sichuan Mandarin languages, [tsusa] is pronounced [tsua] in many varieties of

Jin. In fact, ganma [kanma] is more frequently pronounced as [kãma] or even

[kama] in colloquial conversations, simply has a nasalized [ã] or a bare [a], and

drops the [n].

For more examples of ganma and other interrogative verbs in the languages

in China, see Section 6.3.

16 [ŋa] is from the Gan language, which is written as 伢. Its equivalent, 儿, is pronounced

[ɚ] in Standard Chinese.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

308

7.2.4.4. Summary

A general conclusion is that the three interrogative strategies have evolved via

erosion in use. Verb-reduplicating questions come from [V neg V] questions, by

dropping the negation constituent. ke and its equivalents lost their independent

identity and became an interrogative prefix, accompanied by phonological

erosion. ma in ganma underwent a suffixation process, in which ma gradually

lost its autonomous identity as an independent word.

Sinitic languages are known to lack fully-fledged inflectional systems. The

analysis above shows, however, diachronically, there are some clearly

morphological strategies in the evolution of the three verb-related interrogative

strategies: Q-V(P) is prefixing, IV is suffixing (e.g. gan-ma), and VV is

reduplication.

Among the three types of verb-related interrogative strategies in Sinitic

languages, two are dying out. Verb-reduplication used to be very popular in

Jianghuai Mandarin and Hakka, but is now withdrawing to a trivial role, as

younger generations no longer prefer to use the old-fashioned expressions (see

Section 6.2.1). Q-V(P), is no longer kept in the influential languages, like

contemporary Shanghai Wu and Suzhou Wu. Interrogative verb ganma is still

frequently used because it is spoken in Colloquial Standard Chinese, and a

privileged language is less likely to get rid of its own possessions.

The development of the three types of verb-related questions in Chinese is

summarized in the following table.

7 T

ypol

ogic

al a

nd a

rea-

hist

oric

al a

sses

smen

t

30

9

Tab

le 7

.33.

A

his

tory

of

thre

e ty

pes

of v

erb-

rela

ted

ques

tion

s in

Chi

nese

C

hine

se

Dyn

asti

es

VP

-neg

-VP

Q

-VP

IV

VP

-neg

V

P {

neg

prt}

V

P-n

eg-V

P

VP

-neg

-V

V-n

eg-V

P

/

X

i Zho

u [V

P n

eg]

/ /

/ /

/

C

hun-

Qiu

V

P n

eg

/ /

/ /

/

Anc

ient

Z

hang

uo ~

Qin

V

P n

eg

[VP

neg

prt

] [V

P n

eg V

(P)]

V

P n

eg V

/

/

X

i Han

V

P(-

)neg

V

P(-

)neg

PR

T

/ /

/ /

D

ong

Han

V

P(-

)neg

V

P n

eg p

rt

/ /

/ ke

VP

(pr

t)

W

ei-J

in ~

Nan

-Bei

VP

(-)n

eg

VP

prt

neg

/

/ /

Mid

dle

Tan

g V

P-n

eg

VP

PR

T n

eg

[VP

neg

VP

] V

P n

eg V

/

[ke

VP

]

W

udai

V

P-n

eg

VP

PR

T n

eg

[VP

neg

VP

] V

P n

eg V

V

prt

neg

VP

[ke

VP

]

S

ong

VP

-neg

V

P P

RT

neg

V

P n

eg V

P

VP

neg

V

V P

RT

neg

VP

[k

e V

P]

Y

uan

VP

-neg

V

P P

RT

neg

V

P n

eg V

P

VP

neg

V

V P

RT

neg

VP

ke

VP

V

P m

e

Mod

ern

Min

g V

P-n

eg

VP

prt

neg

V

P n

eg V

P

VP

neg

V

V p

rt n

eg V

P ke

VP

V

P m

e

Q

ing

VP

-neg

[V

P p

rt n

eg]

VP

neg

VP

V

P n

eg V

V

prt

neg

VP

ke V

P

VP

me

Cot

empo

rary

S

tand

ard

[VP

-neg

] /

VP

-neg

-VP

[V

P-n

eg-V

] V

-neg

-VP

[k

e-V

P]

V-p

ro

O

ther

Sin

itic

V

P-n

eg

VP

-neg

-prt

,

[VP

-prt

-neg

]

VP

-neg

-VP

,

[V V

P]

VP

-neg

-V

V-n

eg-V

P

ke-V

P

V-p

ro

Not

es:

1.

S

quar

e br

acke

ts in

dica

te th

at c

erta

in f

eatu

res

are

not u

sed

very

fre

quen

tly.

2.

S

lash

s in

dica

te c

erta

in f

eatu

res

do n

ot e

xist

. 3.

B

ig le

tter

PR

T m

eans

par

ticl

es a

re u

sed

very

oft

en.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

310

7.3. Further topics: interrogation and negation

The typological literature on negation and interrogation is scarce. In an earlier

study on interrogation and negation, Thompson (1998) notes:

My decision to pursue the relationship between form and function in interrogatives and

negatives was motivated by the striking differences in the grammar of these two

construction types that emerge in the typological literature. In particular, the grammar

of interrogation typically involves a number of strategies that are not found in the

grammar of negation, and vice versa. (Thompson 1998, p.309)

The situation has not much changed in typology, though some studies, e.g.

Miestamo (2005: 9, 88, 100-1, 209, 218, 225, 259, 291-2) includes discussions

on interrogatives and finds many common features that are shared by the two

categories, and Dixon (2012: 420) mentions that “negation is linked in a number

of ways with questions.”

