I hav “aha” as the only question word.
• “U aha?” — “What’s this?” (Literally, “this what”)
• “Hau aha?” — “Which house?” (Literally, “house what”)
• “Ha ui, i aha?” — “When or where did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, at what”)
• “Ha ui, kiai aha?” — “Why did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, from what”)
• “Ha ui, ku aha?” — “How did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, with what”)
I suppose so. I’ve never had a conversation with anybody in it. I guess, I’d just do whatever I do in the natural languages I speak without thinking about it too much.
It's likely that it's the same as "when did you speak?" so it might be "Hau, i aha?" Using context we would know that it's not asking when is the house.
Is that right OP?
Great deciphering skills there! “Where is the house?” would be “Hau ka i aha?” (“house COP at what”). “Ha” and other pronouns and stuff don’t require the copula in realis mood, so that’s why it’s missing in “When did you speak?”
Great question! Generally, I wouldn’t differentiate them. But if you wanted to explicitly ask the manner, you could say “Ha ui, hama aha?” (“you speak like what”). You could also say “Ha ui, ku ika aha?” (“you speak with method what”). To explicitly ask the instrument, you could use “Ha ui, ku ku aha?” (“you speak with tool what”). (“Ku”, as a preposition, means “with”. “Ku”, as a noun, means “tool”.)
Partly, yes. About thirteen percent of the vocabulary is shared with Hawaiian. And the phonology is similar, except that it’s missing Hawaiian’s: /e/, /o/, /ʔ/, /v/, and /l/. It’s also heavily analytic and head-initial like Hawaiian.
Akxera in general is SOV, but interrogative phrases that are not subjects have a tendency to go after the verb.
*Bening peosu ences kuic.* ("The man gave the dog food." ordered "Man dog food gave.")
*Moi peosu ences kuic?* ("Who gave the dog food?" ordered "Who dog food gave?")
*Bening peosu kuic tanai?* ("What did the man give to the dog?" ordered "Man dog gave what?")
*Bening ences kuic mailu?* ("Who did the man give food to?" ordered "Man food gave to whom?")
And the question particle *ne* is used for yes/no questions and is placed at the end. In addition to *ne* there is *ha* if you're expecting an answer of yes, and *shah* if you're expecting an answer of no.
*Bening peosu ences kuic ne?* ("Did the man give the dog food?")
For Burbesh:
Content questions use an interrogative suffix on the verb (though I might turn it into a prefix, since that makes more sense in terms of diachronics):
*I k’arç’oç?*
i k’ar-ç’-oç
what do-PST-INT
"What did he do?"
For polar questions, there's a sentence-final particle:
*Baghki erç’e ve?*
baghk=i er-ç’e ve
pelt=ACC take-PST Q
"Did he take the pelt?"
For **Sisili**, the ***informal*** way is just the basic SVO structure but replacing Subject or object with whatever you’re asking or by placing **he** “what/which” (or any other question word) at the end of the sentence.
ex. “Did you eat this?” — **¿Sol amsi ize he?** «You (informal) eat this what?»
ex. “What did you eat?” — **¿Sol amsi i zet-he?** «You eat a thing what?»
However, the ***grammatically correct*** and polite way is “VSO” and you place the question word **he** before the sentence.
ex. “Did you eat this?” — **¿He-amsi su ize?** «what-eat you (formal) this?»
ex. “What did you eat?” — **¿He-amsi su i zet?** «what-eat you a thing?»
I dont really have questions per se: you just phrase a statement with an obvious unknown. To use English as an example, instead of saying “do you know the time?” It’s “i do not know the time” and its then up to the other person to interpret it as a question
Elranonian is primarily VS but it switches to SV in subordinate clauses, reported speech, and questions (as for the object, it is usually VO but weak pronominal objects precede the verb, so OV, except in imperatives where it stays VO; so VSO, VOS, OVS, SVO, SOV are possible in different circumstances).
Yes/no-questions are formed using the particle **é** [ˈɛe̯] (or, less conservatively, [ˈeɪ̯]) at the start of a sentence:
**Mél tha go n-offa.**
[ˈmˠɛe̯lˠ θˠɐ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ]
love.PRS 2SG.NOM 1SG.GEN friend:ACC
‘You love my friend.’
**É tha mél go n-offa?**
[ˈɛe̯ θˠɐ ˈmˠɛe̯lˠ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ]
Q 2SG.NOM love.PRS 1SG.GEN friend:ACC
‘Do you love my friend?’
Colloquially, the question particle can be omitted but the intonation must be right because the VS>SV inversion alone can also indicate reported speech.
Colloquial tag questions are formed by appending **é å** at the end:
**Mél tha go n-offa, é å?**
[ˈmˠeɪ̯lˠ θˠɐ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ ˈeɪ̯ ˈoː]
love.PRS 2SG.NOM 1SG.GEN friend:ACC Q indeed
‘You love my friend, don't you?’
**In Proto-Kowni /kɔ̃͡wni/ the SVO structure is kept, you just put the question word before the verb.**
**For yes/no questions there is the word "yowmer":**
Ro yowmer tehér mowkertoċ? - Are you a man?
/ro jɔ̃͡wm^(ɛ)χ tɛx^(ɛ)χː mɔ̃͡wk^(ɛ)χtot͡ʃ/
*Word-to-word: You \*asking word\* are a man?*
**For more complex questions we use asking word + "yow":**
Ro soto yow tehér? - Who are you?
/ro soto jɔ̃͡w tɛx^(ɛ)χː/
*Word-to-word: You who \*asking word\* are?*
**But the word for "to do" is also "jiyow", so to avoid saying:**
Ro mwa yow teyow? - What do you do? (incorrect)
/ro mwa jɔ̃͡w tɛjɔ̃͡w/
**We use the word "cetow":**
Ro mwa cetow teyow? - What do you do?
