MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO. Classification of the Question: English and Czech Comparison

MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Classification of the Question: English and Czech Comparison Diploma Thesis Brno 2011 Supervisor: Written by: Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph.D. Helena Špiříková

Declaration Hereby I declare that I worked on this thesis on my own and used only the sources listed in the bibliography. I agree that the thesis be placed in the library of the Faculty of Education of Masaryk University in Brno and made accessible for study purposes. Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. Brno 20 th April 2011...... Helena Špiříková 2

Acknowledgement I would like to thank Mgr. Martin Adam, Ph. D. for his extraordinary help, valuable advice and outstanding support. 3

Table of Contents Introduction... 5 1 Definition of the Question... 7 1.1 Form of the Question... 7 1.2 Function of the Question... 9 1.3 Comparison with the Czech Question...10 2 Yes-no Question...13 2.1 Form of the Yes-no Question...13 2.2 Function of the Yes-no Question...14 2.3 Comparison with the Czech Yes-no Question...17 3 Wh-question...19 3.1 Form of the Wh-question...19 3.2 Function of the Wh-question...21 3.3 Comparison with the Czech Wh-question...26 4 Other Categories of the Question...28 4.1 Alternative Question...28 4.2 Tag Question...30 4.3 Minor Types of the Question...32 4.4 Indirect Question...33 5 Yes-no Questions Analysis...37 5.1 Positive Yes-no Questions Analysis...37 5.2 Negative Yes-no Questions Analysis...40 5.3 Analysis of Yes-no Questions with a modal verb...41 5.4 Ellipted Yes-no Questions Analysis...44 5.5 Summary of Yes-no Questions Analysis...46 6 Wh-questions Analysis...47 6.1 Who-questions, Whose-questions...47 6.2 What-questions, Which-questions...50 6.3 When-questions, Where-questions...55 6.4 How-questions...56 6.5 Why-questions...58 6.6 Summary of the Wh-questions Analysis...62 4

7 Tag Questions Analysis...64 7.1 Summary of the Tag Questions Analysis...70 8 Indirect Questions Analysis...71 8.1 Summary of the Indirect Questions Analysis...73 Conclusion...74 Bibliography...77 Appendix...78 5

Introduction The diploma thesis deals with the classification of the question into different categories based on its syntax and semantics as well as comparison with the Czech question. I have chosen this linguistic topic in order to emphasize some important phenomena that are related to the question and that are frequently marginalized by users of either the English or Czech language, who create questions rather automatically. A deep knowledge of the question and its theoretical background might be highly useful for teaching English at any level. The work also focuses on a pragmatic aspect of the question in the English as well as Czech language and analyses the differences, which is an extremely useful part of teaching English as well. The thesis is divided into two main parts, namely the first part, which deals with the theoretical background concerning the appropriate field of linguistics such as syntax, grammar, semantics or pragmatics of the question. The Czech question is discussed in the theoretical part, too. The theoretical part consists of four chapters, namely 1 to 4, which are further divided into subchapters. The first chapter deals with the definition of the question as such. It consists of three subchapters; whereas the first subchapter focuses on the form of the interrogative, how it is created and what typical features it contains, and it explains the division of the question into the main categories, which are discussed in more detail in the following chapters. The second subchapter discusses the function of the question and it mentions some pragmatic aspects of the question. It also compares the form with the function of the question and explains some linguistic terminology such as direct and indirect speech act or locutionary, perlocutionary and illocutionary act, which are important to be understood when studying the function of the question. The third subchapter studies the form of the Czech question and compares it with the English one. The second chapter studies the yesno question, which is one of two main categories of the question. In the first subchapter it describes its form and the second subchapter deals with the function of the yes-no question. It mainly focuses on the difference between the positive and negative yes-no question. The third subchapter compares the form of the Czech and English yes-no question and explains some differences. The third chapter of the thesis is concerned with the wh-question, which creates the broadest category of the question, and it is also divided into three subchapters, the first of which deals with the form of the wh-question and classifies it into subcategories according to the wh-interrogative word they employ, the functions of which are consequently discussed individually. The second subchapter discusses the most important functions of the wh- 6