7.3.1. Negation and interrogation in ask-and-answers

In many languages polite questions are often asked in a negative way, e.g. in

Danish, Japanese, Russian, and Ute, the polite way of asking May I enter? Is to

ask something like May I not enter? To have a negator is a normal strategy in

Tsou alternative questions (Zeitoun 2005) and (Mantauran) Rukai yes/no

questions (Zeitoun 2007: 355-6; see Dixon 2012: 420, Zeitoun 1997 and

discussions on Rukai in Section 2.3). In Imbabura, chu is used as a marker for

both negatives and interrogatives (Cole 1982: 164; Palmer 2001: 53).

A similar case is found in Yongxin Gan Chinese, in which it is most polite

to ask Have you already eaten? in a negative way, e.g. jin xai nən tɕhia pa? (2SG

still not eat PRT), and questions in the positive way are not very polite.

In semantic and pragmatic literature, negative polar question have

continued to be a much discussed topic (see, e.g. Ladd 1981; Romero and Han

2004; inter alia). The starting point of the studies is, that negative polar

questions are ambiguous between an inner and outer negation reading. For

example, in English, by asking Isn’t there a café?, the question has two readings,

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

311

in particular, a speaker seeks confirmation that there is a café, or, a speaker seeks

confirmation that there is no café at all.

In Standard Chinese, however, there is no such ambiguity. Equivalent

questions are asked in two strategies. One is to have different verbs (shi and

bushi), and another is to have different particles (ma and ba).

(21) Standard Chinese

a. na shi yi-ge canguan ma?

DEF be one-CL restaurant QP

‘Is there a café?’ (I don’t know.)

b. na bu-shi yi-ge canguan ma?

DEF NEG-be one-CL restaurant QP

‘Isn’t there a café?’ (I know there is.)

c. na bu-shi yi-ge canguan ba?

DEF NEG-be one-CL restaurant PRT

‘Isn’t there a café?’ (I suppose not.)

Compared to negative polar questions, much less attention has been paid to

negative content questions in literature, though negation islands are an exception.

Negation islands suggest that some constituents can not be questioned in

negations, such as in English (Standard Chinese also demonstrates such

differences), John didn’t read many of these books. vs. Which books did John not

read? but John doesn’t weigh 190 pounds. vs. *How much does John not weigh?

(see Fox and Hackl 2006 for a semantic explanation of the difference.)

It deserves to be mentioned that in Standard Chinese it is not grammatical to

have wh-fronting in some cases when asking positive content questions, but

equivalent negative ones do not demonstrate such a restriction, as is exemplified

in the following.

(22) Standard Chinese

a. ni xihuan / bu xihuan shenme shu?

2SG like / not like what/which book

‘Which books do / don’t you like?’

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

312

b. shenme shu ni *xihuan / bu xihuan?

‘Which books *do / don’t you like?’ It is equally grammatical to ask the positive or negative in the in-situ questions

(22a), but it is not grammatical to ask the positive in the wh-fronted questions

(22b). An explanation is that the positive reading of questions values infinity,

while the negative reading limits it to a certain scope and is more or less definite.

In other words, in Standard Chinese, some definiteness must be reserved to a

topic positioned wh-phrase.

Differences between English and Standard Chinese also exist in answers. In

English, answers to polar questions take a consistent polarity strategy. In

particular, positive answers have positive values, and negative answers have

negative values, as exemplified follows.

(23) English

a. A: Is Mary coming?

B1: Yes, she is. (Mary is coming.)

B2: No, she isn’t. (Mary is not coming.)

b. A: Isn’t Mary coming?

B1: Yes, she is. (Mary is coming.)

B2: No, she isn’t. (Mary is not coming.)

In Standard Chinese and most (if not all) other Sinitic languages and Minority

languages, the answers to a positive polar question are the same as in English,

but different in negative polar questions (23b). In particular, in negative polar

questions, if the answer has a positive value, then the formula is to have a

negator first, followed by a positive statement, e.g. the equivalent of (23b-B1) in

Standard Chinese is bu, ta lai (no, 3SG come) ‘No, she is coming’ (literal

translation); if the answer has a negative value, then the formula is to give a

positive answer first, followed by a negative statement, e.g. the equivalent of

(23b-B2) in Standard Chinese is shi(de), ta bu lai (yes, 3SG not come) ‘Yes, she

is not coming’ (literal translation).

It is interesting to test individual languages, to see if negators are included

in asking polite questions, or demonstrate ambiguity in inner/outer reading, or

negation islands, or answers of polar questions, and to correlate the parameters

with other typological parameters.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

313

7.3.2. Diachronic negation and interrogation

Miestamo (2005: 225) claims that many languages are found to have diachronic

connections between interrogatives and negations, though the exact route of

grammaticalization is still not very clear.

Diachronic connections can be found between negation and interrogation in many

languages. Negative elements have been reported as sources for the grammaticaliza-

tion of interrogative markers… The motivations between these diachronic connections

are easy to see as both negatives and interrogatives operate in the realm of the

non-realized, but the exact diachronic paths…are a subject of future research.

(Miestamo 2005: 225)

That negative elements are commonly of interrogative origin is also found in the

history of Chinese. For example, the most common question particle in Modern

Chinese ma is evolved from me (question particle, Middle/ Early Modern

Chinese) < fou (‘not’, Ancient/Middle/Early Modern Chinese).

An issue related is the word order variation and change in Chinese

questions and negative declaratives, which is summarized in the following table.

Table 7.34. Clause order of Classical and Modern Chinese Sentence types Classical Chinese Modern Chinese

wh-questions SVO/SOV SVO/sov yes/no-questions SVO/sov SVO/(sov) negative declaratives SVO/sov SVO The basic clause order of Chinese, from Ancient to Contemporary, is SVO.

However, Ancient Chinese also has SOV order in its wh-questions (which is

especially common in those with pronominal objects), yes/no-questions, and

negative declaratives. In Modern Chinese (and some Sinitic languages, e.g.