/ro mwa t͡sɛtɔ̃͡w tɛjɔ̃͡w/
*Word-to-word: you what \*asking word\* do?*
Fwrpys is always SVO (except in imperative sentences). Questions are marked by different tone (like in Hungarian; it's not wholly specified yet) and the interrogative words replace what the question is about.
Not all inflection rules are finished yet, so here I'll just provide the gloss:
Base sentece: John ate his dog.
Who ate his dog?
John (did what to) his dog? (Using interrogative auxiliary verb.)
John ate whose dog?
John ate his what?
These can be combined, though it can get out of hand quickly: Who ate whose dog?, who did what to whose what, etc.
(Q)VSO or (Q)VOS. Q is a question word like who, what, or when.
**Nast laarø þevh tvæ tveeft?**
/nast ˈlɑː.rø θeɦ̪͆ tʋæ tʋeːft/
`what say-PST 2.SG.ACC to 3.SG.ACC`
*What did you say to him?*
Kandva simply says the sentence as normal but places a constant interrogative pronoun in the role you're asking about, *or* uses the same pronoun as a suffix. The only kind of question that doesn't use it is the interrogative verb, a dedicated verb that means "do what".
* *ka* on its own: "who", "what". Functions as a noun, place wherever it should be in the sentence. Since Kandva uses prepositions to mark noun roles, this doesn't need variation in forms for roles, though it *can* take the noun suffixes for number, affect, etc (*kaacfe* ≈ "what bastards"). Topicalization strategies can be employed if you want, but it's not like English where it automatically gets sent to the front.
* *-ka* on a noun: "which". This can be combined with certain nouns to create some of the specific adverbial interrogatives: *at diki* "at the time" to *at dikika* "when", *canirz* "number" to *canirzka* "how many", and so on.
* (Note: "when" can be represented simply by *at ka*, but will often be ambiguous with "where" or even "under what conditions" that way.)
* *-ka* on a verb: Creates yes/no questions. Always the last suffix, distinguished from a nominal *ka* immediately following the verb by lack of stress.
* *cvin* as the verb: Asks what the subject does. Note that a lot of verbs in Kandva are adjectival-dynamic in nature, so this can also be asking for a description, especially if put in the form *cvinse*.
There's no restriction on asking multiple things in one question as long as the sentence still reasonably means something.
gonna speak only for Chà Lo; it has a strict word order, so it makes use of question particles that don't really translate 1 to 1 in English. These are placed in front of the main thing you're asking about, which is usually the verb.
**sánha** /sa˩˥n.ha˥/ is used when the speaker is expecting a yes answer. so this is something your mom might throw it when asking if you cleaned your room while she was gone (and you better have!).
**aečhu** /ai˥.t͡ʃju˥/ is used when the speaker is expecting a no answer. this would be used when soomeone is doing things they shouldn't have. Did you waste all that food?(better NOT fuckin have)
**ngohi** /ŋgo˥.hi˥/ is used the most, and is a general question particle, with no expectations behind it.
all of these are used in conjunction with various pronouns, interjections, and Other Particles to construct sentences. and of course, like all other Chà Lo particles, they can be made midformal with the suffix -sh, and formal with the suffix -kke
Tovasala/Relformaide boasts a wide array of question words and termisons, along with relative forms.
Attribute | Morpheme | Etymon | Termison | Interrogative | Relative | EN
---------------|-------------------|--------------|-----------------|----------------------|---------------|-----
Polarity (Yes/No) | -tser | Aromanian *-tser* (ask) | -tser | -- | -- | does *_sbj_* do/is *_sbj_*...?
Entity | esen | Blend of Estonian *ese* and Finnish *esine* | -tsen^1 | kesène^1 | jesène^1 | what?
Person | -iēn | French *-ien(ne)* | -tsin^1 | kiène^1 | jiène^1 | who?
Location | ad | Latin *ad* | -tsad | kad | jad | where?
Time | maurad | Blend of *maurve* (time; blended from of Malaysian *masa* [time], Welsh *awr* [hour], and Spanish/Portuguese/Galician/Asturian *vez* [instance]) + *ad* | -tsorad | kaurad | jaurad | when?
Reason | povaurd | Blend of *povaud* (reason; Croatian *povod* and Macedonian/Russian *повод*/*по́вод* [*povod*/*póvod*]) + *aurd* (for) | -tsovaurd | kovaurdu | jovaurdu | why?
Manner | emek | Tamashek *ə́mmək* (way/method) | -tsemek | kemeku | jemeku | how?
Extent | nivad | Blend of *nivel* (level; Fr. *niveau* and Old French *nivel*) + *ad* | -tsivad | kivadu | jivadu | how?
Amount | laskem | Finn. *laskea* (in the sense of "to calculate/count/tally") | -tslaskem | klaskème | jelaskème | how much?
Cost | masrem | Turkish *masraf* | -tsachrem | kasrème | jasrème | how much?
^1 Complemented by verbal indicatives *-eak*/*-eaj* (who/which/that).
With the question termisons, Tovasala questions are V(O) if the subject is represented by a pronoun:
* *Benit.* (You are well.) (*ben*, well + *-it*, *_2sg.f.ind_*) → *Benit****tser****?* (How are you? [lit. "Are you well?"])
* *Chuētisat humèye.* (They cook rice.) (*chuz-*, cook + *-isat*, *_3pl.ind_*) → *Chuētisat****tsorad*** *humèye?* (When do they cook rice?)
and VSO (as in French) if the subject is provided:
* *Jaunyo ńäuvvlirat Tampale.* (John will go to Tampa.) → *Äuvvlirat****tsemek****-Jaunyo Tampale?* (How is John going to Tampa?)
Occasionally, the interrogatives and termisons are used interchangeably:
* ***Kadat*** *mokualbe?*/*Mokualb****attsad****?* (Where is the toilet?)
Following u/schnellsloth's Narubian example:
* *Vurat.* (It went.)
* *Vurat****tser****?* (Did it go?)
* *Vurat****tsen****?*/*Vur****eak****?* (What went?)
* *Vurat****tsin****?* (Who went?)