question and explains the term presupposition. The third subchapter carries out a comparison between the Czech and English wh-question. The fourth chapter, which is the last one in the theoretical part, deals with some smaller categories of the question, such as the alternative question, the tag question, the indirect question as well as some other minor types of the question. Each category is discussed separately in individual subchapters from the aspect of its form, function and comparison with the Czech language. The practical part of the thesis analyzes questions that have been excerpted from the electronic version of the book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling. All questions have been inserted in the main corpus, corpus 5, and consequently categorized into partial corpora according to their type. Since the electronic version of the book provides both English and Czech version, all questions in the corpus are in both languages, too. Thus the analysis is concerned with the comparison of the English questions with the theoretical background as well as with their Czech counterparts. With respect to such a large number of questions in the book, only the largest categories of the question are studied in depth. The first chapter of the practical part, which is chapter 5, performs the analysis of the yes-no question. It studies their occurrence in the text and how large proportion of all questions they create. The chapter further carries out a comparison with the theoretical background and Czech translations. Corpus 1 containing the list of yes-no questions from the book serves as an attachment to this chapter. Chapter 6, provides analysis of the wh-question. The analysis is performed in the same manner as in chapter 5. All wh-questions from the text are placed in corpus 2. The following chapters 7 and 8 discuss the tag question and the indirect question, which can be found in corpora 3 and 4. Again, it pays the attention to the amount of each category in the whole list and it studies the similarity with the theoretical background and the Czech equivalents. Other categories of the question are not dealt with in the thesis as it is focused only on the largest types of the question. All examples throughout the thesis are numbered. Each part, theoretical and practical, has its own numerical series. All information in the theoretical part is supported by referencing to academic sources. The practical part examines each category of the question as a whole as well as some individual examples are taken from the corpus and studied in greater detail. All examples in the practical part are analysed without any further context from the book. 7

1 Definition of the Question The first chapter of the diploma thesis explains the general definition of the question as well as describes both its form and function. Further, it depicts some differences between the English question and the Czech one. A more detailed division of questions and their definitions will be discussed in the following chapters of the thesis. 1.1 Form of the Question Concerning the English syntax, all sentences are divided into four major groups: declaratives, interrogatives, imperatives and exclamatives. This work particularly studies interrogatives, in other words questions. When speaking about the form of the question, we use the term interrogative, which is related to sentence types while the term question refers to discourse functions. (Quirk: 803) Interrogatives can be further divided into yes-no interrogatives, wh-interrogatives and some other types of subclasses that will be described in other chapters. (Quirk: 803) There are several features that distinguish interrogatives from the other types of sentences. The first and most visible is the question mark?, which appears at the end of most interrogatives. The second feature of the interrogative is a different word- order, which will be discussed more in detail further. Another characteristic feature typical for the interrogative is a different intonation, which will be discussed only marginally in this work. As it was mentioned earlier, the two major classes of interrogatives are yes-no interrogatives and wh-interrogatives. Both the groups differ from the other types of sentences by a different word-order. The subject is typically preceded by an operator; and in the case of wh-interrogatives, a wh-element is positioned at the very beginning of the sentence. Thus the characteristic word order of interrogatives is: (wh-element) operator subject predicate -? (Jacobs: 257) The wh-element will be discussed in the section devoted to wh-questions. The operator can be represented by a number of various verbs depending on different aspects, such as the grammatical tense of the interrogative or the type of the verb in the corresponding declarative. First, it is advisable to mention the verb be, which itself functions as the operator in interrogatives. In that case, the interrogative is characterized only with the inversion of the verb be, which is followed by the subject and the predicate. (Jacobs: 258) 8

[1] Declarative: Peter is at home. Corresponding interrogative: Is Peter at home? The verb be is currently the only verb that uses no operator in interrogatives. Jacobs explains that the main predicate cannot function as the operator and although be is the main verb, it is clearly not the main predicate. (Jacobs: 261) It implies that all other verbs belong to the main predicate and therefore cannot function as the operator. As Jacobs further claims the verb that is operator is always finite it is always either a modal or a verb in the past or present tense. It is never the main predicate of its clause. When no other candidate for operator is available, do is introduced. It thus functions as a kind of emergency operator. (Jacobs: 258) Modal verbs which function as the operator include will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might or must (sometimes dare and need). Among other auxiliaries that appear as the operator are ranged be (progressive aspect, passive voice), have (perfect aspect) and do (present and past tense), the first two of which occur also in declaratives, nevertheless, the third appears almost exclusively in questions and negatives as a dummy (emergency) operator. (Jacobs: 266) [2] Declaratives: Peter will be at home. Peter must be at home. Peter has been at home. Peter works at home. Corresponding interrogatives: Will Peter be at home? Must Peter be at home? Has Peter been at home? Does Peter work at home? According to Jacobs if the verb phrase contains other verbs besides the main predicate, then the first of the verbs is recruited from the verb phrase and becomes the operator. (Jacobs: 258). The office is being cleaned now. > Is the office being cleaned now? Also, it is the operator that is the only finite element within the verb phrase in questions and negatives. The rest of the verbs remain infinitives or past or present participles, which are non-finite. 9

