Word order of question morphemes
Polar questions refer to questions that require a “yes” or “no” response (or equivalent synonyms in languages that do not necessarily use these words). This parameter considers the position of the question morpheme Q within the sentence. This morpheme may appear as a particle, affix, or clitic. If questions can be formed in the language without the use of a verb, the form of polar questions with nonverbal predicates should also be considered.
Types:
NoQ: Question morphemes are not used to form polar questions.1
VQonly: Polar questions must have a verbal predicate, and the question morpheme attaches to (the stem of) the verbal2 predicate, directly following it.
QVonly: Polar questions must have a verbal predicate, and the question morpheme attaches to (the stem of) the verbal predicate, directly preceding it.
VQ: Polar questions may have a verbal or nonverbal predicate, and the question morpheme attaches to (the stem of) the verbal predicate (when present), directly following it.
QV: Polar questions may have a verbal or nonverbal predicate, and the question morpheme attaches to (the stem of) the verbal predicate (when present), directly preceding it.
NonVFocQ: In the absence of a verbal predicate the question morpheme attaches (to the stem of) the word in focus (which can be the predicate itself, or a part of it), directly following it.
NonVQFoc: In the absence of a verbal predicate the question morpheme attaches (to the stem of) the word in focus (which can be the predicate itself, or a part of it), directly preceding it.
PredQ: The question morpheme directly follows the predicate:
QPred: The question morpheme directly precedes the predicate.
FocQ: The question morpheme directly follows the focus or its stem.
QFoc: The question morpheme directly precedes the focus or its stem.
FinalQ: The question morpheme appears as the last item in the sentence.
InitQ: The question morpheme appears as the first item in the sentence.
2PosQ: The question morpheme appears in the second functional position in the sentence.3
VarQ: The position of the question morpheme varies.4
Note that values NoQ and QVonly can only appear alone, while NonVFocQ and NonVQFoc can only appear combined with either VQ or QV, with a plus sign (+) separating them.When a language displays more than one type, multiple values can be listed. If one type is dominant, a slash (/) can separate the two values, with the dominant value appearing first; if neither is dominant, they are listed with an ampersand (&) separating the two.
1: A language that displays this value cannot display the value Q for the parameter Polar questions.
2: The verb may be a main verb or an auxiliary. This should be clarified in the commentary.
3: Although this is often the second word, it may also appear in the second position following a multi-word phrase occupying the first functional position in the sentence.
4: The placement of the question morpheme can be chosen freely and does not specify the focus of the sentence.