Shanghai Wu), SOV is a recessive alternative order and is used only in marginal

cases, e.g. in rhetorical questions and contrastive questions. To uncover the

diachronic connections of interrogation and negation, and to discuss the

mechanisms of SOV order in questions and negative declaratives in Classical

Chinese, and its extinction in Modern Chinese, are fields of my further research

on interrogative strategies.

7 Typological and area-historical assessment

314

To wind up this section, I am listing further issues that are related to both

questions and negations.

· In the Sariqul dialect of Tajik (Indo-European) spoken in China, alternative

questions take an X prt disj Y prt structure, in which the disjunction naji is a

negation word (Gao 1985: 65).

· “About 75% of languages of all [clause order] types use tag questions which

consist or contain negative particles or affixes”. (Ultan 1978 universal No. 5

on segmental elements)

· In Imbabura, a variety of Quechua, the same marker, -chu, is used for both

(yes-no) question sand negations (Cole 1982: 164; cited in Palmer 2001: 12).

· Bencini (2003) claims that “interrogative marker for yes/no questions are

derived from or formally similar to one of two elements in the language: the

negative marker not (and the marker for the disjunction or).”

· In Karo (Tupí, Brazil), the negator in commands and wh-questions is the

same (yahmãm), which is different from the negators used in declaratives

(iʔke) and yes/no questions (taykit) (Dixon 2012: 92, 420).

· Dixon (2012: 398) quotes that in Longgu (Ausrtonesian, Solomon Islands),

the disjunction in alternative questions bwala is homonymous with the

independent polarity form bwala ‘no’.

8 Conclusion

315

Chapter 8

Conclusion In this thesis, I have focused on the interrogative strategies in the languages of

China, particularly the structural features. It begins with a survey of 138

languages, followed by presentations of question particles, disjunctions and

alternative questions, wh-phrases and wh-questions, as well as three types of

verb-related questions. We then seek to explore typological features in various

parameters across these languages, winding up with a typological assessment by

bringing twenty morphosyntactic parameters together, including interrogatives,

word order, alignment, and locus of marking, and proposing some correlations

between individual parameters. Also, historical and areal factors are investigated

in different types of interrogatives, in particular, in yes-no, X-neg-X, alternative,

and three types of verb-related questions. All efforts aim to present the diversity

and unity in structural features of interrogatives in the languages of China, which

is the goal (or contribution) of this work.

Chapter 2 gives a detailed survey of the polar interrogative strategies in 138

languages of China, including studies focusing on two individual languages,

Standard Chinese and Yongxin Gan, and presents a profile of polar

interrogatives of these languages.

After a survey of polar interrogatives in individual languages, specific

topics are discussed in Chapters 3-6 concerning question particles and final

particles, disjunctions and alternative questions, wh-phrases and wh-questions, as

well as three types of verb-related questions.

Chapter 3 suggests that the positions of question particles in the languages

of China are very different from those included in a worldwide language sample

by Dryer (2005b) in that most of languages in the current study prefer

sentence-final positions, while Dryer’s sample reports that a much smaller

proportion of languages are formed with sentence-final question particles. The

8 Conclusion

316

discussion on ma ne questions in Sinitic languages reveals that such questions

are formed by a question particle plus a final particle, not by two question

particles. Moreover, Section 3.3 proposes that in Standard Chinese (and many

Sinitic languages as well), final particles determine the nature of wh-questions, in

particular, wh-questions turn to be yes-no/rhetorical questions, or assertions, or

bear some ‘on earth’ meaning if proper question particles are used

sentence-finally.

In many languages in China, disjunctions in declaratives and interrogatives

are different, while some other languages do not demonstrate such a difference

(e.g. English and German). In Chapter 4, an or vs or/or? typology is proposed to

account for the difference. The typology matters in that it correlates (at least)

with some word order parameters (adposition, clause order), which is

summarized as several generalizations (Section 4.2). Except for those by normal

disjunctions (or and or/or?), some languages are found to use disjunct-final

particles as disjunctions. A further study shows that particles after the second

disjunct are more likely to be dropped than the ones after the first disjunct.

Languages with alternative questions formed by disjunct-final particles

demonstrate a skewed genetic distribution in that they are mainly found in

Sino-Tibetan languages (mostly Tibeto-Burman) and Altaic languages;

Austro-Asiatic languages and Hmong-Mien (Miao-Yao) languages, however,

mainly prefer normal disjunctions.

In the discussion of wh-phrases and wh-questions in Chapter 5, quite

different from Dryer’s (2005c) findings, wh- in situ (in Dryer’s classification,

“not obligatorily initial”) is a general characteristic of the languages of China.

An uncommon phenomenon, wh-reduplication in interrogative phrases, is found

in 30 languages (mostly Tibeto-Burman). Nevertheless, individual wh-phrases

vary in the capability of reduplication, in particular, words like who, what, where,

and which can be reduplicated very easily, and how, when, and why bear some

difficulty, while how many/much and how long (time) can hardly be reduplicated.

An explanation is that wh-phrase reduplication is only possible when a certain

phrase can semantically carry a plural meaning.

Sinitic languages are generally considered to be ‘isolating’ languages that

lack inflectional morphology. Chapter 6 fine-tunes such claims by bringing three

types of verb-related questions (all reported in Sinitic languages) together and

proposes that such interrogatives are clear cases of morphological operation.

Verb-reduplicating questions and questions formed using interrogative verbs are

8 Conclusion

317

rarely reported cross-linguistically. Nevertheless, the former is common in

Sinitic and Yi languages, and the latter is common in Formosan (and some

Sinitic languages as well) (Q-VP questions are mainly found in Sinitic and

Tibeto-Burman languages).

Interrogative strategies correlate with each other and with various other

parameters (cf. the correlations, i.e. ‘generalizations’ summarized in Section 7.1).