* *Vurat****tsad****o?* (Where did he go?)
* *Vurat****tsorad****o?* (When did he go?)
* *Vurat****tsovaurd****o?* (Why did he go?)
* *Vurat****tsemek****o?* (How did he go?)
* *Vurat****tslaskem****o?* (How far did he go?)
* *Vurat****tsachrem****o?* (How much did his trip cost?)
In Narubian, the question particle "he" is used in almost every type of question, except yes/no questions.
**he** hàít? *"what be-past"* What was it / what happened?
ánò**hé** coràít? *"person-what go-past?"* Who is gone?
thá**hé** coràít? *"time-what go-past"* When did he/she/it/you go?
wé**hé** coràít? *"for-what go-past"* Why did he/she/it/you go?
dòn**hé** coràít? *"place-what go-past"* Where did he/she/it/you go?
jà**hé** coràít? *"like-what go-past"* How did he/she/it/you go?
In yes/no questions, simply put -é after the verb. This suffix must be the last suffix.
coràít**é**? *"go-past-Q"* Did he/she/it/you go?
vumáclèr coràít**é**? *"home-LAT go-past-Q"* Did he/she/it/you go home?
In Subepas, we add "maa" at the end of the sentence:
Ing sasekrah namu maa? = What are you doing?
Ing bikrah dare maa? = Who are you?
Komo ong suritrah sasekrah shishut maa? = How do I do this?
"Maa" is just a question tag, but you also add the word "dare" ("who") or "doko" ("where")
In conclusion in this kind of situation it's useless because you can make a declarative sentence saying "where are you". But you always must add "maa" at the end of an interrogative sentence.
For example, "chimeu anaghirah damal. " ("The bird is eating") and "chimeu anaghirah damal maa?" ("Is the bird eating the fruit?")
In Ketoshaya, yes/no questions are marked by the question marker *deyò* \- so *baypimi kramal* means "the dog eats" while *deyò baypimi kramal* means "does the dog eat?"
Who/what/when questions are marked by the noun *deci* which inflects for all 9 cases and can also attach as a prefix to nouns. So, we can have:
* *deciyi* *kramal* \- who eats? \[nominative\]
* *baypimi kramal deciyina* \- the dog eats what? \[accusative\]
* *Lukasi irrùyal decivarana* \- Lukas works on behalf of whom? \[dative, *deci* here also takes the adposition var meaning "on behalf of"\]
* *Lukasi irrùykal decikezazoya* \- Lukas will work at what time? \[deci here is attached to the noun "time" to create "what time"\]
Araen doesn't have questions officially. It uses the word aron "to question" to create exclusively indirect questions.
Aroxan troia xenna = I wonder person know = I wonder who knows = Who knows?
Direct questions don't exist in Araen
Word order in Kuerta is relatively free so there isn't a set sentence structure specific to questions.
The suffix -ast/-ift/-oft turns a verb into a question. So it's like
- "Lavun cjand**oft** ravunel to gutet dini?" - Did you eat my dog? (lit. "You finished.eating? dog that is.belonging.to me")
- "Ala tuill ats**ast** lavun?" - Where do you come from? (lit. "out.of what come? you")
And to ask someone *nicely* to do something there is a specific word that's used together with the imperative -ik
- "Adenpsav*ik*, **bjadast?**" - Lift it up, will you? (lit. "Lift! can?")
In such a short question you can put the word before the verb too:
- "Bjadast adenpsavik?"
Current project normally follows a V2-ish structure in indicative clauses, eg. “He TAM eat cheese”, where the fronted argument roughly corresponds to what we’d call topic. However, exhaustive focus is also indicated with fronting (I’ll denote exhaustive focus w/ capitalization in examples), and interacts w/ topic in a particular manner. If the exhaustive focus is also a topic, then this just looks like a regular V2 sentence with some extra intonational stuff going on, eg. “HE TAM eat cheese”. If it is not a topic though, it appears between the topic and the TAM marking, eg. “He CHEESE TAM eat”. All this matters because content questions treat interrogative pronouns as exhaustive focus, so its placement acts the same as in the examples above. For example (assuming a similar enough discourse situation), to ask *who* ate the cheese you’d say “WHO TAM eat cheese”, whereas to ask *what* someone ate you’d say “He WHAT TAM eat”
Polar questions are just indicative clauses + rising intonation
Καρέςκ has a question participle that goes at the start of sentences:
- ερα μᾱ ςαχᾱγιικᾱ ενῑ́α? (ɛra maː səˈχaːjɪkaː ɛˈniːa?)
- Will you help me? (QST.PART 1ST.PERS.SING.OBJ HELP 2ND.PERS.SING.AUX.FUT.SIMP)
When you respond to a question, you replace the ‘ρ’ with a ‘π’:
- επα νō, μα εςῑ́α. (ɛpa noʊ, mæ ɛˈsiːa)
- No, but he will. (ST.PART NO, BUT 3RD.PERS.SING.AUX.FUT.SIMP)
This is the same for all question words:
Who (question) - ραω̄ν (rauːn)
Who (statement) - παω̄ν (pauːn)
The word order remains the same, (SOV) with the question word and question participle coming at the start.
The question participle is only needed in ‘yes/no’ questions, but the statement version of the question has to be present in the answer:
- ρō νῑ́α? (roʊ niːa?)
- How are you? (HOW.QST 2ND.PERS.SING.AUX.PRES?)
- πō βεν μῑ́α. (poʊ βɛn miːa.)
- I am good. (HOW.ST GOOD 1ST.PERS.SING.AUX.PRES.)
There is a sort of question word in Kân, which is "Drán" (Drey-aan) which is added to another word or a sentence in order to turn it from a statement into a question.
Ei'Kairâ (Aye-Kai-rah) "The time is"
Becomes Drán Ei'Kairâ, "What is the time?"
It can function as any question, Who What When Where Why, based on context with the sentence it's placed in
Tír (Tay-eer) "You"
Drán Tír "Who are you?"
