Tag questions 443
(17) Ale' / apa a-lako otaba tedhung?
yngr.sibling Q AV-work or sleep
‘Is Little Brother working or sleeping?’
In the second strategy, preferred by some speakers, the conjunction otaba
is replaced by the question particle, (18); for some speakers, the option of the
pre-verbal question particle is retained (19).
(18) Alwi senneng (ka) kopi apa teh?
Alwi happy to coffee Q tea
‘Does Alwi like coffee or tea?’
(19) (Apa) ba'eng ngatela' Sinap apa Fatima?
Q you AV.see Sinap Q Fatima
‘Did you see Sinap or Fatima?’
3. Tag questions
Tag questions are most frequently formed by placing ta'iya ‘no yes’ at the end
of a sentence with rising intonation, as in (20) and (21).
(20) Ba'eng ngatela' Pa' Lukman, ta'iya?
you AV.see Mr Lukman TAG
‘You saw Pak Lukman, didn’t you?’
(21) Aba'eng gi' tanto-na gi' enga' dha' dungeng-nga Ke Juru
you still certain-DEF still remember to story-DEF Ke Juru
Kettheng, ta'iya?
Kettheng TAG
‘Certainly, you still remember the story of Ke Juru Kettheng, right?’
Tags are most often used to confirm the speaker’s understanding of belief
about a situation. They can also be used to check the addressee’s understanding
or to bring the addressee into agreement with the speaker, as in (22).
(22) Seddhang la e-tanem ya tanto-na mon lo' e-seram, lo'
when already OV-plant yes certain-DEF if not OV-water not
e-sarbu, lo' tombu, ta'iya?
OV-hoe not grow TAG
‘After it is planted, if you don’t water it, and don’t take care of the land, it
won’t grow, right?’