Yes/No questions

Yes/No questions (YNQs) are questions to which the expected answer is either yes or no. In Medumba, YNQs are formed by adding an interrogative particle "gi" to the end of a declarative sentence. For a list of all sentences in ELDER using the "gi" particle, please go here. To read about wh-questions please visit that page.

Positive YNQs
Any declarative sentence can be formed into a YNQ by usage of the question particle. Consider the pair of sentences below. They form a declarative/interrogative minimal pair, the only difference being the question particle "gi".


 * 'I saw the cat'

ELDER link to this sentence
 * 'Did I see the cat'

Negative YNQs
A second structure of a YNQ involves negation. These YNQs might be called "negative" YNQs; they imply that the speaker expects a positive answer. Consider the examples of a negative YNQ in English. Compare this with the positive YNQ in English. The question content seems to be more or less comparable; however, there is a distinction between the speakers expectations.
 * Didn't you see the dog?
 * Did you see the dog?

Negative YNQs in Medumba are formed from negated sentences. Below is a negated form of the example given above. For a similar sentence in ELDER please see "I did not see the mango" and "Didn't I see the mango?".
 * 'I didn't see the cat'
 * 'Didn't I see the cat?'

Answers
YNQs in Medumba are answered by either yes 'a' or no 'ŋga'. The polarity (positive/negative) of a question does not effect the answer. Below is an example of a negative polarity question along with the possible answers and a paraphrase of what they imply. Possible Answers
 * 'Didn't I see the cat?'
 * a - Yes, I did see the cat.
 * ŋga - No, I didn't see the cat.