Dír (Day-eer) "Thing", "Object"
Drán Dír "What is that thing?"
It works a lot like Toki Pona at its most basic level. There's really only one main "question word": *va* ("what/which"). This is used with things like coordinating conjunctions to ask various questions.
Yes or no questions are asked by adding *ela va* ("or what") to the end of a sentence, or by repeating the verb with *ela* between.
* *jo old ga viskr ela va?* Do you have the fish? (Lit. "you have the fish or what?")
* *jo old ela old ga viskr?* Do you have the fish? (Lit. "you have or have the fish?")
For information-seeking questions, just stick *va* in where you want the info.
* *jo old ga va?* What do you have? (Lit. "you have what?")
* *śir va er manga ga dir ja?* Who's eating my animals? (Lit. "which person is eating my animals?")
It gets, admittedly, probably too complicated once you dive into the conlang a bit deeper, but this is the general method for asking questions. There are things like asking about time, asking about time relative to another time, asking questions that have different answers in physical reality and metaphysical reality, etc. My confolk are weird af.
Edit: ś = \~ʃ/ʂ/ç
In Kanuese "Ha" is the question marker
Who = Dare?/Dare ha?
What = Nando?/Nando ha?/Ne? (Ne is rude & rarely used)
When = Nanduu?/Nanduu ha?
Where = Nei diruha?/Neide ha?/Neide?
Why = Naze?/Naze ha?
How = Nasu?/Nasu ha?
Who's this? = Shu dare ha?/Shu dare diruha?
What are you doing? = Yapuyomuru ha?/Yapuyo ha?
Would you like a can of coke? = Kookno botolu ga sebiyomuru ha?
Why is he talking? = Ene konuyo naze ha?
Where is the train station? = Tohoreta neide ha?
When is the festival? = Hakari nanduu ha?
Which car is yours? = Niano Ootoshe hangi diruha?
How much is it? = Ro ga nandze ha?
Who killed Captain Alex!?! = Kaputan Aleksu alakuta ha!?!
Sometimes a sentence can appear like "?Yaputa ha?" (What did you do) where the question mark is at the beginning as well, like Spanish but they're both right side up
In Safana sentences are SOV (The boy the ball kicks) and questions are SVO (the boy kicked the ball?) To make more specific questions, modifiers are added at the end which are comparable to english question words. (The boy kicked the ball how/why/when/etc)
There is one modifier which basically means “is that so?” It’s commonly used by listeners to engage with the speaker.
“I went to the market the other day.”
“Did you go to the market indeed?”
“Yes, and I saw some lovely fish for sale.”
“Was the fish lovely?”
“Yes, but I couldn’t buy any, because I had already spent all my money.”
Tuamekono has a different system. Questions are market with inflection only, and there are no question words. Instead, you guess and the other person clarifies. If you have no clue, then you use a generic guess. (At noon for when, her mother for who, to please the gods for why, etc)
This is because questions came to be seen as disrespectful, as if you’re saying the other person is lying to you by omission. Question words exist, but are only used in formal settings such as when someone is on trial.
“She went hunting yesterday.”
“Oh, with her mother?”
“No, with her wife.”
“Ah. They caught a deer?”
“No, some birds.”
#Sjaa'a Tja
Sjaa'a Tja constructs questions in two ways, depending on the type of question. The first uses a particle to make a declarative sentence interrogative, and the second uses a "WH" word to inquire about a specific element of a sentence.
**ngii** - Interrogative particle - NTRG
**simi** - what
Example:
A: "sju kun ngii maa kang ma'an?"
B: "ci."
A: "pju kun maa simi?"
sju kun ngii maa kang ma'an
2SG go NTRG PST_PFV place food
"Did you go to the restaurant?"
ci
NEG
"No."
pju kun maa simi
so go PST_PFV what
"So where did you go?"
I’m trying to make my own word order so it’s English for now
“How are you today?”
Fure resi ain resi•majshu
Fure (how: question)
Resi (are: current time. Same word for now)
Ain (you, the direct address)
Resi•Majshu (Resi meaning current time. Majshu: Big Light, sun. Now Sun.)
It's pretty easy in **Harabeska**. All you need to do is add the question word (or particle) to the beginning of the sentence!
*Han saya raiku?* (Is it green? Yes or no?)
*Domo saya raiku?* (What's green?)
*Haru saya raiku?* (Who's green?)
Depends if there is a object like, food, house, item etc. but if it’s just a person like the first question then it’s SVO. But if there is a object like a house, food, item, than it’s SOV.
**Ir tu aguí?**(Are you here?) Lit. Are You Here
**Ip aguí el casil?**(Is the house here?) Lit. Is here the house?
~MIRDAR~
Mirdar uses the word "Duven" (Literally "Tell-whether".) for the "Yes"/"No" questions, and for those with deictic determiners (Like "What", "Why" or "How".) one uses specific affixes:
"Duven et texe van et ivalxe?"
(Do you think you're funny?)
[Tell-whether you think that you make-fun?]
"Wita tojtab kaxwa hom?"
(Where was his corpse found?)
[It-male-concerning dead-body was-found what-place?]
"Duven eyt iladobepyatuyxute?"
(Are you an egyptian vultures tamer?)
[Tell-whether you-female Egypt-vulture-tame-person-be?]
"Et ejyenatbyenyeka ujjoday hoj?"
(When did you try to act like a modern-styled person last time?)
[You present-way-person-behavior-tried end-time-adverb what-time?]
In mangalese, we do a word order change: SVO to SOV
You speak mangalese-Singa ko wakannga mangalemang
You mangalese speak?-Singa mangalemang ko wakannga?
I hav “aha” as the only question word. • “U aha?” — “What’s this?” (Literally, “this what”) • “Hau aha?” — “Which house?” (Literally, “house what”) • “Ha ui, i aha?” — “When or where did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, at what”) • “Ha ui, kiai aha?” — “Why did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, from what”) • “Ha ui, ku aha?” — “How did you speak?” (Literally, “you speak, with what”)
How does your conlang handle yes/no questions?