Interrogative strategies vary and change in space and time. Areal factors, notably

contact with (and borrowing from) Standard Chinese in many groups of

languages, as well as historical factors, especially the pace of change, or, in other

words, pertinacity or transience in individual interrogative structures and

individual groups of languages, are addressed in Section 7.2. Chapter 7 hence

holds that diversity in interrogative strategies is the (unstable) result and

representation of language change in space and time.

In conclusion, the languages of China show similarities with and differences

from in interrogative strategies in languages elsewhere (cf. Greenberg 1966

universals No. 8-12; Ultan 1978; Dryer 2005a, b, c). The synchronic diversity

and unity of interrogative strategies in the languages of China are the result of

area-historical change, notably structural borrowing via language contact.

For future research, a worldwide language sample needs to be analyzed and

compared with the languages of China that were dealt with in this study. More

typological parameters should be added and correlated. Additionaly, an atlas of

individual structural features of interrogativity and the patterns of their

correlations with other parameters should be produced. Then we will not only

have a better understanding of the languages of China, but also of languages in

general, and the diversity and unity in their interrogative strategies.

8 Conclusion

318

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319

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341

Appendix I. Features of 138 languages of China

Notes for the table: 1. This table contains 20 features of interrogative strategies (Into, QP, XnX, Alt1, Alt2, IVM, PQ, PPQP,

PIPCQ), word order (Adp, S.O.V, N.G, N.Adj, N.D, N.Num), locus of marking (Cla, PNP, WLT), and alignment of case marking (NP, PRO).

2. Abbreviations: General abbreviations and conventions:

Y (and other abbreviations in (initial) capital letters): have a certain value, y (and other abbreviations in small letters): have a certain value (less common), N: without a certain value

Fam: genetic families A-A: Austro-Asiatic; Aus: Austronesian; I-E: Indo-European; S-T: Sino-Tibetan

Group: genetic groups M-K: Mon-Khmer, V-M: Viet-Muong; Mong: Mongolian, Tung: Manchu-Tungusic; Forms:

Formosan; M-Y: Miao-Yao (Hmong-Mien); TB-B/-J/-Q/-T/-Y: Burmese/Jingpo/Qiangic/Tibetan/Yi (Tibeto-Burman)

Lg: languages E/W. Yugur: Eastern/Western Yugur; Kanakana.: Kanakanavu.

Into: interrogative intonation (only) Yc: intonation contour, Yf: falling intonation, Yr: rising intonation QP: question particles XnX: X-neg-X questions Alt1: type of disjunctions in alternative interrogatives

or: same disjunctions in declaratives and alternative questions, or/or: different disjunctions in declaratives and alternative questions, prt: disjunct-final particles as disjunctions

Alt2: position of disjunctions (to the tokens that they govern) in alternative interrogatives IVM: interrogative verb morphology inf/pref/suff: interrogative infixes/prefixes/suffixes, IV: interrogative verbs, prt: (pre-verb)

interrogative particles, Vtone: interrogative tones on verbs PQ: interrogative strategies in polar questions PPQP: position of polar question particles 1/2: sentence-initial/-second, (n-)end: (not) sentence-final PIPCQ: position of interrogative phrases in content questions Adp: adpositions Po: postposition, Pr: preposition S.O.V: basic clause order N.G/Adj/D/Num: order of head nouns and modifiers (genitives/adjectives/demonstratives/numerals) Cla/PNP/WLT: Locus of marking in the clause/possessive noun phrases/whole language typology NP/PRO: alignment of case marking of full noun phrases/pronouns

342

No. Fam Group Lg Into QP X-n-X Alt1 Alt2 IVM PQ PPQP PIPCQ

1 A-A M-K Bulang Yr Y Y or/or pre/pos n/i QP end situ

2 A-A M-K Buxing Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

3 A-A M-K De'ang Yr Y Y n/i n/i prtV QP/IVM end situ

4 A-A M-K Kemie Yr Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

5 A-A M-K Kemu Yr Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

6 A-A M-K Wa Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

7 A-A V-M Jing N Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

8 A-A V-M Lai Yr Y Y n/i n/i VV? QP/IVM end situ

9 A-A V-M Mang n/i Y Y n/i n/i prtV QP/IVM end situ

10 Altaic Mong Bao'an n/i Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

11 Altaic Mong Daur n/i Y N n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

12 Altaic Mong Dongxiang n/i Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

13 Altaic Mong E.Yugur n/i Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

14 Altaic Mong Kangjia n/i Y N prt pos suf QP/IVM end situ

15 Altaic Mong Mongolian Yf Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

16 Altaic Mong Tu n/i Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

17 Altaic Tung Evenki Y Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

18 Altaic Tung Hezhen n/i Y N n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

19 Altaic Tung Korean Yc Y N prt pos suf QP/IVM end situ

20 Altaic Tung Manchu n/i Y N or/or (pre) suf QP/IVM end situ

21 Altaic Tung Oreqen Yr Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

22 Altaic Tung Xibo Yr Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

23 Altaic Turkic Kazak Yr Y N n/i n/i pref QP/IVM end situ

24 Altaic Turkic Kirgiz n/i Y N or pre n/i QP end situ

25 Altaic Turkic Salar Y Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

26 Altaic Turkic Tatar n/i Y N n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

27 Altaic Turkic Tu'erke n/i n/i N n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i

28 Altaic Turkic Tuwa Y Y N or/or pre n/i QP end situ

29 Altaic Turkic Uighur n/i Y N n/i n/i suf QP/IVM end situ

30 Altaic Turkic Uzbek n/i Y N or pre n/i QP end situ

31 Altaic Turkic W.Yugur Y Y N prt pos n/i QP end situ

32 Aus Forms Amis Yr Y N or pre IV QP/IVM 1/end situ

33 Aus Forms Atayal Yc Y N n/i pre IV QP/IVM end situ

34 Aus Forms Bunun Yc Y N or pre IV QP/IVM 1/end situ

35 Aus Chamic Huihui n/i Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

36 Aus Forms Kanakanavu n/i Y N n/i n/i IV? QP/IVM? other situ

37 Aus Forms Kavalan Yr Y Y n/i n/i IV QP/IVM end situ

38 Aus Forms Paiwan Y/N n/i N or pre IV IVM n/i situ

39 Aus Forms Pazeh n/i Y N n/i n/i IV? QP/IVM? end situ

40 Aus Forms Puyuma Yf Y N n/i n/i IV IVM n/i situ

343

Adp S.O.V N.G N.Adj N.D N.Num Cla PNP WLT NP PRO No.