1.2 Function of the Question Similarly to syntactic division, Quirk suggests a division of the discourse into four major functional classes in relation to semantics; statements, questions, directives and exclamations, where statements convey information and usually match with syntactical declaratives, questions seek information and generally match with interrogatives, directives give instructions and are connected with syntactical imperatives and last, exclamations express impressions and are associated with exclamatives. (Quirk: 803, 804) Such an event, where there is a direct relationship between a structure and a function is called direct speech act. (Yule: 54) However, Quirk at the same time claims that direct association between syntactic class and semantic class is the norm, but the two classes do not always match. (Quirk: 804) Such a phenomenon, where there is an indirect relationship between a structure and a function is called indirect speech act. (Yule: 55) Concerning questions, not all syntactic interrogatives stand for questions that seek information and although being grammatically interrogative, a large number of them perform different functions. [3] Would you like some water? The sentence is syntactically interrogative, however, semantically it is a question which functions as an offer because, in fact, we are not looking for information whether someone wants a glass of water or not, but we want to provide him/her with something to drink. As Quirk suggests, questions as well as all other utterances, can further be divided into pragmatic categories according to what the utterance producer is trying to imply to. Thus, as it was mentioned above, the question may have more possible meanings that are not explicitly expressed, but still, communicated. Such unspoken meanings are called illocutionary acts and, besides locutionary acts and perlocutionary acts, are parts of various speech acts. (Quirk: 804) Quirk also argues that illocutionary acts are very often associated with particular semantic classes of sentences. But semantic and pragmatic classes are not always directly associated, any more than semantic classes and syntactic types. (Quirk: 805). Such sentences are the representatives of indirect speech acts as their illocutionary act differs from their semantic role. Questions primarily have the illocutionary force of inquiries. But they are often used as directives conveying requests, offers, invitations, and advice (Quirk: 806) as it is shown in example [4]. 10

[4] Could you help me? Semantically: question Illocutionary act: request Why don t you come with us? Semantically: question Illocutionary act: invitation What about staying home? Semantically: question Illocutionary act: suggestion There are a number of different devices that can be used by a speaker/writer to indicate such implications in their utterances as well as a number of different clues for a listener/reader to infer them. A very important role is played by the context, whether linguistic or nonlinguistic, in which an utterance is performed. Other devices include intonation, word order or some other grammatical structures which mark otherwise neutral utterances. Concerning the question, examples of such markers might be negative yes-no questions or the occurrence of assertive expressions in such questions. (Quirk: 805) [5] Do you play the guitar? Neutral question, we simply ask if he/she plays the guitar or not. [6] Don t you play the guitar? Marked question, we do not ask about the fact of playing the guitar, but we are rather surprised or annoyed about the fact of not playing the guitar. Examples [5], [6] show how the use of a negative verb can influence the function of the question. 1.3 Comparison with the Czech Question Generally, the essential difference between Czech and English language is that the former is synthetic and the latter analytic. Czech as a synthetic language employs much more inflectional affixes, by means of which it expresses grammatical relationships much more easily than English, which is analytical, and so a certain word order should be followed or other helping words employed so that grammatical relationships are recognized and evident for the receiver. (Hladký: 5) For instance, in an English sentence, contrary to a Czech one, a direct object should never interchange the position with a subject because accusatives, as well as all other grammatical cases, have identical form with nominatives and in English, the initial word is generally considered nominative. In Czech, these are interchangeable since 11

each grammatical case creates a different inflectional affix. In such cases, English rather uses a passive voice to keep the theme and rheme of the sentence. [7] The book was written by Božena Němcová. > Tuto knihu napsala Božena Němcová. In example [7] the word book must be positioned initially in the sentence because the form of it never changes. On the other hand, Czech knihu differs with its inflection from a nominative, so it can be placed before the verb and it is obvious that it acts as a direct object. Similarly to English, the Czech question can be defined from two essential aspects, i.e. the form and the function. While the form of the Czech question quite often differs from the English one, the function should be the same. In other words, by using various different grammatical devices, we reach the same objectives. Dušková argues that the English question differs from the other sentence types with its word order (subject operator inversion), intonation or other specific lexical devices. In case of present or past simple, a dummy operator do is introduced. The Czech question, on the other hand, has more tolerant word order and employs no operators, so the inversion takes place between the subject and the main verb. The basic intonation characteristics are common for both languages. Generally, yes-no questions have a rising tone and wh-questions a falling one. Both Czech and English question seek information and want the listener to provide it. The Czech as well as English question has three main subclasses: yes-no questions, whquestions and alternative questions. (Dušková: 311, 312) Similarly to Dušková, Grepl discusses that Czech interrogatives serve to obtain a piece of information which the speaker is missing at the moment of the utterance and needs to receive. Interrogatives are realized mainly by questions and its functional subclasses. (Grepl: 588). The subclasses of Czech questions resemble to the English ones; declaratory questions (yes-no questions) and complementary questions (wh-questions). Each subclass will be described more in detail in the corresponding chapter. Concerning the form of Czech interrogatives, one of the most crucial differences is the usage of the operator. The Czech question employs no helping verbs to be shifted in front of the subject, but conversely, it applies the inversion of the main verb and the subject, no matter which tense is used. [8] Statement: Maminka koupila koláče. Question: Koupila maminka koláče? 12

