Erin: /* Embedded Questions */

2012-08-02T17:10:25Z

Embedded Questions

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:10, 2 August 2012
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	</gl>		</gl>

	The next example is interesting for a few reasons. 'Ajiet' on its own means 's/he advances'. Since the concept of time in Mi'gmaq is very fluid, instead of saying "What time is it?" people say something closer to "Do you know how many hours have advanced/passed?" As previously mentioned, embedded questions don't change the order of their constituents. However, it appears the wh-element can only be in a certain position and word order is actually rigid. This may be due to its position between the two verbs 'geitu' and 'ajiet'. Generally a wh-word is sensitive in word order with respect to the verb; when it appears before a verb it has a more specific interpretation--placing `who' before a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning `someone'. In contrast, when the wh-word appears after a verb it is interpreted as an indefinite; so, placing `who' after a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning 'anyone'. Thus, in this case, it may be that the only position 'ta'n' can have is between the two verb phrases. A lengthier discussion on the interaction between word order is in the following section. More information can also be found on the [[Word Order ~~& Information Structure~~]] page.		The next example is interesting for a few reasons. 'Ajiet' on its own means 's/he advances'. Since the concept of time in Mi'gmaq is very fluid, instead of saying "What time is it?" people say something closer to "Do you know how many hours have advanced/passed?" As previously mentioned, embedded questions don't change the order of their constituents. However, it appears the wh-element can only be in a certain position and word order is actually rigid. This may be due to its position between the two verbs 'geitu' and 'ajiet'. Generally a wh-word is sensitive in word order with respect to the verb; when it appears before a verb it has a more specific interpretation--placing `who' before a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning `someone'. In contrast, when the wh-word appears after a verb it is interpreted as an indefinite; so, placing `who' after a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning 'anyone'. Thus, in this case, it may be that the only position 'ta'n' can have is between the two verb phrases. A lengthier discussion on the interaction between word order is in the following section. More information can also be found on the [[Word Order]] page.

	<gl>		<gl>

Mike at 03:21, 30 June 2012

2012-06-30T03:21:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:21, 30 June 2012
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	Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for question words in Mi'gmaq to appear at the beginning of the interrogative clause. In fact, in order to form an information question, the question word must always be initial such as in the following examples:		Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for question words in Mi'gmaq to appear at the beginning of the interrogative clause. In fact, in order to form an information question, the question word must always be initial such as in the following examples:

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	\gll Wen goqwei peguatelg-'s		\gll Wen goqwei peguatelg-'s
	who what buy.VTI.3-Q		who what buy.VTI.3-Q
	\trans Who bought something? (Who bought what? Context: at a party there are a bunch of gifts on a table, and someone points to it and says `Who bought what?')		\trans Who bought something? (Who bought what?
			Context: at a party there are a bunch of gifts on a table, and someone points to it and says `Who bought what?')
	</gl>		</gl>

Mike: Created page with " Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for quest..."

2012-06-30T03:21:15Z

Created page with " Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for quest..."

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Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for question words in Mi'gmaq to appear at the beginning of the interrogative clause. In fact, in order to form an information question, the question word must always be initial such as in the following examples:

<gl id="1">
\gll Goqwei peguatelmu-s'-p?
what purchase.VTI.2SG-Q-PST
\trans What did you purchase?
</gl>

<gl id="2">
\gll Goqwei nemitu-s'-p?
What see.VTA.2-Q-PST
\trans What did you see?
</gl>

Moreover, certain changes in word order result in changes in meaning. Contrasted to example <glr id="2"/>, placing the question word after the verb results in the following meaning:

<gl>
\gll Nemitu-s'-p goqwei
see.VTA.2-Q-PST what
\trans Did you see anything?
</gl>

This example displays that placing the wh-word elsewhere in the sentence results in it taking on the role of a relative pronoun. Below, <glr id="5"/> is another example demonstrating this. Examples <glr id="3"/>-<glr id="4"/> show how the meaning changes when constituents are moved around:

<gl id="5">
\gll Peguatelg-'s wen goqwei
buy.VTI.3-Q who what
\trans Did anyone buy anything?
</gl>

<gl id="3">
\gll Goqwei wen peguatelg-'s
what who buy.VTI.3-Q
\trans What did someone buy?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll Wen peguatelg-'s goqwei
who buy.VTI.3-Q what
\trans Did anyone buy anything?
</gl>

<gl id="4">
\gll Wen goqwei peguatelg-'s
who what buy.VTI.3-Q
\trans Who bought something? (Who bought what? Context: at a party there are a bunch of gifts on a table, and someone points to it and says `Who bought what?')
</gl>

You may find further discussion on the interaction between word order, indefinite pronouns, and question words in the section titled ''Indefinite Pronouns''.

==Echo Questions==

An echo question is a type of information question in which the speaker repeats--echoes--a part of or all of what was
previously uttered. In doing so, s/he replaces the word that was misheard with a wh-word in
its original position (in-situ). Here is a simple example of an echo question:

A: John bought a car yesterday.
B: John bought what yesterday?

Oftentimes echo questions are used when the 'echoer' did not hear properly or understand what was said. However, echo
questions may also be used to express incredulity at the statement heard, such as in:

A: Mary got a tattoo.
B: Mary did WHAT?!

Generally, echo questions are not possible in Mi'gmaq. Our speaker notes that it is difficult to place a "wh-word"
in the middle of a sentence. However, it appears that similar question constructions are possible.

Consider the following situation. You and I are speaking about a mutual friend of ours and I ask how he is doing.
You respond with,

B: I don't know. I used to see him at the store all the time.

I don't quite hear what you say, so I ask:

A: You used to see him where all the time?

