Word order of dependent polar questions (Northern Mansi)

OblPq=Pq: The word order of dependent polar questions is the same as in independent polar questions.


(1) am aleksej petrovič os aleksandr jurevič kityγl-as-aγum,
I Aleksey Petrovich and Aleksandr Jurevich ask-pst-1sg
māχum tēn tot-um χūl-anēn jowt-ēγ-ǝt?
people (s)he.du take-ptcp.pst fish-pl.3du buy-prs.3pl
’I asked Aleksey Petrovich and Aleksandr Jurevich if people were buying the fish that they had brought.’ 
(Luima Sēripos 2015/7: 5)


(2) māχum tēn tot-um χūl-anēn jowt-ēγ-ǝt?
people (s)he.du take-ptcp.pst fish-pl.3du buy-prs.3pl
‘Do the people buy their fish?’


(3) akw χum mānaw kityγl-ǝs-te, mān ōl-ne mā-w-n   χūl
a man we.acc ask-pst-obj.3sg what be-ptcp.prs ground-1pl-lat fish
aliśl-aŋkwe joχtal-aŋkwe rōwi man āťi.
kill-inf come-inf have_to.prs.3sg or not
‘The man asked us whether he has to come to our land to fish or not.’ (Luima Sēripos 2013/23: 6)


In Northern Mansi, embedded polar questions can be expressed in two ways.
 The first construction is identical to the structure of simple polar questions and the affirmative clauses (cf. (1) and (2)). In this case, only the intonation distinguishes the question from the affirmative (cf. fig. 1–2). The question intonation contour appears on embedded polar questions too. The second construction entails a conjunction meaning ‘or’ (man or aman) and a negative particle (3). In both cases, the word order is SOV (the same as in simple polar questions).

Author: 

Szilvia Németh