Editing Interrogative word

{{Short description|Words that indicate a question is being asked, as a grammatical category}}
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{{Globalize|article|Anglophone|2name=[[English-speaking world|the English-speaking world]]|date=May 2017}}
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An '''interrogative word''' or '''question word''' is a [[function word]] used to ask a [[question]], such as ''what, which'', ''when'', ''where'', ''[[who (pronoun)|who]], whom, whose'', ''why'', ''whether'' and ''how''.  They are sometimes called '''wh-words''', because in [[English language|English]] most of them start with ''[[wh (digraph)|wh-]]'' (compare [[Five Ws]]). Most may be used in both direct (''Where is he going?'') and in [[indirect question]]s (''I wonder where he is going''). In English and various other languages the same forms are also used as [[relative pronoun]]s in certain [[relative clause]]s (''The country where he was born'') and certain [[adverb clause]]s (''I go where he goes''). It can also be used as a modal, since question words are more likely to appear in modal sentences, like (''Why was he walking?'')

A particular type of interrogative word is the '''interrogative particle''', which serves to convert a statement into a [[yes–no question]], without having any other meaning. Examples include ''est-ce que'' in [[French language|French]], ли ''li'' in [[Russian language|Russian]], ''czy'' in [[Polish language|Polish]], чи ''chy in'' [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], ''ĉu'' in [[Esperanto]], ''āyā'' آیا in [[Persian language|Persian]], কি ''ki'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]], {{linktext|lang=zh-hant|嗎}}/{{linktext|lang=zh-hans|吗}} ''ma'' in [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin Chinese]], ''{{lang|tr|mı}}''/''{{lang|tr|mi}}''/{{lang|tr|mu}}''/''{{lang|tr|mü}}<ref name="vHarmony">''Finnish and Turkish have vowel harmony, see more [[Vowel harmony|here]]</ref> in [[Turkish language|Turkish]], ''pa'' in [[Ladin language|Ladin]], {{lang|ja|か}} ''ka'' in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], {{lang|ko|까}} ''kka'' in [[Korean language|Korean]], ''ko/kö''<ref name="vHarmony" /> in Finnish, ''tat'' in [[Catalan language|Catalan]], (да) ли ''(da) li'' in [[Serbo-Croatian]] and {{lang|eu|al}} and {{lang|eu|ote}} [[Basque grammar|in Basque]]. ''"Is it true that..."'' and ''"... right?"'' would be a similar construct in English. Such [[particle (grammar)|particle]]s contrast with other interrogative words, which form what are called [[wh-question|''wh''-question]]s rather than yes–no questions.

For more information about the grammatical rules for using formed questions in various languages, see [[Interrogative]].

==In English==
{{Main|English interrogative words}}
Interrogative words in English can serve as interrogative determiners, interrogative pronouns, or interrogative adverbs. Certain [[pronominal adverb]]s may also be used as interrogative words, such as ''whereby'' or ''wherefore''.

=== Interrogative determiner ===
The interrogative words ''which'', ''what'' and ''whose'' are [[Determiner#Interrogative determiners|interrogative determiners]] when specifying a [[noun]] or [[noun phrase|nominal phrase]]: The question ''<u>Which</u> farm is the county’s largest?'' specifies the noun ''farm'' as [[Definiteness|definite]], while ''<u>What</u> farm?'' is indefinite. In the question ''<u>Whose</u> gorgeous, pink painting is that?'', ''whose'' is the [[Determiner#Interrogative determiners|interrogative]], [[Personal pronoun|personal]], [[possessive determiner]] prompting a specification for the possessor of the noun phrase ''gorgeous pink painting''.

=== Interrogative pronoun ===
The interrogative words ''who'', ''whom'', ''whose'', ''what'' and ''which'' are interrogative pronouns when used in the place of a [[noun]] or [[noun phrase]]. In the question ''<u>Who</u> is the leader?'', the interrogative word ''who'' is a interrogative [[pronoun]] because it stands in the place of the noun or noun phrase the question prompts (e.g. ''the king'' or ''the woman with the crown''). Similarly, in the question ''<u>Which</u> leads to the city center?'' the interrogative word ''which'' is an interrogative pronoun because it stands in the place of a noun or noun phrase (e.g. ''the road to the north'' or ''the river to your east''). Note, ''which'' is an interrogative [[pronoun]], not an interrogative [[determiner]], because there is no noun or noun phrase present to serve as a [[determiner]] for. Consequently, in the question ''Which leads to the city center?'' the word ''which'' is an interrogative pronoun; when in the question ''Which road leads to the city center?'' the word ''which'' is an interrogative determiner for the noun ''road''.