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NNum/numn NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 1

Pr SVO NG/gn NAdj ND/dn N|Num NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 2

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NNum NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 3

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND N|Num NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 4

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND N|Num NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 5

Pr SVO/vso NG NAdj ND NNum NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 6

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 7

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 8

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 9

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NNum/numn DM DoM3 i/o Acc Acc 10

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 11

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 12

Po SOV GN/ng AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 13

Po SOV GN AdjN/nadj DN NNum DM DoM3 i/o Acc Acc 14

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 15

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM3 i/o Acc Acc 16

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 17

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 18

Po SOV GN AdjN DN N|Num DM DM DM Acc Acc 19

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM Acc Acc 20

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 21

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 22

Po SOV/svo GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 23

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 24

Po SOV GN AdjN DN N|Num DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 25

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 26

Po SOV GN AdjN n/i n/i DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 27

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 28

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 29

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 30

Po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DoM i/o Acc Acc 31

Pr VSO NG/gn AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM Neu Erg 32

Pr VSO NG AdjN ND NumN DM DM DM Erg Erg 33

Pr VSO/VOS GN N|Adj N|D NumN DM DM DM Neu Erg 34

Pr SVO GN/ng NAdj/adjn DN NumN/nnum DM DM DM Neu Neu 35

Pr VSO NG NAdj ND NumN DM DM DM n/i n/i 36

Pr VSO/VOS NG AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM Erg Erg 37

Pr VSO/vos GN AdjN DN N|Num DM DM DM Erg Erg 38

Pr VSO/SVO GN AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM n/i n/i 39

Pr VSO GN AdjN DN NumN? DM DM DM n/i n/i 40

344

No. Fam Group Lg Into QP X-n-X Alt1 Alt2 IVM PQ PPQP PIPCQ

41 Aus Forms Rukai Yc N N n/i n/i IV IVM N situ

42 Aus Forms Saaroa n/i Y N n/i n/i IV? QP/IVM? other n/i

43 Aus Forms Saisiyat n/i Y N n/i n/i IV? QP/IVM? end situ

44 Aus Forms Sedeq n/i Y N n/i n/i IV? QP/IVM? 1/2/end Mixed

45 Aus Forms Thao Yr Y N n/i n/i IV QP/IVM end Mixed

46 Aus Forms Tsou Y N Y n/i n/i IV? IVM? N situ

47 Aus Batanic Yami Yr Y N n/i n/i IV QP/IVM end Mixed

48 Creole Creole Dao n/i Y n/i n/i n/i n/i QP n/i situ

49 Creole Creole E n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i

50 Creole Creole Tangwang n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i situ

51 Creole Creole Wutun n/i Y n/i n/i n/i n/i QP n/i situ

52 Creole Creole Za n/i Y N prt pos n/i QP n/i situ

53 I-E Iranian Tajik n/i Y N n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

54 S-T Kam Biao Y Y Y or pre prtV QP/IVM end situ

55 S-T Kam Bouyei Y Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

56 S-T Kam Bugan n/i Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

57 S-T Kam Buyang Y Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

58 S-T Kam Caijia Yr Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

59 S-T Kam Chadong n/i Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end n/i

60 S-T Kam Cun n/i Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

61 S-T Kam Dai Y Y Y prt pos n/i QP end situ

62 S-T Kam Gelao n/i Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

63 S-T Kam Kam Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

64 S-T Kam Laji Yr Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

65 S-T Kam Lajia n/i Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

66 S-T Kam Li N Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

67 S-T Kam Lingao Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

68 S-T Kam Maonan n/i Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

69 S-T Kam Mo Yr Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

70 S-T Kam Mulam Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

71 S-T Kam Mulao Yr Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

72 S-T Kam Pubiao Yr Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

73 S-T Kam Shui Yr Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

74 S-T Kam Yanghuang Yr Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

75 S-T Kam Zhuang Yr Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

76 S-T M-Y Baheng Y Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

77 S-T M-Y Bana n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i n/i situ

78 S-T M-Y Bunu Y Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

79 S-T M-Y Hmong Yc Y Y or pre vv QP/IVM end situ

80 S-T M-Y Jiongnai Y Y Y n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

345

Adp S.O.V N.G N.Adj N.D N.Num Cla PNP WLT NP PRO No.

Pr VSO/VOS NG N|Adj DN NumN DM DM DM n/i n/i 41

Pr VSO/VOS NG NAdj n/i NNum DM DM DM n/i n/i 42

Pr VSO/SVO NG AdjN DN NNum DM DM DM Erg? Erg? 43

Pr VOS NG/gn NAdj ND NumN DM DM DM Neu Erg 44

Pr VSO/SVO GN AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM Erg Erg 45

Pr VSO NG AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM n/i n/i 46

Pr VSO/VOS NG AdjN ND NumN DM DM DM Erg Erg 47

Po SOV GN NAdj n/i NNum DM DM DM Erg Erg 48

n/i SVO n/i NAdj n/i NumN NM DM? i/o Neu n/i 49

n/i SOV/svo GN n/i DN NumN DM DoM3 i/o Acc n/i 50

n/i SOV GN AdjN DN n/i NM DM i/o Neu? n/i 51

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum NM NM/dm nm Neu? n/i 52

Pr/po SOV GN AdjN DN NumN DM DM DM Acc Acc 53

Pr SVO GN NAdj/adjn ND/dn NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 54

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN/nnum NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 55

Pr SVO/osv NG NAdj ND NNum NM NM/dm nm Neu Acc 56

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 57

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NNum NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 58

Pr SVO GN NAdj N|D NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 59

Pr SVO N|G NAdj N|D N|Num NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 60

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NNum NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 61

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 62

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 63

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 64

Pr SVO GN NAdj ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 65

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 66

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND/dn NNum/numn NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 67

Pr SVO/sov NG NAdj ND NumN/nnum NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 68

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 69

Pr SVO NG/gn NAdj ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 70

Pr SVO NG/gn NAdj/adjn ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 71

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM NM Neu Neu 72

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 73

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 74

Pr SVO NG NAdj ND NumN/nnum NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 75

Pr SVO GN NAdj/adjn DN NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 76

n/i SVO GN N|Adj ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 77

Pr SVO GN NAdj ND NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 78

Pr SVO GN NAdj ND NumN NM NM NM Neu Neu 79

Pr SVO GN NAdj ND NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 80

346

No. Fam Group Lg Into QP X-n-X Alt1 Alt2 IVM PQ PPQP PIPCQ

81 S-T M-Y Mian Y Y Y or pre VV QP/IVM end situ

82 S-T M-Y She Y Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

83 S-T Sinitic Cantonese y Y Y or/or pre N QP end situ

84 S-T Sinitic Gan y Y Y or/or pre prtv/vv/iv QP/ivm end situ

85 S-T Sinitic Hakka y Y Y or/or pre prtv/vv QP/ivm end situ

86 S-T Sinitic Hui y Y Y or/or pre N QP end situ

87 S-T Sinitic Jin y Y Y or/or pre iv QP/ivm end situ

88 S-T Sinitic Mandarin Y Y Y or/or pre prtV/IV QP/IVM end situ

89 S-T Sinitic Min y Y Y or/or pre prtV QP/ivm end situ

90 S-T Sinitic Ping y Y Y or/or pre vv QP/ivm end situ

91 S-T Sinitic Wu y Y Y or/or pre prtV QP/IVM end situ

92 S-T Sinitic Xiang y Y Y or/or pre N QP end situ

93 S-T TB-B Achang N Y y prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

94 S-T TB-B Bola N Y Y n/i pos pref QP/IVM end situ

95 S-T TB-B Langsu N Y y prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

96 S-T TB-B Leqi N Y y prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

97 S-T TB-B Xiandao N Y N or/or pre pref? QP/IVM? end situ

98 S-T TB-B Zaiwa N Y n/i prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

99 S-T TB-J Anong N Y N prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

100 S-T TB-J Bengni N Y N prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

101 S-T TB-J Bengru N Y Y n/i n/i pref? QP/IVM? end situ

102 S-T TB-J Darang N Y n/i n/i n/i pref? QP/IVM? end situ

103 S-T TB-J Dulong N Y y n/i n/i pref QP/IVM end situ

104 S-T TB-J Geman Yr Y y or/or pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

105 S-T TB-J Jingpo N Y N or pre pref QP/IVM? end situ

106 S-T TB-J Sulong N Y Y or/or pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

107 S-T TB-J Yidu N Y y or/or pre pref? QP/IVM? end situ

108 S-T TB-Q Ergong N Y N? n/i n/i pref QP/IVM end situ

109 S-T TB-Q Ersu N Y N? n/i n/i pref/suf QP/IVM end situ

110 S-T TB-Q Guiqiong N Y N? n/i n/i n/i QP/IVM end situ

111 S-T TB-Q Lawurong N Y n/i or/or pre pref QP/IVM end situ

112 S-T TB-Q Muya N Y n/i n/i n/i inf QP/IVM end? situ

113 S-T TB-Q Namuyi N Y Y? n/i n/i pref QP/IVM end situ

114 S-T TB-Q Pumi N Y N or pos pref/suf QP/IVM end situ

115 S-T TB-Q Qiang Yr Y N prt pos N QP/IVM end situ

116 S-T TB-Q Queyu N n/i n/i n/i n/i pref/suf IVM n/i situ

117 S-T TB-Q rGyarong N Y N prt pos pref QP/IVM (n-)end situ

118 S-T TB-Q Shixing N Y n/i n/i n/i pref/suf QP/IVM end situ

119 S-T TB-Q Zhaba N Y n/i n/i n/i n/i QP end situ

120 S-T TB-T Baima N Y N prt pos pref QP/IVM end situ

347

Adp S.O.V N.G N.Adj N.D N.Num Cla PNP WLT NP PRO No.

