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| ==Questions== | | ==Questions== |
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| * There are three kinds of question: those that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no", those that present a range of options to choose from, and those that ask for a particular piece of information.
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| *Additionally, questions can be direct ("Where are we going?") or indirect ("I asked you where we are going", "I don't know who I am").
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| ===Yes/No questions===
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| A sentence can be turned into a yes/no question by adding '''a'''? ("yes?") or '''ak'''? ("no?") just before the interrogative particle '''ka'''.
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| * Do you speak German?
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| :'''ta alemanyatla kala ka'''
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| :<tt>2S Germany.Language speak INT.PART</tt>
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| * Did you eat?
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| :'''ta inaye ka'''
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| :<tt>2S eat.PAST INT.PART</tt>
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| * We're lost, aren't we?
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| :'''nam kayo ak ka'''
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| :<tt>1P lost COP.NEG INT.PART</tt>
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| * Does she understand?
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| :'''ha unya ka'''
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| :<tt>3S understand INT.PART</tt>
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| ====Indirect====
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| * I want to know whether the food has arrived.
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| :'''na iya ke ina talaye unyaue'''
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| :<tt>1S COND.PART TOP.PART food come.PAST know.VOL</tt>
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| * She asked if I could help.
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| :'''ha iya ke na yotapa kanyoye'''
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| :<tt>3S COND.PART TOP.PART 1S help.ABIL ask.PAST</tt>
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| The answer to a yes/no question is '''a''' ("yes") or '''ak''' ("no"), '''a''' states that the possibility expressed in the question is true; '''ak''' states that it is false:
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| * '''ta nkapaue ka'''
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| :<tt>2S alcohol.VOL INT.PART</tt>
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| :Do you want (a) beer?
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| :* '''tsepa a'''
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| ::<tt>please yes</tt>
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| ::Yes, please. (I do want beer)
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| :* '''nyasak'''
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| ::<tt>thank you.NEG</tt>
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| ::No, thanks. (I don't want beer)
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| ===Alternative questions===
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| * An alternative question simply asks the listener to pick one of a number of options, usually expressed as a list joined with the conjunction '''ua''':
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| * '''ta tsa'i ua kaua ua nkapa ueha ka'''
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| :<tt>2S tea or coffee or beer want INT.PART</tt>
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| :Do you want tea, coffee, or beer?
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| ::* '''tsepa kaua'''
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| ::<tt>please coffee</tt>
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| ::Coffee, please.
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| * '''ta nya tsiti ua uelo ua yala talaye ka'''
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| :<tt>2S by car or bicycle or walk come.PAST INT.PART</tt>
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| :Did you come by car, or by bicycle, or did you walk?
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| ===Other questions===
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| Other questions use interrogative determiners or pronouns such as '''ote''', '''ko''', '''ke''', '''ama''', '''ku''', '''to''', '''mo''', and '''nye'''. The interrogative word appears at the beginning of the sentence:
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| * '''ote mosa ke ta yomu ka'''
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| :<tt>which book TOP.PART 2S read INT.PART</tt>
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| :Which book are you reading?
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| * '''ko moyako ke ta tsopo ka'''
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| :<tt>person write.AG TOP.PART 2S prefer INT.PART</tt>
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| :Who is your preferred author?
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| * '''ke itla maka kapi ka'''
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| :<tt>TOP.PART this music ugly INT.PART</tt>
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| :What is this ugly music?
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| * '''ke ta muya ka'''
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| :<tt>TOP.PART 2S do INT.PART</tt>
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| :What are you doing?
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| * '''ama ta moku ka'''
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| :<tt>time 2S sleep INT.PART</tt>
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| :When do you sleep?
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| * '''ku ta inatli ka'''
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| :<tt>amount 2S eat.FUT INT.PART</tt>
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| :How much will you eat?
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| * '''to ta yalaye ka'''
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| :<tt>way 2S walk.PAST INT.PART</tt>
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| :How did you walk?
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| * '''mo nam a ka'''
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| :<tt>place 1P COP INT.PART</tt>
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| :Where are we?
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| * '''nye ta empa ka'''
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| :<tt>reason 2S run INT.PART</tt>
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| :Why are you running?
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| == Index == | | == Index == |