Another significant difference in the Czech question is the possibility of omitting the subject, which is not acceptable in the English question. This grammatical phenomenon is applied when the subject is known from the context or when the subject is the first or second personal pronoun singular as well as plural, in cases of which we can determine the subject based on specific verb inflections. (Grepl: 608) [9] Máš peníze? Máte peníze? Mám peníze? Máme peníze? The subjects of these questions are you, you (plural), I and we. Since the verbs have their specific inflections, all those subjects can be left out. It would be not possible to omit the subject in the case of the third person singular with no context because all three genders employ the same inflection. Obviously, when knowing the subject from the context, the thirdperson subject can be dropped as well. Thus, the form of the question is the only aspect, which makes the most significant difference between the Czech and English question. The function and intonation more or less correspond in both languages. Also, the subclasses of the Czech question are equivalent to their English counterparts. 13

2 Yes-no Question The second chapter of the diploma thesis focuses on yes-no questions, which create a large subcategory of the question. Since the most probable answer to this type of questions is yes or no, we indicate them with the term yes-no questions. Again, the chapter deals with their form, function and consequent comparison with Czech questions of the same category. 2.1 Form of the Yes-no Question As it was mentioned in the previous chapter, yes-no interrogatives, like almost all types of interrogatives, employ the operator in front of the subject. In that case, the operator is at the very first position in the sentence and the typical word order is: operator subject predicate? If the question is negative, the negative particle not creates a contracted form together with the operator and is also placed at the beginning of the sentence. The form of a negative interrogative where the particle is not contracted and placed after the subject is very rare and seems dubious for most speakers: Do you not know him? Nevertheless, in ultraformal contexts, especially in British English, an uncontracted form with the particle preceding the subject can be found: Has not the letter been sent yet? In general, the construction n t is the most preferable form of a negative interrogative. (Jacobs: 262) In chapter 1.1 all possible operators are listed. If the main verb of the sentence is be, only the subject and the verb are inverted to create an equivalent interrogative. All other verbs use the operator to form an interrogative. The predicate, which consists of the main verb and other sentence elements, is always followed by the question mark. The only finite verb in the interrogative is the operator. One must be always aware of the fact that the whole subject is positioned after the operator, no matter how long it is. As it was stated above, the frequent answer to the yes-no interrogative is yes or no, but since it is rather impolite to give such brief replies, yes or no should be followed by the subject and operator. In short answers, the subject is always replaced by its pronoun. [10] Is your mother going to work tomorrow? Yes, she is. / No, she isn't. In this short answer, yes (as a positive reply) or no (for a negative reply) is positioned at the beginning and always followed by a comma. It is succeeded by the subject your mother realized by the pronoun she and operator (almost always the same as in the interrogative) is. Of course, the full answer is another possibility besides the short version, however, rather unusual. In that case all predicate is repeated in the answer; Yes, my mother is going to work 14

tomorrow. / No, my mother isn't going to work tomorrow. (Alexandr: 252) Such answers might sound slightly ironic. Generally, yes-no questions have rising intonation. 2.2 Function of the Yes-no Question Yes-no questions primarily expect affirmation or negation as a reply 1. Therefore we sometimes give them a term polar questions. (cf. Dušková 1988) Yes-no questions are further divided into two major subclasses; positive yes-no questions and negative yes-no questions. As Quirk explains this phenomenon, the use of either a positive or a negative yes-no question makes a considerable difference in their functions. If a positive yes-no question contains nonassertive forms 2, then it is generally neutral, with no bias in expectation towards a positive or negative response, and with neutral polarity (Quirk: 808) [11] Did you go anywhere last night? The question is completely neutral as it is positive and contains the non-assertive word anywhere. It has no bias towards a positive or negative response; it only searches the information whether he/she went anywhere last night or not. On the other hand, questions may be conducive, i.e. they may indicate that the speaker is predisposed to the kind of answer he has wanted or expected. (Quirk: 808) Quirk further claims that a positive question may indicate an expectation of a positive answer, for example by using assertive forms instead of the usual non-assertive ones. (Quirk: 808) [12] Did you go somewhere last night? By using the assertive word somewhere, the question converts from neutral to conducive (cf. Quirk 1985). It no more searches the information on someone's being somewhere last night, but contrarily, it functions as a surprise that he/she went out last night. This is an example of an interrogative with a different function than a question. The illocutionary force of the interrogative is making sure or a surprise. As Quirk further claims, assertive forms in offers such as Would you like some cake? make the offer more polite, because of the assumption of a positive reply. (Quirk: 808) 1 Affirmation and negation may be conveyed by words or expressions other than yes or no, e.g.: certainly; of course; not at all; never. Yes-no questions may also be answered by replies that lie somewhere along the affirmation-negation scale, e.g.: probably; perhaps; It appears so; to some extent; occasionally; very often. (Quirk: 806) 2 Non-assertive forms are expressions that are typical for negatives and questions, but they also appear in conditional, comparative or putative should-clauses. The examples of these items are any, anybody, at all, ever, either, much, yet. Positive statements employ assertive forms such as some, somebody, somehow, sometimes, still, too, already. (Greenbaum, Quirk: 225) 15