=== Interrogative adverb ===
The interrogative words ''where, when, how, why, whether, whatsoever'', and the more archaic ''[[whither]]'' and ''[[whence]]'' are interrogative [[Adverb|adverbs]] when they modify a verb. In the question ''<u>How</u> did you announce the deal?'' the interrogative word ''how'' is an interrogative adverb because it modifies the verb ''did'' (past tense of ''to do''). In the question ''<u>Why</u> should I read that book?'' the interrogative word ''why'' is an interrogative adverb because it describes the verb ''should''.

Note, in direct questions, interrogative adverbs always describe [[Auxiliary verb|auxiliary verbs]] such as ''did'', ''do'', ''should'', ''will'', ''must'', or ''might''.

===Yes–no questions===
A yes–no question can begin with an interrogative subject-verb inversion involving an auxiliary verb (or negative contraction), sometimes even if it is not performing the auxiliary function:
* A finite inflection of [[wikt:be#Conjugation|be]] (e.g. Are you hungry?, Are you working from home today?)
* A finite inflection of have (e.g. Have you any soup? Hasn’t she eaten lunch?)
* A conjugation of [[wikt:do#Conjugation|do]] (e.g. Do you want fries?) - see {{section link|Do-support|In questions}}
* A conjugation of a [[wiktionary:Category:English modal verbs|modal verb]] (e.g. Can't you move any faster?)

English questions can also be formed without an interrogative word as the first word, by changing the intonation or punctuation of a statement. For example: "You're done eating?"

===Forms with ''-ever''===
Most English interrogative words can take the [[suffix]] ''-ever'', to form words such as ''whatever'' and ''wherever''. (Older forms of the suffix are ''-so'' and ''-soever'', as in ''whoso'' and ''whomsoever''.) These words have the following main meanings:
*As more emphatic interrogative words, often expressing disbelief or puzzlement in mainly [[rhetorical question]]s: ''Whoever could have done such a thing? Wherever has he gone?''
*To form [[free relative clause]]s, as in ''I'll do whatever you do'', ''Whoever challenges us shall be punished'', ''Go to wherever they go''. In this use, the nominal ''-ever'' words (''who(m)ever'', ''whatever'', ''whichever'') can be regarded as [[indefinite pronoun]]s or as [[English relative clauses|relative pronouns]].  
*To form [[adverbial clause]]s with the meaning "no matter where/who/etc.": ''Wherever they hide, I will find them.''

Some of these words have also developed independent meanings, such as ''however'' as an [[adverb]] meaning "nonetheless"; ''whatsoever'' as an emphatic adverb used with ''no'', ''none'', ''any'', ''nothing'', etc. (''I did nothing wrong whatsoever''); and ''[[whatever (slang)|whatever]]'' in its slang usage.

==Other languages==
A frequent class of interrogative words in several other languages is the interrogative verb:

*[[Korean language|Korean]]:
{{fs interlinear|indent=3
|날씨가 '''어떻'''습니까?
|Nalssi-ga '''eotteo'''-sseumni-kka?
|Weather-NOM be.how-{{gcl|POL5|politeness fifth level}}-INTERR
|"How's the weather?"}}

*[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]:
{{interlinear|indent=3
|Chi '''yaa'''-vch jaahan huuhed bish gej bi bod-jii-ne
|You do.what-CONC small child not that I think-PROG-NPAST
|"Whatever you do, I think you're not a small child." (Example taken from an Internet forum)}}