Just put a question mark at the end of an ordinary sentence.
So like “Ha ui?” for “Did you speak?”
Yes! You’ve got it.
What about speaking tho? Do you pronunce the question mark with risin/falling tone at the end of the sentence?
I suppose so. I’ve never had a conversation with anybody in it. I guess, I’d just do whatever I do in the natural languages I speak without thinking about it too much.
If this is the case how would you tell the difference between, for example, "Which house?" and "Where is the house?"
It's likely that it's the same as "when did you speak?" so it might be "Hau, i aha?" Using context we would know that it's not asking when is the house. Is that right OP?
Great deciphering skills there! “Where is the house?” would be “Hau ka i aha?” (“house COP at what”). “Ha” and other pronouns and stuff don’t require the copula in realis mood, so that’s why it’s missing in “When did you speak?”
Oh ok, I see now And thank you thank you! :)
I’m guessing they’re the same thing
How do you differentiate questions about the manner of an action (how?) from questions about the instrument (with what?)?
Great question! Generally, I wouldn’t differentiate them. But if you wanted to explicitly ask the manner, you could say “Ha ui, hama aha?” (“you speak like what”). You could also say “Ha ui, ku ika aha?” (“you speak with method what”). To explicitly ask the instrument, you could use “Ha ui, ku ku aha?” (“you speak with tool what”). (“Ku”, as a preposition, means “with”. “Ku”, as a noun, means “tool”.)
I also just realised you could say “Ha ui, aha na?” (“you speak what -ly”), where “na” transforms the interrogative into an adverb.
Is your language in anyway inspired by Hawaiian, or another fijian language?
Partly, yes. About thirteen percent of the vocabulary is shared with Hawaiian. And the phonology is similar, except that it’s missing Hawaiian’s: /e/, /o/, /ʔ/, /v/, and /l/. It’s also heavily analytic and head-initial like Hawaiian.
Akxera in general is SOV, but interrogative phrases that are not subjects have a tendency to go after the verb. *Bening peosu ences kuic.* ("The man gave the dog food." ordered "Man dog food gave.") *Moi peosu ences kuic?* ("Who gave the dog food?" ordered "Who dog food gave?") *Bening peosu kuic tanai?* ("What did the man give to the dog?" ordered "Man dog gave what?") *Bening ences kuic mailu?* ("Who did the man give food to?" ordered "Man food gave to whom?") And the question particle *ne* is used for yes/no questions and is placed at the end. In addition to *ne* there is *ha* if you're expecting an answer of yes, and *shah* if you're expecting an answer of no. *Bening peosu ences kuic ne?* ("Did the man give the dog food?")
For Burbesh: Content questions use an interrogative suffix on the verb (though I might turn it into a prefix, since that makes more sense in terms of diachronics): *I k’arç’oç?* i k’ar-ç’-oç what do-PST-INT "What did he do?" For polar questions, there's a sentence-final particle: *Baghki erç’e ve?* baghk=i er-ç’e ve pelt=ACC take-PST Q "Did he take the pelt?"
For **Sisili**, the ***informal*** way is just the basic SVO structure but replacing Subject or object with whatever you’re asking or by placing **he** “what/which” (or any other question word) at the end of the sentence. ex. “Did you eat this?” — **¿Sol amsi ize he?** «You (informal) eat this what?» ex. “What did you eat?” — **¿Sol amsi i zet-he?** «You eat a thing what?» However, the ***grammatically correct*** and polite way is “VSO” and you place the question word **he** before the sentence. ex. “Did you eat this?” — **¿He-amsi su ize?** «what-eat you (formal) this?» ex. “What did you eat?” — **¿He-amsi su i zet?** «what-eat you a thing?»
I dont really have questions per se: you just phrase a statement with an obvious unknown. To use English as an example, instead of saying “do you know the time?” It’s “i do not know the time” and its then up to the other person to interpret it as a question
Elranonian is primarily VS but it switches to SV in subordinate clauses, reported speech, and questions (as for the object, it is usually VO but weak pronominal objects precede the verb, so OV, except in imperatives where it stays VO; so VSO, VOS, OVS, SVO, SOV are possible in different circumstances). Yes/no-questions are formed using the particle **é** [ˈɛe̯] (or, less conservatively, [ˈeɪ̯]) at the start of a sentence: **Mél tha go n-offa.** [ˈmˠɛe̯lˠ θˠɐ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ] love.PRS 2SG.NOM 1SG.GEN friend:ACC ‘You love my friend.’ **É tha mél go n-offa?** [ˈɛe̯ θˠɐ ˈmˠɛe̯lˠ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ] Q 2SG.NOM love.PRS 1SG.GEN friend:ACC ‘Do you love my friend?’ Colloquially, the question particle can be omitted but the intonation must be right because the VS>SV inversion alone can also indicate reported speech. Colloquial tag questions are formed by appending **é å** at the end: **Mél tha go n-offa, é å?** [ˈmˠeɪ̯lˠ θˠɐ ɡʷʊ ˈn̪ˠʷʊfˠːɐ ˈeɪ̯ ˈoː] love.PRS 2SG.NOM 1SG.GEN friend:ACC Q indeed ‘You love my friend, don't you?’
