Hrmitt reference grammar

4.6. Interrogatives & Adjunctive Phrases

Hrmitt has a set of interrogative particles that, when accented, mark a question; or, when unaccented, introduce an answer or an adjunctive phrase.

Adjunctive phrases are dependent clauses optionally appended to a clause to clarify its meaning with additional information.

In addition, the non-interrogative particle na introduces a vocative phrase (see section 4.6.9.1).

4.6.1. Who—sai

Questions of identity involving persons are expressed using the accented interrogative particle sai:

The answer to this question can be a bare noun, or marked with an unaccented sai:

When the subject is a personal pronoun, the surrogate noun ipf is used:

Tellingly, if the addressee is not a Hrmitt, buf is used instead:

When unaccented, sai introduces an adjunctive phrase that specifies the identity of an animate object NP:

4.6.2. What—pfai

Questions of identity involving objects or entities regarded as lower than persons are expressed using the interrogative particle pfai:

Tellingly, mo'ipf (“monster”, lit. “many-eyed”) is treated as an object rather than a person.

The answer to a pfai question can either be a simple predicative clause, as above, or can be marked with an unaccented pfai:

4.6.3. Where—fai

Questions of location are expressed using the interrogative particle fai.

The answer can be a bare noun or noun phrase, or marked with an unaccented fai:

When unaccented, fai introduces an adjunctive phrase specifying the location where the action of the verb takes place.

When accented, fai introduces a question about the location being referred to:

Indicative adjunctive phrases can also be attached to questions:

4.6.3.1. fai Governing Various Cases

In verbal clauses involving motion, fai can modify the meaning of location nouns with various cases.

The bare ablative and dative NPs indicate direction from or to the referent; inserting fai changes the meaning to indicate location at the referent, with various cases indicating various spatial relationships to the referent.

4.6.4. How Many—vai

Questions of quantity are formulated using the accented interrogative particle vai.

There are currently two attested forms of such questions. A general question, such as “How many spaceships are there?”, have an interrogative-initial word order:

Questions whose scope is further qualified by an adjectival or nominal clause have a different structure:

A possible analysis is that vai here is part of the nominal clause in a topic-comment type construction (“Spaceships—how many are here?”).

The answer can be a bare number or a noun modified by a number, optionally headed by an unaccented vai.

An unaccented vai can also be used to specify the quantity of an object NP:

4.6.5. How—nai

Questions of manner or means use the interrogative nai “how”:

The answer is often a noun in the instrumental case, optionally headed by an unaccented nai, which can also be understood as a kind of infinitive construction.

4.6.5.1. Subordinate clauses

When unaccented, nai introduces a subordinate clause:

The verb ŋuŋgatmi, from the root ŋuŋ “bowels”, expresses strong or deep desire. When used with nai, it forms an infinite-like construct meaning “to try to“, “to attempt to”, “to exert oneself to”.

4.6.6. When—tzai

The interrogative tzai is used for asking about time.

The answer usually begins with an unaccented tzai.

An unaccented tzai can also be used in a general indicative clause to specify the time of an event. The constructions of such temporal clauses, as well as the meaning of various cases governed by tzai, are described in section 4.8.2.

4.6.7. Why

There are two distinct interrogatives to express the English interrogative “why”: gai and kai.

4.6.7.1. For what Cause—gai

The interrogative gai is asks for the cause of an event or action.

An unaccented gai introduces the answer:

An unaccented gai can also be used in general to introduce an explanation of cause or reason:

Being a species that does not wear clothes, the Hrmitt regard clothing as disguise, and consider wearing clothes a suspicious action.

4.6.7.2. For what Purpose—kai

The interrogative kai is used to ask for the purpose of an event of action, what one hopes to get out of the event or action.

The answer is introduced by an unaccented kai:

An unaccented kai can also be used in a general sense to introduce an explanation of purpose:

4.6.8. Yes/no Questions

Yes/no questions are formed by using the interrogative forms of the verb, noun, or adjective, which contain the interrogative affix -ai that is always accented. Which constituent -ai appears in changes the nuance of the question.

4.6.8.1. Answers

A yes/no question is usually answered by repeating the word being questioned in its non-interrogative form or the negation thereof.

4.6.8.2. Nuances

In some situations, a nuance may be added to the reply by using one of the particles pja, ova, hosh, or pfut.

4.6.8.2.1. pja: Positive Wish

The particle pja expresses a positive wish that something is so.

In colloquial situations the answer can be elided, leaving only the interjection pja.

4.6.8.2.2. ova: Negative Wish

The particle ova expresses a negative wish, a wish that something would not come to pass.

4.6.8.2.3. hosh: Accusatory Assertion

The particle hosh asserts that something is true, with strong accusatory overtones and often contradicting what was said before.

It's also used to express strong certainty.

4.6.8.2.4. pfut: Dismissive Denial

The particle pfut expresses strong denial, dismissal, or disregard for what was said.

4.6.8.3. Surface Form Ambiguities

Due to the linking /n/ when -ai and the predicative -i occur together in an adjectival clause, the resulting surface form -aini coincides with the -aini ending of an interrogative -ni verb. Therefore, one should carefully note the differences in construction and syntax:

Notice in particular that in verbal clauses the verb must be clause-initial, so in the first case when the noun hopf appears first, the possibility of the second word being a -ni verb is excluded. Similarly, an adjectival clause requires a detached subject; therefore in the second case the -aini ending is indeed an interrogative -ni verb, not a predicative -i preceded by a linking /n/.

4.6.9. Adjunctive Phrases with na

4.6.9.1. Vocatives with na

When addressing an utterance to a particular person or intended audience, an adjunctive clause introduced by the vocative marker na is appended to the end of the clause. This is usually done with imperatives and interrogatives:

Nevertheless, it can be used with indicative clauses as well:

4.6.9.2. Compound Place Names with na

The marker na is also used to construct compound place names. For example:

In declined NPs, only the first component of such a compound name is declined, and the compound place name itself tends to be right-dislocated to the end of the clause: