Word order of question morphemes (Hungarian)

VQ:  Polar questions may have a verbal or nonverbal predicate, and the question morpheme attaches to the stem of the verbal predicate, directly following it.


(1a) holnap megy-ünk nyaral-ni.

tomorrow go-prs.1pl spend_one’s_summer_vacation-inf

‘We are going on summer vacation tomorrow.’


(1b) holnap megy-ünk nyaral-ni?

tomorrow go-prs.1pl spend_one’s_summer_vacation-inf

‘Are we going tomorrow on summer vacation?’


(1c) megy-ünk-e?

go-prs.1pl-q

‘Are we going?’


(1d) holnap-e?

tomorrow-q

‘Are we going tomorrow?’


(2) holnap megy-ünk-e nyaral-ni vagy holnapután?

tomorrow go-prs.1pl-q spend_one’s_summer_vacation-inf or day_after_tomorrow

‘Are we going on summer vacation tomorrow or the day after tomorrow?’


(3) anya meg-kérdez-te, hogy holnap megy-ünk-e nyaralni.

mother pref-ask-pst.obj.3sg that tomorrow go-prs.1pl-q spend_one’s_summer_vacation-inf

‘Mother asked whether we were going on summer vacation the next day.’


In Hungarian, polar questions are only marked by the question intonation (1a)–(1b). The -e interrogative particle is used in the following cases (cf. Kenesei et al. 1998: 4, 11‒13, 31‒32, É. Kiss 2003: 99):

a) in echo questions, next to the verbal predicate (1c)
b) in echo questions, next to nominal elements (1d)
c) when alternative choices are presented (optional) (2)

d) in embedded polar questions (compulsory) (3)

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás