Constiuent questions 447
(32) a. Siti ma-tedhung kana' se kamma?
Siti AV.CS-sleep child REL which
‘Which child did Siti put to bed?’
b. Kaka' ngeba buku se dhimma?
eld.brother AV.bring book REL which
‘What book did Big Brother bring?’
barampa ‘how many/much’ can also occur in situ in its quantified NP, as in
(33). However, it is also possible to front barampa, as described in section
4.3.3, (53-55).
(33) Nabun melle barampa buku are Sennen?
Nabun AV.buy how.many book day Monday
‘How many books did Nabun buy on Monday?’
As true of many Austronesian languages, traditionally subjects in Madu-
rese could not be nonspecific indefinites (see Chapter 6 section 10). Therefore,
in situ questions of subjects were ill-formed. The speaker resorted to either the
cleft structure (34), discussed more fully in the following section, or the agent
could be questioned in situ in the object voice, as in (35).
(34) Sapa se mokol Ali?
who REL AV.hit Ali
‘Who hit Ali?’
lit. ‘Who is the one who hit Ali?’
(35) a. Ali e-pokol sapa?
Ali OV-hit who
‘Who hit Ali?’
b. Ale' e-kekke' apa?
yngr.sibling OV-bite what
‘What bit Little Brother?’
This prohibition held for the possessors of subjects as well: thus either a clefted
question (36) or an in situ object voice question (37) was required.
(36) Embi'-na sapa se ngekke' Ale'?
goat-DEF who REL AV.bite yngr.sibling
‘Whose goat bit Little Brother?’