Pr SVO GN NAdj/adjn DN NumN NM NM/dm nm Neu Neu 81

Pr SVO/sov GN AdjN/nadj DN NumN NM NM/DM nm Neu Neu 82

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 83

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 84

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 85

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 86

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 87Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 88

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 89

Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 90Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 91Pr SVO GN AdjN DN NumN NM DM/nm i/o Neu Neu 92

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 93

Po SOV GN AdjN ND/dn NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 94

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 95

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND/dn NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 96

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM DM/nm dm Acc Acc 97

Po SOV GN N|Adj ND/dn NNum DM DM/nm dm Acc Acc 98

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 99

Po SOV GN NAdj N|D NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 100

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn DN NNum DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 101

Po SOV GN NAdj N|D NNum DM DM/nm dm Acc Acc 102

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn DN NNum/numn DM DM/NM dm Acc Acc 103

Po SOV GN NAdj N|D NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 104

Po SOV GN NAdj ND/dn NNum DM DM/nm dm Acc Acc 105

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM/nm dm Acc? Acc 106

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum NM DM i/o Erg Erg 107

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 108

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 109

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 110

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DoM DM i/o Erg? Erg? 111

Po SOV GN NAdj N|D NNum DoM DM i/o Erg? Erg? 112

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 113

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 114

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum NM DM i/o Erg? Erg? 115

Po SOV/svo GN NAdj DN NNum/numn DM DM DM Acc Acc 116

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn DN NNum HM HM HM Erg Erg 117

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 118

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 119

Po SOV GN NAdj ND/dn NNum NM NM/DM nm Erg Erg 120

348

No. Fam Group Lg Into QP X-n-X Alt1 Alt2 IVM PQ PPQP PIPCQ

121 S-T TB-T Menba N Y N n/i n/i pref? QP/IVM? end situ

122 S-T TB-T Tibetan N Y N prt pos pref QP/IVM end situ

123 S-T TB-T Tsangluo N Y Y? prt pos pref? QP/IVM? end situ

124 S-T TB-Y Bai N Y N? n/i n/i Vtone QP+IVM end situ

125 S-T TB-Y Bisu N Y Y prt pos n/i QP end situ

126 S-T TB-Y Hani N Y Y or pre VV QP/IVM end situ

127 S-T TB-Y Jinuo N Y Y or/or pre n/i QP end situ

128 S-T TB-Y Kazhuo Yr Y N or/or pre VV QP/IVM end situ

129 S-T TB-Y Lahu N Y Y or pre VV QP/IVM end situ

130 S-T TB-Y Lisu N? Y Y n/i n/i VV QP/IVM end situ

131 S-T TB-Y Mo'ang N Y n/i n/i n/i n/i QP end n/i

132 S-T TB-Y Naxi N Y Y or pos VV/pref QP/IVM end situ

133 S-T TB-Y Nusu N Y Y prt pos n/i QP end situ

134 S-T TB-Y Rouruo N Y Y prt pos pref QP/IVM end situ

135 S-T TB-Y Sangkong N Y Y or pre n/i QP end situ

136 S-T TB-Y Tanglang N Y Y prt pos VV QP/IVM end situ

137 S-T TB-Y Tujia N Y Y or pos n/i QP end situ

138 S-T TB-Y Yi N Y Y or pos VV QP/IVM end situ

349

Adp S.O.V N.G N.Adj N.D N.Num Cla PNP WLT NP PRO No.

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum NM DM i/o Erg Erg 121

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM DM DM Act Act 122

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum NM DM i/o Erg Erg 123

Pr SVO/sov GN NAdj DN NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 124

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn DN/nd NNum/numn DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 125

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND/dn NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 126

Po SOV GN NAdj ND/dn NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 127

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 128

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 129

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND/dn NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 130

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM DM DM Neu? Neu? 131

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn DN/nd NNum DM NM/DM dm Acc Acc 132

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND/dn NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 133

Po SOV GN NAdj N|D NNum DM NM/DM dm Acc Acc 134

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 135

Po SOV GN NAdj/adjn ND NNum DM DM DM Acc Acc 136

Po SOV GN NAdj DN NNum DM NM/dm i/o Acc Acc 137

Po SOV GN NAdj ND NNum DM DM DM Neu Acc 138

350

351

Appendix II. Atlas of interrogative strategies

Notes for the atlas:

1. The shapes are language families and the colors are values.

2. The numbers for languages and the abbreviations for language families are based on Appendix I (see also the next page).

3. For the sake of clearer visualization, some values are combined or simplified. For example, in Map 6 on interrogative verb

morphology, “prefix”, “suffix”, and “infix” are covered by a general value “affix”. That is, the information presented in the

maps is sometimes more general. For details of features and values, readers can refer to Appendix I and relevant chapters.

4. Conventions for the frequency of values in individual languages:

Capital letters X X is often used Lowercase letters x X is used, but less often Parentheses (X) X can be used, but even less oftenQuestion marks X? X may be used, but not very clear

352

The languages of China

No. Fam Group Lg No. Fam Group Lg No. Fam Group Lg No. Fam Group Lg No. Fam Group Lg

1 A-A M-K Bulang 31 Altaic Turkic W. Yugur 61 S-T Kam Dai 91 S-T Sinitic Wu 121 S-T TB-T Menba 2 A-A M-K Buxing 32 Aus Forms Amis 62 S-T Kam Gelao 92 S-T Sinitic Xiang 122 S-T TB-T Tibetan 3 A-A M-K De'ang 33 Aus Forms Atayal 63 S-T Kam Kam 93 S-T TB-B Achang 123 S-T TB-T Tsangluo 4 A-A M-K Kemie 34 Aus Forms Bunun 64 S-T Kam Laji 94 S-T TB-B Bola 124 S-T TB-Y Bai 5 A-A M-K Kemu 35 Aus Chamic Huihui 65 S-T Kam Lajia 95 S-T TB-B Langsu 125 S-T TB-Y Bisu 6 A-A M-K Wa 36 Aus Forms Kanakanavu 66 S-T Kam Li 96 S-T TB-B Leqi 126 S-T TB-Y Hani 7 A-A V-M Jing 37 Aus Forms Kavalan 67 S-T Kam Lingao 97 S-T TB-B Xiandao 127 S-T TB-Y Jinuo 8 A-A V-M Lai 38 Aus Forms Paiwan 68 S-T Kam Maonan 98 S-T TB-B Zaiwa 128 S-T TB-Y Kazhuo 9 A-A V-M Mang 39 Aus Forms Pazeh 69 S-T Kam Mo 99 S-T TB-J Anong 129 S-T TB-Y Lahu

10 Altaic Mong Bao'an 40 Aus Forms Puyuma 70 S-T Kam Mulam 100 S-T TB-J Bengni 130 S-T TB-Y Lisu 11 Altaic Mong Daur 41 Aus Forms Rukai 71 S-T Kam Mulao 101 S-T TB-J Bengru 131 S-T TB-Y Mo'ang 12 Altaic Mong Dongxiang 42 Aus Forms Saaroa 72 S-T Kam Pubiao 102 S-T TB-J Darang 132 S-T TB-Y Naxi 13 Altaic Mong E. Yugur 43 Aus Forms Saisiyat 73 S-T Kam Shui 103 S-T TB-J Dulong 133 S-T TB-Y Nusu 14 Altaic Mong Kangjia 44 Aus Forms Sedeq 74 S-T Kam Yanghuang 104 S-T TB-J Geman 134 S-T TB-Y Rouruo 15 Altaic Mong Mongolian 45 Aus Forms Thao 75 S-T Kam Zhuang 105 S-T TB-J Jingpo 135 S-T TB-Y Sangkong 16 Altaic Mong Tu 46 Aus Forms Tsou 76 S-T M-Y Baheng 106 S-T TB-J Sulong 136 S-T TB-Y Tanglang 17 Altaic Tung Evenki 47 Aus Batanic Yami 77 S-T M-Y Bana 107 S-T TB-J Yidu 137 S-T TB-Y Tujia 18 Altaic Tung Hezhen 48 Creole Creole Dao 78 S-T M-Y Bunu 108 S-T TB-Q Ergong 138 S-T TB-Y Yi 19 Altaic Tung Korean 49 Creole Creole E 79 S-T M-Y Hmong 109 S-T TB-Q Ersu 20 Altaic Tung Manchu 50 Creole Creole Tangwang 80 S-T M-Y Jiongnai 110 S-T TB-Q Guiqiong21 Altaic Tung Oreqen 51 Creole Creole Wutun 81 S-T M-Y Mian 111 S-T TB-Q Lawurong22 Altaic Tung Xibo 52 Creole Creole Za 82 S-T M-Y She 112 S-T TB-Q Muya 23 Altaic Turkic Kazak 53 I-E Iranian Tajik 83 S-T Sinitic Cantonese 113 S-T TB-Q Namuyi 24 Altaic Turkic Kirgiz 54 S-T Kam Biao 84 S-T Sinitic Gan 114 S-T TB-Q Pumi 25 Altaic Turkic Salar 55 S-T Kam Bouyei 85 S-T Sinitic Hakka 115 S-T TB-Q Qiang 26 Altaic Turkic Tatar 56 S-T Kam Bugan 86 S-T Sinitic Hui 116 S-T TB-Q Queyu 27 Altaic Turkic Tu'erke 57 S-T Kam Buyang 87 S-T Sinitic Jin 117 S-T TB-Q rGyarong28 Altaic Turkic Tuwa 58 S-T Kam Caijia 88 S-T Sinitic Mandarin 118 S-T TB-Q Shixing 29 Altaic Turkic Uighur 59 S-T Kam Chadong 89 S-T Sinitic Min 119 S-T TB-Q Zhaba 30 Altaic Turkic Uzbek 60 S-T Kam Cun 90 S-T Sinitic Ping 120 S-T TB-T Baima

A-A: Austro-Asiatic M-K: Mon-Khmer V-M: Viet-Muong

Altaic: Mong: Mongolian Tung: Manchu-Tungusic

Aus: Austronesian Forms: Formosan

I-E: Indo-European S-T: Sino-Tibetan M-Y: Miao-Yao

TB: Tibeto-Burman

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2

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3436 37

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4546

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61

6263

64

65

66

67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

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8990

91

92

9394

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9697

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99

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101102

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106107

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122123

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132133

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138

Falling

Intonation

No  info

None

Rising

intonation

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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6263

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6869

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71

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7374

75

7677

78

79

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81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

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121

122123

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125

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127

128

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131

132133

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135

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137

138

No  info

No  question  particle

Question  particle

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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3436 37

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4546

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5051

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6263

64

65

66

67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

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106107

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122123

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132133

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138

No  info

None

X-­neg-­X

X-­neg-­X?

x-­neg-­x

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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4344

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6263

64

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6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

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81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122123

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125

126

127

128

129

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131

132133

134

135

136

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138

No  info

Particle  disjunction

or

or/or

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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6263

64

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67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

110

111

112

113

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115

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118

119

120

121

122123

124

125

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131

132133

134

135

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137

138

(Pre)

No  info

Post

Pre

Pre/Post

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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4344

4546

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5051

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61

6263

64

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66

67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

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111

112

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121

122123

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127

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131

132133

134

135

136

137

138

Affix

Interrogative  verb

No  info

None

Pre-­verb  Q  marker

Verb-­reduplication

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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4546

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6263

64

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67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

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8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

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99

100

101102

103

104

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106107

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109

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122123

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127

128

129

130

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132133

134

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138

Interrog  V  morpho  (IVM)

No  info

QP/IVM

QP/IVM?

QP/ivm

Question  particle  (QP)

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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404142

4344

4546

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61

6263

64

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66

67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132133

134

135

136

137

138

Final

No  info

No  question  particle

Other

final

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T

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404142

4344

4546

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59

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61

6263

64

65

66

67

6869

70

71

72

7374

75

7677

78

79

80

81

8283

84

85

86

87

88

8990

91

92

9394

95

9697

98

99

100

101102

103

104

105

106107

108

109

110

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112

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120

121

122123

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127

128

129

130

131

132133

134

135

136

137

138

Mixed

No  info

Wh-­  in  situ

A-­A

Altaic

Aus

Creole

I-­E

S-­T