In Mi'gmaq, it would be ungrammatical for me to say this as so:

<gl id="r">
\gll *tami tett etl-nemis'-p?
what place in.the.process.of-see.VTA.2SG-PAST
\trans You saw him where all the time?
</gl>

However, it is possible to say the following:

<gl id="r2">
\gll tami tett i-nemis'-p?
which place usually-see.VTA.2SG-PST
\trans Where did you usually see him/her?
</gl>

Please note, however, that it is not possible to say:

<gl>
\gll *i-nemis'-p tami tett
usually-see.VTA.2SG-PST which place
\trans Where did you usually see him/her? (intended)
</gl>

The contrast between <glr id="r"/> and <glr id="r2"/> is possibly explained by the use of the preverb 'i-' which seems to act as an atelic, or imperfect, marker signaling an ongoing action. As previously mentioned, for discussion on preverbs please see the [[Preverbs]] page.

==Embedded Questions==

Embedded questions are questions that are found within another statement or question. An example in English would be:

Question: What time is it?
Embedded Question: Can you tell me what time it is?

Note that the order of the constituents in the embedded clause switches from "what time '''is''' it" to "what time '''it''' is". Evidentially, embedding of questions in Mi'gmaq works the same way except the constituent order in the embedded clause need not switch:

<gl>
\gll Tami eteg wi'gatign?
where present book
\trans Where is the book?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll Geitun tami eteg wi'gatign?
know.VAI.2SG-PRES where present book
\trans Do you know where the book is?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll Wen na?
who is
\trans Who is s/he?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll Gis-tlimitis wen na?
able.to-tell.VTA.2SG-PRES who is
\trans Can/could you tell me who s/he is?
</gl>

The next example is interesting for a few reasons. 'Ajiet' on its own means 's/he advances'. Since the concept of time in Mi'gmaq is very fluid, instead of saying "What time is it?" people say something closer to "Do you know how many hours have advanced/passed?" As previously mentioned, embedded questions don't change the order of their constituents. However, it appears the wh-element can only be in a certain position and word order is actually rigid. This may be due to its position between the two verbs 'geitu' and 'ajiet'. Generally a wh-word is sensitive in word order with respect to the verb; when it appears before a verb it has a more specific interpretation--placing `who' before a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning `someone'. In contrast, when the wh-word appears after a verb it is interpreted as an indefinite; so, placing `who' after a verb in Mi'gmaq yields the meaning 'anyone'. Thus, in this case, it may be that the only position 'ta'n' can have is between the two verb phrases. A lengthier discussion on the interaction between word order is in the following section. More information can also be found on the [[Word Order & Information Structure]] page.

<gl>
\gll tes ajiet
how.many advance.3SG-PRES
\trans What time is it?
</gl>

<gl id="c">
\gll Geitu ta'n tes ajiet?
know.VAI.2SG-PRES what how.many advance.3SG-PRES
\trans Do you know what time it is?
</gl>

<gl id="d">
\gll *Geitu ajiet ta'n tes?
know.VAI.2SG-PRES advance.3SG-PRES what how.many
\trans Do you know what time it is?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll *Ta'n geitu tes ajiet?
what know.VAI.2SG-PRES how.many advance.3SG-PRES
\trans Do you know what time it is?
</gl>

<gl>
\gll *Ta'n tes geitu ajiet?
what how.many know.VAI.2SG-PRES advance.3SG-PRES
\trans Do you know what time it is?
</gl>

==Pied-Piping==

Pied-piping refers to a process when material beside a question word, including the question word, is fronted or extracted, leaving behind a "gap" (Payne 303). This is because during such a movement the wh-word takes one or more other constituents with it. An example in English would be:

Mary likes some boy.
''Which boy'' does Mary like [ ]?
*''Which'' does Mary like ''boy''?

<gl>
\gll Gesatg wi'gatign
like.VTI.3SG-PRES book
\trans S/he likes a book.
</gl>

Mi'gmaq generally has free word order, which makes it a non-configurational language (Payne 74). Due to this, it appears that pied-piping is preferred in Mi'gmaq, but it is not ungrammatical if it does not happen. Our speaker notes that she is more likely to say

<gl>
\gll Tegen wi'gatign gesatg?
which book like.VTI.3SG-PRES
\trans Which book does s/he like?
</gl>

than

<gl>
\gll Tegen gesatg wi'gatign?
which like.VTI.3SG-PRES book
\trans Which book does s/he like?
</gl>

Here it is of interest to compare discontinuous constituents in general. By this, we mean if we say "Mary likes the green book", is it preferred to have "green" and "book" next to each other?

<gl>
\gll Mali gesat-g wi'gatign stoqon-amu'g
Mary like.VTI.3SG book evergreen-look
\trans Mary likes the green book
</gl>

As it turns out, for the reading `Mary likes the green book' it is indeed preferred that "wi'gatign" and "stoqonamu'g" are placed next to each other (order could also be `stoqonamu'g wi'gatign'). If `book' and `green' are separated, the statements yield slightly different meanings:

<gl>
\gll Mali wi'gatign gesat-g stoqon-amu'g
Mary book like.VTI.3SG evergreen-look
\trans Mary likes the book that is green.
</gl>

In the example above, our informant notes that it is almost like we are emphasizing the fact that the book happens to be green, rather than another color. The same interpretation goes for the example below as well:

<gl>
\gll wi'gatign Mali gesat-g stoqon-amu'g
book Mary like.VTI.3SG evergreen-look
\trans Mary likes the book that is green.
</gl>

Information Questions - Revision history

Erin: /* Embedded Questions */

Mike at 03:21, 30 June 2012

Mike: Created page with " Information questions in Mi'gmaq do not seem to display any unusual changes. Word order, however, does play a particularly important role. As in English, it is typical for quest..."