9.2 Asking questions
9 · Syntax — putting words in order · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Two kinds of question, and they behave very differently — one is a little bit of work, the other is almost free.
9.2.1 "Wh-" questions (what / who / how / where…)
These use the question words you met in The question words (Chapter 2) and Question words (Chapter 8) (mu / mudi "what," mani "who," iman "when," ika "where," dakh / dakhi "how," mujjur "how, what kind," kma "how much," ka-mu / ka-mudi / kam "why"). The rule: the question word goes to the front of the clause, and the verb follows.
- mu vedle? — "what did he do?"
- mu-byayet? — "what do you want?"
- dakh katlenne? — "how shall I kill him?"
- kele? — "where is he?" (ika "where" with the copula on it, first syllable dropped)
- mani tile? — "who came?"
That's it — front the question word, keep everything else as normal.
9.2.2 Yes/no questions — the easy one
Here is the gift: a yes/no question (a polar question — the answer is one of two poles, "yes" or "no") has exactly the same words in exactly the same order as the matching statement. There is no helper word like English "do," and nothing moves. All that changes is your intonation — the voice rises.
- aha gorakh-le. "This is your husband." → aha gorakh-le? "Is this your husband?"
- * a-bakhta khetela?* — "Is this woman alive?"
- etlukh sade? — "Do you have witnesses?"
- muyyalukh? — "Have you brought her?"
- ki-amsakh hayyerrakhlukh? — "Can we help you?"
So to ask "you're coming?" you just say the statement "you're coming" with a question in your voice: bitayet? Nothing to conjugate, nothing to flip.
Two handy add-ons:
- Tag questions — stick hi? ("yes?") or la? ("no?") on the end to fish for agreement: tuyna ki-yattet, hi? "you know straw, right?"; …la? "…no?"
- "…or not?" — end with yan-la? ("or not?"): busheltut yan-la? "have you cooked it or not?"; b-hamzemmet yan-la? "will you talk or not?"
9.2.3 Loading the question — khu and magar
A yes/no question can be neutral ("do you want tea?" — no idea) or loaded ("you don't want tea, do you?" — I'm fairly sure). English loads a question with word order and tags; Assyrian has two little particles that do it outright, and they are worth learning because a question carrying one is not really asking.
khu goes on the verb and means I already think I know the answer:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| khu-khzilukh tanuyra? | you've seen the oven? (I assume you have) |
| khu-levet kpina? | you're not hungry? (I assume you're not) |
| khu-levet tiyya lakhkha akhlet? | you haven't come here just to eat? (and you shouldn't have) |
The same particle works outside a question, where the closest English is surely:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| tuyta khu-lishan-diyyan-la | tuyta is surely our own word |
| khu la-msan paltanna | I surely can't get it out |
| khu-lela janavar, khu-le akhlali | she's surely not a beast, she surely won't eat me |
magar (borrowed from Persian) is the stronger one, and it flips: on a negative question it means I'm sure the answer is yes, and on a positive one surely not. It is the particle of mild indignation.
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| magar la merri katukh aha la-odetla? | didn't I tell you not to do that? |
| magar at le-azet tama? | you're not going to go there? (I assume you are) |
| magar ana kherba viden…? | have I done wrong…? (surely I haven't) |
| magar shuddennet? | have you gone mad? (surely not — I didn't expect this of you) |
| magar mu vitela? | what has happened? (something has — don't tell me "nothing") |
Outside questions magar means unless, or sometimes perhaps:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| le-amset akhlet ramsha, magar idukh khallettun | you can't eat dinner unless you wash your hands |
| magar Natan yatte | perhaps Natan knows |
9.2.4 Negative questions (a quick note)
Put the negator in and you get "…not?" questions, usually loaded with an expectation:
- aten hala let gvira? — "Are you not married yet?" (…but you ought to be)
- la merri ka-diyyukh? — "Didn't I tell you?"
Recognize them; they work just like the positive versions with a negator added (see Making verbs negative (Chapter 4) for la / le).
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