=== Australian Aboriginal languages ===
Interrogative [[pronoun]]s in [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] are a diverse set of lexical items with functions extending far beyond simply the formation of questions (though this is one of their uses). These pronominal [[Stem (linguistics)|stems]] are sometimes called '''ignoratives''' or '''epistememes''' because their broader function is to convey differing degrees of perceptual or [[Epistemic modality|epistemic]] certainty. Often, a singular ignorative stem may serve a variety of interrogative functions that would be expressed by different lexical items in, say, English through contextual variation and interaction with other [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] such as [[Grammatical case|case-marking]]. In [[Jingulu language|Jingulu]], for example, the single stem ''nyamba'' may come to mean 'what', 'where', 'why' or 'how' through combination with [[Locative case|locative]], [[Dative case|dative]], [[Ablative case|ablative]], and [[Instrumental case|instrumental]] case suffixes:

{{Interlinear|indent=3|nyamba nyamarni manjku|IGNOR 2SG.ERG skin.name|What [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|skin]] are you?}}
{{Interlinear|indent=3|nyamba-mbili-kaji mankiyi-mindi-ju|IGNOR-LOC-through sit-1DU.INCL-do|Where are we sitting?}}
{{Interlinear|indent=3|Nyamba-rna arrkuja-nga-nku-ju|IGNOR-DAT scratch-1SG-REFL-do|Why are you scratching?}}
{{Interlinear|indent=3|Nyamba-arndi-kaji nya-rriyi-rni|IGNOR-INST-through 2SG-go.FUT-FOC|How will you go?}}

(Adapted from Pensalfini<ref>Pensalfini, Rob. 2003. ''A Grammar of Jingulu : an Aboriginal language of the Northern Territory''. Canberra ACT: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.</ref>)

Other closely related languages, however, have less interrelated ways of forming wh-questions with separate [[lexeme]]s for each of these wh-pronouns. This includes [[Wardaman language|Wardaman]], which has a collection of entirely unrelated interrogative stems: ''yinggiya'' 'who', ''ngamanda'' 'what', ''guda'' 'where', ''nyangurlang'' 'when', ''gun.garr-ma'' 'how many/what kind'.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Merlan, Francesca.|title=A grammar of Wardaman : a language of the Northern Territory of Australia|date=1994|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter|isbn=3-11-012942-6|location=Berlin|oclc=28926390}}</ref>

Mushin (1995)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mushin|first=Liana|date=June 1995|title=Epistememes in Australian languages∗|journal=Australian Journal of Linguistics|language=en|volume=15|issue=1|pages=1–31|doi=10.1080/07268609508599514|issn=0726-8602}}</ref> and Verstraete (2018)<ref>{{Citation|last=Verstraete|first=Jean-Christophe|title='Perhaps' in Cape York Peninsula|date=2018-09-10|work=Aspects of Linguistic Variation|pages=247–268|editor-last=Olmen|editor-first=Daniël|place=Berlin, Boston|publisher=De Gruyter|doi=10.1515/9783110607963-010|isbn=978-3-11-060796-3|editor2-last=Mortelmans|editor2-first=Tanja|editor3-last=Brisard|editor3-first=Frank|doi-access=free|hdl=1885/170669|hdl-access=free}}</ref> provide detailed overviews of the broader functions of ignoratives in an array of languages. The latter focuses on the lexeme ''ngaani'' in many [[Paman languages|Paman Languages]] which can have a [[Wh question|Wh]]-like interrogative function but can also have a sense of epistemic indefiniteness or uncertainty like 'some' or 'perhaps;' see the following examples from [[Umpithamu language|Umpithamu]]:

'''Wh-question'''
{{Interlinear|indent=3|Ngaani-ku mi'athi-ngka{{=}}uurra-athungku|IGNOR-DAT cry-PRS{{=}}2PL.NOM-1SG.ACC|Why are you all crying for me?}}

'''[[Adjunct (grammar)|Adnominal]] / [[Determiner]]'''
{{Interlinear|indent=3|yukurun ngaani yitha-n{{=}}antyampa kuura|gear IGNOR leave-PST{{=}}1PL.EXCL.NOM behind|We left some gear behind}}

'''[[Adverbial]]'''
{{Interlinear|indent=3|Yupa miintha iluwa ngaani ngama-l|today good 3SG.NOM IGNOR see-IMPERF|Perhaps she is better today.}}
(Verstraete 2018)

==See also==
*[[Five Ws]]
*[[Indeterminate pronoun]]
*[[Sentence function]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{lexical categories|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Interrogative Word}}
[[Category:Interrogative words and phrases]]