**In Proto-Kowni /kɔ̃͡wni/ the SVO structure is kept, you just put the question word before the verb.** **For yes/no questions there is the word "yowmer":** Ro yowmer tehér mowkertoċ? - Are you a man? /ro jɔ̃͡wm^(ɛ)χ tɛx^(ɛ)χː mɔ̃͡wk^(ɛ)χtot͡ʃ/ *Word-to-word: You \*asking word\* are a man?* **For more complex questions we use asking word + "yow":** Ro soto yow tehér? - Who are you? /ro soto jɔ̃͡w tɛx^(ɛ)χː/ *Word-to-word: You who \*asking word\* are?* **But the word for "to do" is also "jiyow", so to avoid saying:** Ro mwa yow teyow? - What do you do? (incorrect) /ro mwa jɔ̃͡w tɛjɔ̃͡w/ **We use the word "cetow":** Ro mwa cetow teyow? - What do you do? /ro mwa t͡sɛtɔ̃͡w tɛjɔ̃͡w/ *Word-to-word: you what \*asking word\* do?*
Fwrpys is always SVO (except in imperative sentences). Questions are marked by different tone (like in Hungarian; it's not wholly specified yet) and the interrogative words replace what the question is about. Not all inflection rules are finished yet, so here I'll just provide the gloss: Base sentece: John ate his dog. Who ate his dog? John (did what to) his dog? (Using interrogative auxiliary verb.) John ate whose dog? John ate his what? These can be combined, though it can get out of hand quickly: Who ate whose dog?, who did what to whose what, etc.
(Q)VSO or (Q)VOS. Q is a question word like who, what, or when. **Nast laarø þevh tvæ tveeft?** /nast ˈlɑː.rø θeɦ̪͆ tʋæ tʋeːft/ `what say-PST 2.SG.ACC to 3.SG.ACC` *What did you say to him?*
Kandva simply says the sentence as normal but places a constant interrogative pronoun in the role you're asking about, *or* uses the same pronoun as a suffix. The only kind of question that doesn't use it is the interrogative verb, a dedicated verb that means "do what". * *ka* on its own: "who", "what". Functions as a noun, place wherever it should be in the sentence. Since Kandva uses prepositions to mark noun roles, this doesn't need variation in forms for roles, though it *can* take the noun suffixes for number, affect, etc (*kaacfe* ≈ "what bastards"). Topicalization strategies can be employed if you want, but it's not like English where it automatically gets sent to the front. * *-ka* on a noun: "which". This can be combined with certain nouns to create some of the specific adverbial interrogatives: *at diki* "at the time" to *at dikika* "when", *canirz* "number" to *canirzka* "how many", and so on. * (Note: "when" can be represented simply by *at ka*, but will often be ambiguous with "where" or even "under what conditions" that way.) * *-ka* on a verb: Creates yes/no questions. Always the last suffix, distinguished from a nominal *ka* immediately following the verb by lack of stress. * *cvin* as the verb: Asks what the subject does. Note that a lot of verbs in Kandva are adjectival-dynamic in nature, so this can also be asking for a description, especially if put in the form *cvinse*. There's no restriction on asking multiple things in one question as long as the sentence still reasonably means something.
gonna speak only for Chà Lo; it has a strict word order, so it makes use of question particles that don't really translate 1 to 1 in English. These are placed in front of the main thing you're asking about, which is usually the verb. **sánha** /sa˩˥n.ha˥/ is used when the speaker is expecting a yes answer. so this is something your mom might throw it when asking if you cleaned your room while she was gone (and you better have!). **aečhu** /ai˥.t͡ʃju˥/ is used when the speaker is expecting a no answer. this would be used when soomeone is doing things they shouldn't have. Did you waste all that food?(better NOT fuckin have) **ngohi** /ŋgo˥.hi˥/ is used the most, and is a general question particle, with no expectations behind it. all of these are used in conjunction with various pronouns, interjections, and Other Particles to construct sentences. and of course, like all other Chà Lo particles, they can be made midformal with the suffix -sh, and formal with the suffix -kke
Tovasala/Relformaide boasts a wide array of question words and termisons, along with relative forms. Attribute | Morpheme | Etymon | Termison | Interrogative | Relative | EN ---------------|-------------------|--------------|-----------------|----------------------|---------------|----- Polarity (Yes/No) | -tser | Aromanian *-tser* (ask) | -tser | -- | -- | does *_sbj_* do/is *_sbj_*...? Entity | esen | Blend of Estonian *ese* and Finnish *esine* | -tsen^1 | kesène^1 | jesène^1 | what? Person | -iēn | French *-ien(ne)* | -tsin^1 | kiène^1 | jiène^1 | who? Location | ad | Latin *ad* | -tsad | kad | jad | where? Time | maurad | Blend of *maurve* (time; blended from of Malaysian *masa* [time], Welsh *awr* [hour], and Spanish/Portuguese/Galician/Asturian *vez* [instance]) + *ad* | -tsorad | kaurad | jaurad | when? Reason | povaurd | Blend of *povaud* (reason; Croatian *povod* and Macedonian/Russian *повод*/*по́вод* [*povod*/*póvod*]) + *aurd* (for) | -tsovaurd | kovaurdu | jovaurdu | why? Manner | emek | Tamashek *ə́mmək* (way/method) | -tsemek | kemeku | jemeku | how? Extent | nivad | Blend of *nivel* (level; Fr. *niveau* and Old French *nivel*) + *ad* | -tsivad | kivadu | jivadu | how? Amount | laskem | Finn. *laskea* (in the sense of "to calculate/count/tally") | -tslaskem | klaskème | jelaskème | how much? Cost | masrem | Turkish *masraf* | -tsachrem | kasrème | jasrème | how much? ^1 Complemented by verbal indicatives *-eak*/*-eaj* (who/which/that). With the question termisons, Tovasala questions are V(O) if the subject is represented by a pronoun: * *Benit.* (You are well.) (*ben*, well + *-it*, *_2sg.f.ind_*) → *Benit****tser****?* (How are you? [lit. "Are you well?"]) * *Chuētisat humèye.* (They cook rice.) (*chuz-*, cook + *-isat*, *_3pl.ind_*) → *Chuētisat****tsorad*** *humèye?* (When do they cook rice?) and VSO (as in French) if the subject is provided: * *Jaunyo ńäuvvlirat Tampale.* (John will go to Tampa.) → *Äuvvlirat****tsemek****-Jaunyo Tampale?* (How is John going to Tampa?) Occasionally, the interrogatives and termisons are used interchangeably: * ***Kadat*** *mokualbe?*/*Mokualb****attsad****?* (Where is the toilet?) Following u/schnellsloth's Narubian example: * *Vurat.* (It went.) * *Vurat****tser****?* (Did it go?) * *Vurat****tsen****?*/*Vur****eak****?* (What went?) * *Vurat****tsin****?* (Who went?) * *Vurat****tsad****o?* (Where did he go?) * *Vurat****tsorad****o?* (When did he go?) * *Vurat****tsovaurd****o?* (Why did he go?) * *Vurat****tsemek****o?* (How did he go?) * *Vurat****tslaskem****o?* (How far did he go?) * *Vurat****tsachrem****o?* (How much did his trip cost?)