Besides offers, assertive items are included in requests, invitations or suggestions, where we expect answer yes. The reasons for using assertive items in some yes-no interrogatives are that we expect a positive answer or want to be polite. The intonation may also change when producing a question that is conducive. Negative yes-no questions, on the other hand, are always conducive. They have different functions than neutral seeking for information. Negative orientation is found in questions which contain a negative form of one kind or another 3. (Quirk: 808) Quirk further explains that the negative orientation generally expresses a surprise or disbelief since perhaps the speaker had originally hoped for a positive response, but then the response appears rather negative. (Quirk: 808) Further functions of negative questions may be an exasperation, persuasion, criticism or exclamation. [13] Haven t you bought any potatoes? The original expectation of the speaker was that the interrogated would buy some potatoes, but apparently he/she has not. Now, the speaker expresses disappointment or annoyance by using a negative form of the question. The speaker may also show his/her surprise at the fact that no potatoes have been bought. At all events, the question has a different function than searching information whether the potatoes have been bought or not. If the question has a negative orientation, non-assertive words are present in the sentence; Haven t you bought any potatoes? The speaker is annoyed that no potatoes have been bought. However, if an assertive word were used in a negative question, the question would change its bias from a negative to positive one; Haven t you bought some potatoes? The speaker knows that some potatoes have been bought, yet, he/she still expresses some disbelief or annoyance by using a negative question. Such questions are similar in effect to tag questions, or alternatively to statements showing disbelief. (Quirk: 809) As it was mentioned earlier, the position of the negative particle not is usually at the beginning of the question, where it fuses with the operator. In that case, we speak about enclitic negative particle. In formal English, Quirk is in harmony with Jacobs that the full negative particle can be placed after the subject and also before the subject in its full form. This construction is especially likely in formal contexts where the subject is lengthy. (Quirk: 809) Quirk also harmonizes with Jacobs that a usual construction of a negative 3 A sentence may be negative grammatically or only semantically by using a word with a negative meaning but not form. We can make negative or near-negative sentences with adverbs like never, seldom, rarely, hardly ever, scarcely ever (frequency); and barely, hardly, scarcely (= only just). Sentences which include one of these words or phrases are sometimes called implied negatives. (Alexander: 253) 16

sentence is when the enclitic negative particle precedes the subject (Haven't you...?). It is rather formal when the full negative particle is placed after the subject (Have you not...?) and even rare if the subject is in the same position as the enclitic (Have not you...?). (Quirk: 809) However, Quirk further argues that if the subject includes a quantifier, it makes a difference in meaning between a question with the negative particle before the subject and one where the negative particle follows the subject. [14] Doesn't anyone speak French? (Surely someone speaks French.) Does anyone not speak French? (Is there anyone who does not speak French?) Although a negative subject of a statement cannot be replaced by not + non-assertive form, the same restriction does not apply to negative questions, where the subject follows the clause negator not. Two question forms therefore correspond to the single positive form No one believes me: Does no one believe me? and Doesn t anyone believe me? (Quirk: 810) As for replies to negative questions, Leech and Svartvik claim that some languages answer negative questions in a different way to English. To the question Isn t she here yet?, the answer No means She is not here, while Yes means She is here: the answer is given to the underlying meaning rather than to the negative grammatical form of the question. (Leech, Svartvik: 128) To sum up what has been stated so far on yes-no questions, here are examples that show an outline of all the possible forms and meanings. [15] Form: Is she here yet? neutral question [16] Form: Is she already here? question with positive bias - conducive [17] Form: Isn't she here yet? question with negative bias - conducive [18] Form: Isn't she already here? question with positive bias - conducive All questions that are conducive express surprise, annoyance, disbelief etc. Only neutral questions seek information. Neutral questions are positive with non-assertive words. Thus, the first question in example [15] is neutral as it is positive and has the non-assertive word yet. The second question, even though it is positive, contains the assertive item already, which makes it conducive. The very likely function would be a surprise at an arrival that happened earlier than we had expected. The third question is negative, so it is certainly conducive, with a non-assertive word yet, which evokes negative bias. It expresses an annoyance or disbelief at her not having arrived. The fourth question is conducive with positive bias similarly to 17

