These two
questions would usually elicit either of the answers given below:
|
moy ‘no’
or
p mla ‘cant say’ |
|
| 1 2 |
(lit speak potential
negative) |
| |
1 2 |
| |
(i.e., the person
concerned in fact
loves her secretly but does not want
to commit it). |
|
The illustrative
examples given above, clearly indicate that the interrogatives have
the features of modality.
|
Even though any
declarative sentence except the imperative in this language can be
transformed into an interrogative sentence, the modalities expressing
the expectations or otherwise of the person who puts the question are
not made use of in this language. Two devices are made use of in this
language for transforming a declarative sentence into an interrogative
one. These are : (i) using an appropriate interrogative pronoun and
(ii) the negative marker followed by a particular interrogative
pronoun, viz., n + ki (lit.
no what) as in:
|
| (i) kon jayse |
‘who want’ |
|
ketya jabo |
‘when will (you) go?’ |
(ii) int+tay mo so
khayse |
‘tay moso
khayse nki
? |
| |
‘he ate meat, didn’t
he?’
|
|
The differences
in the sue of two devices lies in that whereas the latter type for all
intents and purposes is one that elicits only yes/ no response and is
usually known as tagged question, the interrogative pronoun elicits
information on any specific item and occurs in the slot of the NP
about which the question is asked.
|
| For instance: |
| (a) sonia ketya jayse ? |
‘When did Sonia go ?’ |
|
sonia juakli jayse |
‘Sonia went yseterday’ |
| (b) sonia juakli
kod jayse? |
‘Where did Sonia go
yesterday?’ |
|
sonia jualli tay gawot
jayse |
‘Sonia went to her
village yesterday’ |
| (c) sonia kon lgo
juakli jayse? |
‘With whom did Sonia go
yesterday?’ |
|
sonia syama lgot jualli
jayse |
‘Sonia went with Shyama
yesterday’ |
| (d) kon jayse ? |
‘Who went’? |
|
syama jayse |
‘Shyama went’ |
|
In the four
questions listed above, the information is sought on : (a) time/day of
departure (b) destination (c) the person accompanying the actor and
(d) the actor. And therefore the responses occurred in the slots in
which the interrogative pronouns occurred. A few more examples
illustrating this type of interrogation are given below.
|
| kon jabo? |
‘who will go?’ |
| sualitu jabo |
‘the girld will go’ |
| kon moso
khayse? |
‘who ate the meat?’ |
| sonia moso
khayse |
‘Sonia ate the meat’ |
| itu kon kitab? |
‘whose book is this?’ |
| itu ekili kitab |
‘it s Ekili’s book/ |
| itu kon gor? |
‘whose house is this?’ |
| itu moy gor |
‘it is my house’ |
|
puni kontu kitab lobo |
‘which book will you
take?’ |
| moy itu duy kitab lobo |
‘I will take these two
books’ |
| aji kon jayse? |
‘who went today?’ |
| sualitu aji jayse |
‘I will take
these two books’ |
| aji kon jayse? |
‘who went today?’ |
| sualitu aji jayse |
‘the girl went today’ |
| suali lgot
kon jayse? |
‘who went with the
girl?’ |
| suali lgot
syama jayse |
‘Shyama went with the
girl’ |
| kon lgot
sualitu jayse |
‘with whom did the girl
go?’ |
| sualitu ekili lgot
jayse |
‘the girl went with
Ekili’ |
| sualitu konke dikhise? |
‘whom did the girl see? |
| sualitu soniak dikhise |
‘the girl saw Sonia’ |
|
puni kon nimiti rukhibo? |
‘who are you waiting
for?’ |
| moy tay nimiti rukhise |
‘I am waiting for
him/her’ |
| kontu jaga osorte se? |
‘which place is near?’ |
| dimapur osorte se |
‘Dimapur is near’ |
| sonia ketya jabo? |
‘when will Sonia
go?’ |
| sonia aji jabo |
‘Sonia will go today’ |
| tay nam ki? |
‘what is his/her name?’ |
| tay nam hatoli |
‘her name is Hatoli’ |
|
puni ki korise? |
‘what did you do?’ |
| moy kitab parise |
‘I read (the) book’ |
| tay ki kowise? |
‘What did she/he say?’ |
| tay eku n
kowise |
‘he/she said
nothing’ |
| tay kod jayse? |
‘where did he/she go?’ |
| tay dukanot jayse |
‘he went to the shop’ |
| hotli
kod se |
‘where is the hotel?’ |
| holi
tat se |
‘hotel is there’ |
| khel
kod pora hobo |
‘where will the
play be?’ |
khel
maidante hobo
|
‘the
play will be in the maidan’
|
|