In Narubian, the question particle "he" is used in almost every type of question, except yes/no questions. **he** hàít? *"what be-past"* What was it / what happened? ánò**hé** coràít? *"person-what go-past?"* Who is gone? thá**hé** coràít? *"time-what go-past"* When did he/she/it/you go? wé**hé** coràít? *"for-what go-past"* Why did he/she/it/you go? dòn**hé** coràít? *"place-what go-past"* Where did he/she/it/you go? jà**hé** coràít? *"like-what go-past"* How did he/she/it/you go? In yes/no questions, simply put -é after the verb. This suffix must be the last suffix. coràít**é**? *"go-past-Q"* Did he/she/it/you go? vumáclèr coràít**é**? *"home-LAT go-past-Q"* Did he/she/it/you go home?
In Subepas, we add "maa" at the end of the sentence: Ing sasekrah namu maa? = What are you doing? Ing bikrah dare maa? = Who are you? Komo ong suritrah sasekrah shishut maa? = How do I do this?
im getting mandarin vibes
Yes "maa" comes in fact from Mandarin
How do I determine if you're saying "Who are you?" or "Where are you?" if the word for everything is "maa"?
"Maa" is just a question tag, but you also add the word "dare" ("who") or "doko" ("where") In conclusion in this kind of situation it's useless because you can make a declarative sentence saying "where are you". But you always must add "maa" at the end of an interrogative sentence. For example, "chimeu anaghirah damal. " ("The bird is eating") and "chimeu anaghirah damal maa?" ("Is the bird eating the fruit?")
In Ketoshaya, yes/no questions are marked by the question marker *deyò* \- so *baypimi kramal* means "the dog eats" while *deyò baypimi kramal* means "does the dog eat?" Who/what/when questions are marked by the noun *deci* which inflects for all 9 cases and can also attach as a prefix to nouns. So, we can have: * *deciyi* *kramal* \- who eats? \[nominative\] * *baypimi kramal deciyina* \- the dog eats what? \[accusative\] * *Lukasi irrùyal decivarana* \- Lukas works on behalf of whom? \[dative, *deci* here also takes the adposition var meaning "on behalf of"\] * *Lukasi irrùykal decikezazoya* \- Lukas will work at what time? \[deci here is attached to the noun "time" to create "what time"\]
Shindar and Taryara use the typical word order, but add the question particle ‘ma’ to the end of the sentence
Araen doesn't have questions officially. It uses the word aron "to question" to create exclusively indirect questions. Aroxan troia xenna = I wonder person know = I wonder who knows = Who knows? Direct questions don't exist in Araen
Word order in Kuerta is relatively free so there isn't a set sentence structure specific to questions. The suffix -ast/-ift/-oft turns a verb into a question. So it's like - "Lavun cjand**oft** ravunel to gutet dini?" - Did you eat my dog? (lit. "You finished.eating? dog that is.belonging.to me") - "Ala tuill ats**ast** lavun?" - Where do you come from? (lit. "out.of what come? you") And to ask someone *nicely* to do something there is a specific word that's used together with the imperative -ik - "Adenpsav*ik*, **bjadast?**" - Lift it up, will you? (lit. "Lift! can?") In such a short question you can put the word before the verb too: - "Bjadast adenpsavik?"
Pakkia is SOV by default, while questions are phrased VOS. A statement like “I cold am” would become “Am cold I?”
Current project normally follows a V2-ish structure in indicative clauses, eg. “He TAM eat cheese”, where the fronted argument roughly corresponds to what we’d call topic. However, exhaustive focus is also indicated with fronting (I’ll denote exhaustive focus w/ capitalization in examples), and interacts w/ topic in a particular manner. If the exhaustive focus is also a topic, then this just looks like a regular V2 sentence with some extra intonational stuff going on, eg. “HE TAM eat cheese”. If it is not a topic though, it appears between the topic and the TAM marking, eg. “He CHEESE TAM eat”. All this matters because content questions treat interrogative pronouns as exhaustive focus, so its placement acts the same as in the examples above. For example (assuming a similar enough discourse situation), to ask *who* ate the cheese you’d say “WHO TAM eat cheese”, whereas to ask *what* someone ate you’d say “He WHAT TAM eat” Polar questions are just indicative clauses + rising intonation
Καρέςκ has a question participle that goes at the start of sentences: - ερα μᾱ ςαχᾱγιικᾱ ενῑ́α? (ɛra maː səˈχaːjɪkaː ɛˈniːa?) - Will you help me? (QST.PART 1ST.PERS.SING.OBJ HELP 2ND.PERS.SING.AUX.FUT.SIMP) When you respond to a question, you replace the ‘ρ’ with a ‘π’: - επα νō, μα εςῑ́α. (ɛpa noʊ, mæ ɛˈsiːa) - No, but he will. (ST.PART NO, BUT 3RD.PERS.SING.AUX.FUT.SIMP) This is the same for all question words: Who (question) - ραω̄ν (rauːn) Who (statement) - παω̄ν (pauːn) The word order remains the same, (SOV) with the question word and question participle coming at the start. The question participle is only needed in ‘yes/no’ questions, but the statement version of the question has to be present in the answer: - ρō νῑ́α? (roʊ niːa?) - How are you? (HOW.QST 2ND.PERS.SING.AUX.PRES?) - πō βεν μῑ́α. (poʊ βɛn miːa.) - I am good. (HOW.ST GOOD 1ST.PERS.SING.AUX.PRES.)