the second one, however, besides a different form, the probable function is not a surprise, but an annoyance over her early arrival. As we can see from the example above, there are four combinations in the form of yes-no questions: positive + non-assertive item; positive + assertive item; negative + non-assertive item; negative + assertive item, while each of them functions differently. If a yes-no question contains a modal verb, it very often expresses a polite request (will, would, can, could, may) or a proposal (shall, should). Nevertheless, a yes-no question containing the modal will may seem ambiguous because it could function as a polite request as well as a neutral question about the future. In that case, it is more safety to use a progressive tense in a neutral question about the future and please with the request. [19] Will you see your mother tomorrow? The question can function as a polite request that the addressee should go and visit the mother the next day, or as a neutral question whether the addressee will go and see the mother or not. [20] Will you be seeing your mother tomorrow? The question is no more ambiguous as, when using the progressive tense, it clearly expresses that the speaker asks the addressee whether he/she will go to the mother s or not. [21] Will you see your mother tomorrow, please? Again, it is clear that the question functions as a polite request so that the addressee visits the mother the next day. Answers to polite requests and proposals very often differ from answers to neutral questions as they do not consist of yes/no and the operator. [22] Would you help me? ~ Sure; Of course; Certainly; I'm sorry, I can't; I'm afraid, I can't... Shall I open the window? ~ Yes, please; No, thank you; It would be nice... Also, the intonation can help to express the function or to indicate the emphasis in the question. 2.3 Comparison with the Czech Yes-no Question In the Czech language the term zjišťovací otázky (cf. Grepl 1995) is used for yes-no questions. Similarly to English, yes-no interrogatives expect either a positive or negative 18

response. However, Czech neutral yes-no interrogatives can have both a positive and negative form because we expect either a positive or negative answer. This is a considerable difference between the Czech and English form of yes-no interrogatives. Nevertheless, either form of the question may carry various communicational intentions and moreover, if we use only positive questions during a speech event, they signal positive bias and vice versa, negative questions have negative bias although they still remain neutral. We distinguish three main categories of what neutral yes-no questions may signal: checking imposed duties, verification of someone s statement and urging the addressee. Some questions may also signal a hesitation and those generally contain a modal verb. Czech yes-no questions, which are not neutral, are called nepravé zjišťovací otázky and, like English conducive yes-no question, perform different functions than only searching for information. Their forms differ from English but functions correspond in both languages. Among those, we can range polite requests, refusals, objections, reproaches, surprise or annoyance. Their forms are positive as well as negative and the sentences very often contain a word typical for a particular function, i.e. particle copak for a surprise or a modal verb in a present or past form. (Grepl: 608) [23] Czech English Nemáš hlad? / Máš hlad? Are you hungry? neutral question Copak nemáš hlad? Aren t you hungry? surprise Unlike English answers, Czech answers are not considered impolite if they contain only the word yes or no. For short answers, Czech language uses yes/no and the lexical verb from the question because this language employs no operators. If the question is negative, we use no to confirm its content and yes to deny it, even though yes is grammatically positive and no negative. In this case both languages prefer to use the operator or lexical verb (in Czech) or some further explanation with the word yes when denying a negative yes-no question. (Dušková: 312 316) [24] Didn't she go to the shop yesterday? ~ No. / Yes, she did, but... Copak včera nešla do obchodu? ~ Ne. / Ano, šla, ale... Last but not least, there is a difference between Czech and English yes-no questions in using assertive and non-assertive words, the function of which plays such an important role in the function of English yes-no questions. Czech language has no such words that would distinguish the positive and negative mode of the sentence. (Dušková: 313) 19

3 Wh-question The third chapter of the thesis deals with wh-questions, which belong to another large category of questions. Wh-questions are so named because they contain question words that, with the exception of how, begin with wh. (Jacobs: 269) In contrast to yes-no questions, which ask about an entire proposition, wh-questions ask about a part of a proposition like 20

time, place, and manner. (Jacobs: 269) As Quirk suggests, wh-questions, unlike yes-no questions, have generally falling intonation. (Quirk: 817) Similarly to previous chapters, the first part of the third chapter speaks about the form of wh-questions, the second part focuses on their functions and the third part compares them with their Czech equivalents. 3.1 Form of the Wh-question Generally, wh-interrogatives begin with a wh-element (interrogative word), which is positioned at the very beginning of the sentence (apart from some conjuncts). If the whelement consists of more than one word, the wh-word is placed first. Among wh-words we range: who, whom, whose, what, which, when, where, how, why, while whom is the objective form of who and whose is its possessive form. (Leech, Svartvik: 374) Thus, the typical word order of a wh-interrogative is: wh-element operator subject predicate? Technically, the wh-element replaces the sentence element which the question is aimed at and moved from the original place to the initial position of the interrogative that is called whmovement. Also, similarly to yes-no questions, the operator precedes the subject. (Jacobs: 270) [25] She went to work at eight o clock. > When did she go to work? However, as Leech and Svartvik explain, if the element containing the wh-word is the subject, the verb phrase remains the same as in the corresponding statement, and no inversion or do-construction is necessary. (Leech, Svartvik: 366) [26] My mother works in a hospital. > Who works in a hospital? If the wh-element replaces the subject, the verb almost always appears in the form of the third person singular. If a possessive pronoun connected to the subject appears in the predicate, it is replaced by the possessive their or his or her, since the gender of the subject is not known in the question. [27] My mother likes her car. > Who likes their/his or her car? According to Quirk, if the wh-word occurs within a prepositional complement, there are two possible constructions of the question, one of which is formal and the preposition precedes the complement. In the other, informal, construction the complement comes first and the preposition remains at the end of the question, in its original position: 21

