Chapter  IV   SENTENCE   EXPANSION

Lesson  21   Questions with Wh-Words(WH-ECHO-Q-S/INF-WH-Q-S/WH-Q-S/etc.)

 21-1  [Wh-Echo-Quesion(WH-ECHO-Q-S)] 
     When you miss some important part(s) of a sentence, you may ask one of the following questions(B1 to B5)as in (2).
      (1) A : John lost his claim tag.
      (2) B1: John lost his claim what?
          B2: John lost his what?
          B3: John lost what?
          B4: John what?
          B5: What?
     The sentences B1 to B5 are made by substituting "what" for the unheard part(s).       (Dadada means the unheard part(s).)
      (3)  what + [John lost his claim dadada]
                  John lost his claim what?  (B1)
      (4)  what + [John lost his dadada]
                  John lost his what?        (B2)
      (5)  what + [John lost dadada]
                  John lost what?            (B3)
      (6)  what + [John dadada]
                  John what?                 (B4)
      (7)  what + [Dadada]
                  What?                      (B5)
     We call these sentences, produced by the S EPD{Wh-Echo-Question}(WH-ECHO-Q), a wh-echo-question(WH-ECHO-Q-S).  Thus,
      (8) WH-ECHO-Q  + K-S(with dadada)
                    WH-ECHO-Q-S(with "what")
 21-2  [Diagrams] 
     Diagrams of (3) to (7):
      (9)    (John lost his claim what?)
                  WH-ECHO-Q-S
                      
        EPD[WH-ECHO-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (John lost his claim dadada.)

      (10)    (John lost his what?)
                  WH-ECHO-Q-S
                      
        EPD[WH-ECHO-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (John lost his dadada.)

      (11)    (John lost what?)
                  WH-ECHO-Q-S
                      
        EPD[WH-ECHO-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (John lost dadada.)

      (12)    (John what?)
                  WH-ECHO-Q-S
                      
        EPD[WH-ECHO-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (John dadada.)

      (13)    (What?)
                  WH-ECHO-Q-S
                      
        EPD[WH-ECHO-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (Dadada.)
 21-3  [Operations of WH-ECHO-Q] 
     Thus, to make a WH-ECHO-Q-S:
        <WH-ECHO-Q>
               Step 1: Substitute "what" for the unheard part(s)
               Step 2: Rising intonation at the end(spoken);
                       "?" mark at the end(written)
     The expander WH-ECHO-Q, "what", usually doesn't seem to pay attention to grammatical categories.
      (14)  A: Hanako's homesick.
            B: Hanako's home-what?
However, in the following examples, it does seem to be trying to behave itself grammatically.
      (15)  A: Astronomers have discovered some more black holes.
            B: They've discovered some more whats?  (Quirk, p.836)
      (16)  A: She sat there and ratiocinated.
            B: She sat there and whatted?           (Quirk, p.836)
    In the following the WH-ECHO-Q, "what", seems to bring in an additional step, something like "I-You Switch".
      (17)  A: I lost my claim tag.
            B: You lost your what?/*I lost my what?
      (18)  A: Mary hates this garment bag.
            B: Mary hates that what?/*Mary hates this what?
Notice, however, that the B sentences of (17) and (18) are derived from (19a) and (20a) respectively, not (19b) and (20b).
      (19)a.  You lost your dadada.
          b.  I lost my dadada.
      (20)a.  Mary hates that dadada.
          b.  Mary hates this dadada.
 21-4  [Informal Wh-Question(INF-WH-Q-S)(i)] 
     When you have missed some words/phrases, but you know they are a thing, a person, a place, a time, etc., you can use "what", "who(m)", "where", "when", etc. as in:
      (21)  A: I've eaten a slug.
            B: You've eaten what/*whom?
      (22)  A: Mary hit John.
            B: Mary hit who(m)/*what?
      (23)  A: His plane was hijacked near Miami.
            B: His plane was hijacked where/*when?
      (24)  A: Napoleon was defeated in 1815.
            B: Napoleon was defeated when/*where?
In (21), "what" is substituted for "something".  Similarly, "whom" for "someone" in (22), "where" for "somewhere" in (23), and "when" for "sometime" in (24).
     Diagrams:
      (25)    (You've eaten what?)
                  INF-WH-Q-S
                      
         EPD[INF-WH-Q]   K-S
            (what)      (You've eaten something)

      (26)    (Mary hit whom?)
                  INF-WH-Q-S
                      
         EPD[INF-WH-Q]   K-S
            (whom)      (Mary hit someone)

      (27)    (His plane was hijacked where?)
                  INF-WH-Q-S
                      
         EPD[INF-WH-Q]   K-S
            (where)     (His plane was hijacked somewhere)

