Questions
Yes/no questions are formed with the tag particle ojo at the beginning of the sentence. For example:
- nagov nagá ne palaem
- the rat eats the grain
- ojo nagov nagá ne palaem?
- does the rat eat the grain?
If the speaker expects the answer to be yes, he can add alunun jhi to the end of the sentences; if he expects no, then he adds alunun kre. The speaker need not say whether he expects either answer.
For more complex questions, the question-word's stressed vowel lowers via an ablaut process, which is written as a dieresis. When asking for new information, the generic pronoun no or the pro-verb vo is dropped into the word order position where it would belong in normal, indicative sentences.
If the word ne appears in the sentence, it is also ablauted (and never contracted). For example:
- nagov no ne palaem
- it eats the grain
- nagov nö në palaem?
- what eats the grain?
- nagov nagá n'o
- the rat eats it
- nagov nagá në nö?
- what does the rat eat?
- vo nagá ne palaem
- the rat does it to the grain
- vö nagá në palaem?
- what does the rat do to the grain?
Depending on which word changes, different information is being asked. English accomplishes the same thing through tone of voice:
- nagöv nagá në palaem?
- does the rat eat the grain?
- nagov nagä në palaem?
- does the rat eat the grain?
- nagov nagá në paläem?
- does the rat eat the grain?
Below is a table describing how the "question vowels" are pronounced:
| Statement | → | Question |
|---|---|---|
| i /i/ | → | ï /ɪ/ |
| î /ɪ/ | → | ḯ /ɛ/ |
| ae, ei /e/ | → | äe, ëi /ɛ/ |
| e /ɛ/ | → | ë /ɑ/ |
| a /ɑ/ | → | ä /i/ |
| u /u/ | → | ü /o/ |
| o /o/ | → | ö /ɔ/ |
| o /ɔ/ | → | ö /ɑ/ |
| ai /ɑi/ | → | äi /ɔ/ |
Rising Intonation
English-speakers may feel more confortable ending a question with a rising intonation. While rising intonation does not imply a question to Asha'ille speakers, there is a way to "cheat."
Any indicative statement in Asha'ille may optionally end with e. It has no semantic content — it is equivalent to English eh or y'know, and is spoken with a rising intonation at the end of the sentence. In a question, it is always ablauted (like ne). In this way, you can end a question with a rising intonation without it obviously being an artifact of your native language. :)
- nagov nagá ne palaem e
- the rat eats the grain, eh
- nagov nagä në palaem ë?
- does the rat eat the grain, eh?
You can also use this trick with ojo yes/no questions. The e continues to be pronounced /ɛ/ (that is, without ablaut) because the ablaut process does not occur in these questions.
- ojo nagov nagá ne palaem e
- does the rat eat the grain, eh?