On what topic did you write the essay? formal What topic did you write the essay on? neutral As Quirk further suggests, we may perhaps express this difference more neatly by saying that neutral style generally requires that the wh-word comes first, but formal English requires that the wh-element as a whole comes first. (Quirk: 817) Also, we must still bear in mind that who is usually used when being positioned initially, while whom is frequently used when being preceded by a preposition. If the pronoun who asks about the direct object, which uses no preposition, both forms who and whom can be used even though no preposition is placed in front of it. (Jacobs: 270) [28] John will bring his friend to the party. Who/whom will John bring to the party? This example shows that whom can be used even without being preceded by a preposition. However, Quirk claims that when the preposition is syntactically bound closer to its complement than to the verb, it is generally preferred not to place it in the final position of the interrogative even in neutral style. (Quirk: 817) [29] Peter is leaving at two o clock. > At what time is Peter leaving? (formal) What time /When is Peter leaving? (neutral) Quirk further argues that the preposition since and during occur only at the beginning of the question: Since when do I have to explain my actions to you?, During which years were you living in Germany? Until is also usually placed initially, although till can be regularly deferred: Until when are you staying (until)?, When are you staying till? (Quirk: 817) [30] When will you bring me some money? As the example [30] demonstrates, it is typical for wh-interrogatives to contain assertive items (some, someone, still, ever, etc.) and, unlike yes-no questions, they generally have falling intonation and the stress is carried by the wh-element. 3.2 Function of the Wh-question Wh-questions as well as wh-words themselves have a number of various functions, the most crucial of which will be dealt with in this subchapter. Wh-questions assume (presuppose) the general proposition to be true and ask only for information about one item, that represented by the wh-word. (Jacobs: 272) Jacobs explains the difference between wh- 22

questions and yes-no questions, which do not presuppose the major proposition they contain but ask whether it is true or not. (Jacobs: 272) A presupposition is another phenomenon that characterizes the wh-question. As Quirk understands this phenomenon, a wh-question may generally be matched with a statement called its presupposition. This is a statement which, in place of the wh-element, contains an indefinite expression such as somebody. (Quirk: 819) A presupposition is a common feature of wh-questions, yes-no questions have no such assumptions. Here are some examples of various questions and their presuppositions. [31] Question Presupposition Who opened my letter? Somebody opened my letter. When will you be promoted? You will be promoted sometime. How did you mend it? You mended it somehow. Which books have you lent him? You have lent him some of the books. Quirk further explains that a positive wh-question may generally be matched with apositive presupposition. There may, however, be no presupposition if non-assertive items are present: Who has any money? The question is conducive, having a negative orientation. (Quirk: 820) Neutral question would be Who has some money? with a presupposition Somebody has some money. While a positive neutral wh-question generally has a positive presupposition, a negative wh-question, on the contrary, matches with a negative presupposition as it is shown in example [32]. [32] Question Presupposition Why didn t you tell me? You didn t tell me for some reason. When shouldn t I call? I shouldn t call at some time. Where didn t you clean? You didn t clean in some place. Which books don t you want? You don t want some of the books. To find a particular piece of information that we need, we use wh-words, which serve as interrogative words about different sentence elements. In the previous subchapter, nine essential wh-words were mentioned (who, whom, whose, what, which, when, where, how, why), the function of which will be described individually and more in detail in this subchapter. The clause function of these interrogative words corresponds with the function of the searched element. 23