      (28)    (Napoleon was defeated when?)
                  INF-WH-Q-S
                      
         EPD[INF-WH-Q]   K-S
            (when)      (Napoleon was defeated sometime)
     In this book we call these sentences an informal wh-question(INF-WH-Q-S) and the sentence expanders such as "what", "who(m)", "where", "when", etc. an S EPD{Informal Wh-Question}(INF-WH-Q).  Thus,
        <INF-WH-Q>
              Step 1: Substitute "what", "who(m)", "where", "when", etc.
                      for the corresponding unheard part(s).
              Step 2: Rising intonation at the end(spoken);
                      "?" mark at the end(written)
     The list of some-words/phrases corresponding to the INF-WH-Q's.
      (29)a. what     something, etc.
          b. who(m)   someone, etc.
          c. whose    someone's, etc.
          d. where    somewhere, etc.
          e. when     sometime, etc.
          f. why      for some reason, etc.
          g. how      somehow, etc.
          h. which     one or the other, etc.
          i. how often   some times, etc.
 21-5  [Informal Wh-Question(INF-WH-Q-S)(ii)] 
     An informal wh-question(INF-WH-Q-S) is used not only when some parts of a sentence you hear are unheard, but also when some parts of a question you ask are unknown from the very beginning.  Sentence A in (31) is an example.
      (30)  A: I lost my camera.
            B: You lost what?
      (31)  A: So you lost what?
            B: A camera.
     The A sentence in (33) is another example.
      (32)  A: I lost it in the subway.
            B: You lost it where?
      (33)  A: So you lost it where?
            B: Gee, I don't know.
     What happens in (31A) and (33A) is just the same as what happens in (30B) and (32B) respectively.
      (34) what + [You lost something]
                     You lost what?
      (35) where + [You lost it somewhere]
                     You lost it where?
 21-6  [Wh-Question(WH-Q-S)]  
     More usual are the following questions.
      (36)  What did you lose?
      (37)  Where did you lose it?
We call these sentences a wh-question(WH-Q-S) and the S EPD{Wh-Question} a WH-Q.
     Diagrams of (36) and (37):
      (38)    (What did you lose ø ?)
                  WH-Q-S
                     
            EPD[WH-Q]   K-S
              (what)  (You lost something)

      (39)    (Where did you lose it ø ?)
                  WH-Q-S
                     
            EPD[WH-Q}   K-S
             (where) iYou lost it somewhere)
     The sentences (36) and (37) are derived as follows.
      (40) what +  [You lost something]
                         Step 1 (INF-WH-Q)
                   [You lost what?]
                         Step 2 (Q)
                   [Did you lose what?]
                         Step 3 (Front Wh-Word)
                   [What did you lose ø ?]

      (41) where +  [You lost it somewhere]
                         Step 1 (INF-WH-Q)
                    [You lost it where?]
                         Step 2 (Q)
                    [Did you lose it where?]
                         Step 3 (Front Wh-Word)
                    [Where did you lose it ø ?]
     Other examples:
      (42)  Whom did they choose ø as president?
      (43)  How much did you pay ø for such a lemon?
      (44)  When is she coming back ø?
      (45)  Why did he think so ø?
 21-7  [Wh-Words at the Sentence Front] 
     When a wh-word is introduced at the front of a kernel sentence(K-S), only Step 1 is applied.
      (46)  What happened?
      (47)  Who hit upon the idea first?
     The sentences (46) and (47) are generated as follows.
      (48)  what +  [Something happened]
                       Step 1: INF-WH-Q
                     [What happened?]
      (49)  who  +  [Someone hit upon the idea first]
                       Step 1: INF-WH-Q
                    [Who hit upon the idea first?]
     Other examples:
      (50)  What seems to be the problem? 
      (51)  Who invented the cotton gin?
     In conclusion, the expander WH-Q triggers the following steps.
     <WH-Q>
        Step 1: Add INF-WH-Q to a kernel sentence including some-word.
             2: Add Q only when the wh-word is NOT introduced
                at the front.
             3: Front the wh-word. (ø comes out)
 21-8  [Wh-Exclamation(WH-EXCL-S)]        cf.25-8
     Two wh-words, "what" and "how", may produce a new sentence not with the meaning {WH-Q} but rather with the meaning {Exclamation}.
      (52)  What a cold day it was!
      (53)  How happy she is!
     We call these sentences a wh-exclamation or WH-EXCL-S.  These sentences are derived from the kernel sentences including "very" by the S EPD {Wh-Exclamation} or WH-EXCL.
      (54) what  +  [It was a very cold day]
                What a cold day it was!
      (55) how  +  [She is very happy]
                How happy she is!
     Diagrams of (52) and (53):
      (56)    (What a cold day it was!)
                    WH-EXCL-S
                         
             EPD[WH-EXCL]   K-S
                (what)    (It was a very cold day)

      (57)    (How happy she is!)
                    WH-EXCL-S
                         
             EPD[WH-EXCL]   K-S
                (how)     (She is very happy)
Copyright(C) 2004 Masaya Oba. All rights reserved.