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Lesson 6

Page history last edited by Rex May 10 years, 6 months ago

Lesson Six - Asking 'what,' and Yes or No Questions.

 

There are a number of 'what' words in Ceqli.

 

kwa - asks for an identification

 

kwi (contraction of kwa jin) asks for an identification of a person

 

kia - asks for a description (from Esperanto)

 

kiu - asks which one of something already identified. (from Esperanto)

 

Basically, kwa calls for an argument as an answer.w

 

Da kwa?  What is that?  Here you're expecting an answer that is a specific identification.

 

Da jant.  or Da gosa hyun.

 

Kwa sta dor?   What's/who's at the door?

 

(If you want to make it specifically 'Who,' you just say kwi.)

 

But, the person who answers might not be able to identify the knocker, so the answer might be a predicate.

 

Da poljin.  It's a policeman.

 

So you don't get exactly the answer you wanted, but you got all the info the answerer had.  You might continue.

 

Kiu poljin?  Which policeman?  Answer:  Da to poljin hu pamo Jant.  It's the policeman who is John's father.

 

Or you might ask:

 

Da kia poljin?   He's what kind of policeman?  Da ceq sa poljin.  He's a city police     

 

And if you're asking what something is, and don't expect an identification, but a description, or identification of a class of things, you ask:

 

Da kia?  What (sort of thing) is that?  Da hyun.  It's a dog.

 

Yes or no questions.

 

Ceqli has a particle like Esperanto, that turns a statement into a question:

 

Da hyun. >  Kyu da hyun?   It's a dog.  Is it a dog? (From "Q" of "question.")

 

Go jan ke da hyun.  I know that it's a dog.

 

Kyu after a word turns the word into a question, this way:

 

Go xnel sa pa kom tri si pom.  I quickly ate three apples.

 

Kyu zi xnel sa pa kom tri si pom?  Did you quickly eat three apples?

 

But you can ask about specific words thus:

 

Zi kyu xnel sa pa kom tri si pom?   Was it you who ate three apples quickly?

 

Zi xnel kyu sa pa kom tri si pom?   Was it quickly that you ate three apples?

 

Zi xnel sa pa kyu kom tri si pom?   Was it in the past that you ate three apples quickly?

 

Zi xnel sa pa kom kyu tri si pom?   Did you eat three apples quickly? (as opposed to doing something else with them)

 

Zi xnel sa pa kom tri kyu si pom?   Was it three apples that you ate quickly?

 

Zi xnel sa pa kom tri si xu pom kyu?  Was it three apples that you ate quickly?

 

In some cases, it's possible to make a question in both ways with pretty much the same meaning:

 

Kyu zi ten fayrcari?  Do you have a match? — Is it so that you have a match?

 

Zi ten faycari kyu?  Do you have a match? — Is a thing that you have a match?

(I know you have something — is it a match?)

 

Kyu zi pa xlensa kom?  Did you eat slowly — Is it so that you ate slowly?

 

Zi pa xlen kyu sa kom?   Did you eat slowly — You ate... Did you do so slowly?

(I know you ate — did you do it slowly?)

 

As you can see, the mechanism to 'questionize' individual words is more awkward in English, and sometimes you just emphasize the word.

 

Go on to Lesson 7

 

Return to Lesson 5.

 

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