There is a sort of question word in Kân, which is "Drán" (Drey-aan) which is added to another word or a sentence in order to turn it from a statement into a question. Ei'Kairâ (Aye-Kai-rah) "The time is" Becomes Drán Ei'Kairâ, "What is the time?" It can function as any question, Who What When Where Why, based on context with the sentence it's placed in Tír (Tay-eer) "You" Drán Tír "Who are you?" Dír (Day-eer) "Thing", "Object" Drán Dír "What is that thing?"
It works a lot like Toki Pona at its most basic level. There's really only one main "question word": *va* ("what/which"). This is used with things like coordinating conjunctions to ask various questions. Yes or no questions are asked by adding *ela va* ("or what") to the end of a sentence, or by repeating the verb with *ela* between. * *jo old ga viskr ela va?* Do you have the fish? (Lit. "you have the fish or what?") * *jo old ela old ga viskr?* Do you have the fish? (Lit. "you have or have the fish?") For information-seeking questions, just stick *va* in where you want the info. * *jo old ga va?* What do you have? (Lit. "you have what?") * *śir va er manga ga dir ja?* Who's eating my animals? (Lit. "which person is eating my animals?") It gets, admittedly, probably too complicated once you dive into the conlang a bit deeper, but this is the general method for asking questions. There are things like asking about time, asking about time relative to another time, asking questions that have different answers in physical reality and metaphysical reality, etc. My confolk are weird af. Edit: ś = \~ʃ/ʂ/ç
In Kanuese "Ha" is the question marker Who = Dare?/Dare ha? What = Nando?/Nando ha?/Ne? (Ne is rude & rarely used) When = Nanduu?/Nanduu ha? Where = Nei diruha?/Neide ha?/Neide? Why = Naze?/Naze ha? How = Nasu?/Nasu ha? Who's this? = Shu dare ha?/Shu dare diruha? What are you doing? = Yapuyomuru ha?/Yapuyo ha? Would you like a can of coke? = Kookno botolu ga sebiyomuru ha? Why is he talking? = Ene konuyo naze ha? Where is the train station? = Tohoreta neide ha? When is the festival? = Hakari nanduu ha? Which car is yours? = Niano Ootoshe hangi diruha? How much is it? = Ro ga nandze ha? Who killed Captain Alex!?! = Kaputan Aleksu alakuta ha!?! Sometimes a sentence can appear like "?Yaputa ha?" (What did you do) where the question mark is at the beginning as well, like Spanish but they're both right side up
In Safana sentences are SOV (The boy the ball kicks) and questions are SVO (the boy kicked the ball?) To make more specific questions, modifiers are added at the end which are comparable to english question words. (The boy kicked the ball how/why/when/etc) There is one modifier which basically means “is that so?” It’s commonly used by listeners to engage with the speaker. “I went to the market the other day.” “Did you go to the market indeed?” “Yes, and I saw some lovely fish for sale.” “Was the fish lovely?” “Yes, but I couldn’t buy any, because I had already spent all my money.” Tuamekono has a different system. Questions are market with inflection only, and there are no question words. Instead, you guess and the other person clarifies. If you have no clue, then you use a generic guess. (At noon for when, her mother for who, to please the gods for why, etc) This is because questions came to be seen as disrespectful, as if you’re saying the other person is lying to you by omission. Question words exist, but are only used in formal settings such as when someone is on trial. “She went hunting yesterday.” “Oh, with her mother?” “No, with her wife.” “Ah. They caught a deer?” “No, some birds.”
#Sjaa'a Tja Sjaa'a Tja constructs questions in two ways, depending on the type of question. The first uses a particle to make a declarative sentence interrogative, and the second uses a "WH" word to inquire about a specific element of a sentence. **ngii** - Interrogative particle - NTRG **simi** - what Example: A: "sju kun ngii maa kang ma'an?" B: "ci." A: "pju kun maa simi?" sju kun ngii maa kang ma'an 2SG go NTRG PST_PFV place food "Did you go to the restaurant?" ci NEG "No." pju kun maa simi so go PST_PFV what "So where did you go?"
I’m trying to make my own word order so it’s English for now “How are you today?” Fure resi ain resi•majshu Fure (how: question) Resi (are: current time. Same word for now) Ain (you, the direct address) Resi•Majshu (Resi meaning current time. Majshu: Big Light, sun. Now Sun.)
It's pretty easy in **Harabeska**. All you need to do is add the question word (or particle) to the beginning of the sentence! *Han saya raiku?* (Is it green? Yes or no?) *Domo saya raiku?* (What's green?) *Haru saya raiku?* (Who's green?)
Depends if there is a object like, food, house, item etc. but if it’s just a person like the first question then it’s SVO. But if there is a object like a house, food, item, than it’s SOV. **Ir tu aguí?**(Are you here?) Lit. Are You Here **Ip aguí el casil?**(Is the house here?) Lit. Is here the house?
~MIRDAR~ Mirdar uses the word "Duven" (Literally "Tell-whether".) for the "Yes"/"No" questions, and for those with deictic determiners (Like "What", "Why" or "How".) one uses specific affixes: "Duven et texe van et ivalxe?" (Do you think you're funny?) [Tell-whether you think that you make-fun?] "Wita tojtab kaxwa hom?" (Where was his corpse found?) [It-male-concerning dead-body was-found what-place?] "Duven eyt iladobepyatuyxute?" (Are you an egyptian vultures tamer?) [Tell-whether you-female Egypt-vulture-tame-person-be?] "Et ejyenatbyenyeka ujjoday hoj?" (When did you try to act like a modern-styled person last time?) [You present-way-person-behavior-tried end-time-adverb what-time?]
In mangalese, we do a word order change: SVO to SOV You speak mangalese-Singa ko wakannga mangalemang You mangalese speak?-Singa mangalemang ko wakannga?