Who is a personal pronoun which asks exclusively about animate nouns or noun phrases. Since the clause functions of noun phrases are subject, direct/indirect (or prepositional) object or complement, who performs these three functions as well. In whquestions of the SVC pattern, it is possible to distinguish between noun phrases as S and C by signals of case and concord. The potential response may also indicate the clause elements. (Quirk: 818, 819) [33] Who is the boss? ~ My father is the boss. Who is the boss? ~ The boss is my father. While in the first example who functions as the subject and so does my father in the reply, in the second example the function of who is the complement because my father in the answer operates in the function of subject complement, which follows linking verb be. Questions to the object are certainly not so ambiguous, yet, Quirk claims that many speakers use the prepositional complement as wh-element instead of indirect object, which they do not accept as wh-element: Who(m) did you show the book? x Who(m) did you show the book to? or (in formal style) To whom did you show the book? (Quirk: 818) Some speakers, however, find the construction acceptable if there is no ambiguity as to which object is direct and which indirect. (There is ambiguity in Who did you show your daughter?). (Quirk: 818) In other words, a noun phrase can function as an indirect object and be placed after the verb without a preposition (My brother gave my mother a book) or as a prepositional complement (object) and be placed after the direct object, which never uses a preposition, with a preposition (My brother gave a book to my mother). It is certainly safer to ask questions about the prepositional complement (object) as it is clear that the question is not aimed at the direct object, especially if both objects are animate or inanimate. Whom is the objective form of who, thus whom always asks about direct/indirect object. As it was mentioned earlier, whom is rather used in formal English as an alternative to who. Whom, like who, is a personal pronoun which asks about animate nouns or noun phrases. (Leech, Svartvik: 279) Again, it is advisable to use it with a preposition to prevent an ambiguity about which object is the question focused on. (Quirk: 818) Whose is a possessive form of the personal pronoun who, so generally, it is focused on animate items. It either (and very often) functions as a determiner of a noun phrase or as a complement (if it is used independently from a noun phrase). (Leech, Svartvik: 279) [34] Whose house is it? ~ It is my house. determiner of the phrase house 24

Whose is the house? ~ The house is mine. complement to the phrase house As a determiner, whose can ask about a noun phrase functioning as a subject, object or complement. [35] Whose mother bakes cakes? ~ Tom s mother bakes cakes. subject Whose mother do you know? ~ I know Tom s mother. object Whose mother is she? ~ She is Tom s mother. complement What is an interrogative word that can function as both determiner (together with a noun) and a pronoun (independently): What time is it? What is the time? In the function of a determiner, what can go with a personal or non-personal noun: what people/what books. Who and also what have indefinite reference, i.e. the speaker has no definite group in mind: What composers do you like best? (Leech, Svartvik: 280) Like whose, what as a determiner operates with a noun phrase that can be in the function of a subject, object or complement. [36] What flowers grow in your garden? ~ Various flowers grow in my garden. subject What flowers do you like? ~ I like roses. object What flowers are they? ~ They are roses. complement As a pronoun it generally refers to an inanimate (non-personal) noun phrase: What do you like to read? Similarly to who, what as a pronoun can function as a subject, object or complement. All rules about using a preposition in questions, which were mentioned earlier, apply for what in the same way as for who. (Leech, Svartvik: 280) [37] What grows in your garden? ~ Flowers grow in my garden. subject What do you like? ~ I like good food. object What is it? ~ It is a book. complement Which is an interrogative pronoun that, similarly to whose and what, can function either as a determiner (together with a noun) or as a pronoun (independently). In both functions which can go with and refer to animate as well as inanimate items. The definite interrogative which indicates that the speaker is thinking of a definite group to choose from: Which composer do you prefer: Mozart or Beethoven? (Leech, Svartvik: 280) Like whose and what, which as a determiner operates with a noun phrase that can be in the function of a subject, object or complement. Unlike whose and what, which can be followed by an of- 25

phrase: Which of the films do you like best? (Leech, Svartvik: 280) The independent function of which is a complement, subject or object. Similarly to who and what, if the question is of SVC pattern, it is possible to distinguish between noun phrases as S and C by signals of case and concord, where these apply: Which is me? (wh-element as S) contrasts with Which am I? (wh-element as C). (Quirk: 818) This is even more visible if the verb phrase consists of more than one verb: Which could be me? in the contrast with Which could I be? Here, it is more obvious which element is the subject and which is the complement. When is an interrogative adverb which operates in the function of adverbial as it searches information about time. [38] When are you leaving? ~ We are leaving at two o clock. Here, the adverb when as well as the prepositional phrase at two o clock functions as an adverbial of time. Where is an interrogative adverb which also operates in the function of adverbial and it searches information about a place (position as well as destination). [39] Where is your mother? position Where are you going (to)? destination How is a wh-element that generally performs in the function of adverbial of manner: How do you go to work? ~ I go to work by car. However, as Quirk suggests, interrogative how has various senses. In How does it work? how may refer to process or effect. How is also used as a wh-word for a complement as current attribute. (Quirk: 819) [40] How is your mother? ~ Fine. evaluation of health or condition How was the journey? ~ Great. evaluation Quirk further claims that for how in the non-health evaluative sense, What... like? is available as an informal synonym. (Quirk: 819) How creates some other meanings by combining with other words such as how much, how many, how far, how often, how many times, etc. According to Alexander, how has some social uses, as well, such as introductions How do you do?, asking about present circumstances How is life?, offers and suggestions How about...? or invitations How would you like to...?. (Alexander: 269) Why is a wh-element that asks about a reason or purpose, and so it functions as an adverbial. The usual reply to a question beginning with why is a clause that starts with the conjunction because or in order to (so as to, to infinitive). 26