User:Bukkia/sandboxVIII
Interrogative pronouns
The basic interrogative pronoun is:
- what / who: kaa
It displays no morphological distinction between animate or inanimate referents. It displays a complete declension and it is declined with the same endings as the nominal declension.
The numeral ending, conversely, is chosen according to the animacy of the referent. If the referent's animacy is unclear, the inanimate ending is automatically chosen:
| śö̃ | śö̃ | |
| śö̃šy | śö̃šy | |
| śö̃h́ɛ | śö̃h́ɛ | |
Any semantic distinction in animacy among referents is made by the context:
śö̃h́ɛ ševöh qakökjytə žemɛžə? whom did you give the bread to?
There are also other interrogative pronouns (and adverbs):
- śɛtsah: where (static location and motion toward)
- śɛɣy: why (cause)
- śɛtür: when
- śɛmĩ: how much
- śɛmɛ: how
There are also the following interrogative adjectives:
- śö̃kə: which
- śö̃mĩkə: how much / many
Such adjectives do not display any definite forms.
śö̃mĩkõ havỹ ševöh? how many sheep do you have?
Within an interrogative clause, pronouns usually are usually moved at the beginning of the sentence. Their syntactical position is regarded as extremely marked. In addition, like other parts of the sentences, they can be introduced by prepositions:
vü śö̃šy tsɛvov? whom is he talking about?
