GOESK QUESTIONS & MORE

Chapter 11: QUESTIONS, PREPOSED ADVERBIALS, AND IMPERATIVES

11.1....CLAUSE PATTERN VARIATIONS: In yes-no questions and wh-questions with interrogative adverbials, elements that are not noun-phrases can be preposed, leaving all the arguments after the verb. Adverbials can also be preposed in statements. The verb is always the second major constituent in a clause, except in imperatives, in which the subject is deleted and the verb occurs first.

11.2....YES-NO QUESTIONS: These are derived from statements by placing ?op? in subject position.

11.2-1a

Dus camu
The man

skarfit.
is eating.

11.2-1b	Op [yes-no interrogative]	skarfit is eating	dus camu. the man
	correctly: Is the man eating?

11.2-2a

Jeu
You

augist
see

us.
us.

11.2-2b	Op [yes-no interrogative]	augist see	jeu you	us? us
	correctly: Did you see us?

11.2-3a	De haus the house	lagit exist, be located	zeer. there.
	The house is there.

11.2-3b	Op [yes-no interrogative]	lagit exist, be located	de haus the house	zeer? there
	correctly: Is the house there?

11.3....WH-QUESTIONS: There are several types. Some begin with interrogative pronouns. Others begin with noun phrases with interrogative determiners or phrases with interrogative genitives. Others begin with interrogative adverbials.

a) Interrogative pronouns come in all four cases.

11.3-1a

Vu kumeus?
Who came?

11.3-1b

Vetre kumeus?
What came?

11.3-2a	Voo whom	augoos saw	jeu? you
	correctly: Who saw you?

11.3-2b	Va what	augist see	jeu? you
	correctly: What did you see?

11.3-3a	Vum to whom	geboos gave	jeu you	kausta? box
	correctly: To whom did you give a box?

11.3-3b	Vai to what	geboos gave	jeu you	eeldora? life
	correctly: What did you give life to? What did you bring to life?

b) In WH questions with linking verbs, dative and genitive interrogative complements occur before the verb, while the subject occurs after the verb.

11.3-4a	Voes whose	sienit is	de haut? this hat
	correctly: Whose hat is this?

11.3-4b	Vas of what	sienant are	zue? those?
	correctly: What do those go with/belong to?

c) Note these examples of WH questions with nominal object complements. Initial accusative interrogative pronouns stand for objects in questions with final accusative arguments, and for object complements in questions with final nominative arguments.

11.3-5a	Vu who	andyreus made	doot camoo this man	lervyroo? a teacher
	obviously: Who made this man a teacher?

11.3-5b	Voo whom	andryoos made	jeu you	lervyroo? a teacher
	correctly: Who did you make a teacher?

11.3-5c	Va what	andyroos made	camoo a man	jeu? you
	obviously: What did you make the man into?

d) Interrogative determiners come first in a question, but the genitive interrogative pronoun comes after the noun phrase it postmodifies.

11.3-6

Vus
Which

camu
man

lefeus?
left?

11.3-7	Barnu child	voes of whom	lefeus? left
	correctly: Whose child left?

e) Interrogative adverbials include not only interrogative adverbs, but also prepositional phrases in which interrogative noun phrases are the objects.

11.3-8	Vaneer when	vendyl will-go	jeu? you
	correctly: When will you go?

11.3-9	Varum why	vendoos did-go	jeu? you
	correctly: Why did you go?

11.3-10	Ver where	vendist go	jeu? you
	correctly: Where are you going?

11.3-11	Heu how	vendist go	jeu? you
	correctly: How are you going?

11.3-12	In va into what	stedoom put	hue they	huen? them
	correctly: What did they put them into?

11.3-13	Mid dums camum With what man	vendoom went	hue? they
	correctly: Which man did they go with?

11.4....PREPOSED ADVERBIALS: Just about any adverbial phrase can be placed in subject position, even in statements. The finite verb remains in second place.

11.4-1	Foecp no longer	biegyl will-buy	johanu Johan	kenda. candy
	correctly: No longer will Johan buy candy.

11.4-2	Ueblaik usually	skarfit eats	at dais skarfecimylai at the restaurant	johanu. Johan
	correctly: Usually Johan eats at the restaurant.

11.4-3	Bidylaik several times	faleus fell	zus eeld camu. that old man
	correctly: Several times, that old man fell.

11.4-4	In zais hofai in that yard	speeloom played	barnue. children
	correctly: In that yard, children played.

11.4-5	Doer auf up here	speelyl will-play	barnue. children
	correctly: Up here, children will play.

11.5....IMPERATIVES: Imperative verbs are uninflected, as we saw in section 7.1. Imperatives are sentences with imperative verbs, and include commands and ?let?s? suggestions.

a) In imperatives without subjects, the imperative verb always comes first. Imperatives without subjects are commands directed at one or more than one listener, depending on context.

11.5-1a

Skarf.
Eat.

11.5-2a Geb huem eeta.
Give them food.

11.5-3a Sien mod.
Be brave.

b) Commands may have second person pronouns or vocative noun phrases when it is important to use emphasis or specify the addressee.

11.5-1b

Jeu skarf.
You: eat!

11.5-2b U geb huem eeta.
You all: Give them food!

11.5-3b Johanu sien mod.
Johan, be brave!

c) ?Let?s? suggestions have imperative verbs and ?vier? (we) as the subject.

11.5-1c

Vier skarf.
Let's eat.