A-not-A question
Question form found in Chinese languages
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Through Linguistics
A-not-A questions are characterized by their inherent linguistic neutrality, with the interrogator deliberately avoiding any presumption about the truth of the statement being questioned. This neutrality is achieved through a value-neutral presentation that simultaneously offers both positive and negative forms of a proposition. A-not-A questions have been most thoroughly investigated in Mandarin and have been compared to similar interrogative structures in other Chinese languages, such as the kam questions in Taiwanese Hokkien and ka questions in Singapore Teochew (ST). However, these specific variations are not simply identical copies but possess distinct linguistic properties that can sometimes differ significantly from the Mandarin form.
Forms
The wider category of A-not-A questions contains multiple distinct forms. These forms are differentiated on the basis of the location of the Negation constituent and the presence or absence of duplicate material.
A-not-A form
This is the most atomic form of the A-not-A question, which contains two identical instances of the constituent A separated by negation.
AB-not-AB form
This is a more complex form, containing two instances of the complex constituent AB separated by the negation. AB may represent an embedded clause, a subject joined with a prepositional phrase, or a verb phrase containing a DP.
A-not-AB form
This form contains two unique constituents, A and AB, separated by the negation. A and AB are similar in that AB contains the entire content of A, but constituents are present in AB that are not present in A.
AB-not-A form
This form is similar to the A-not-AB form, but the more complex constituent AB occurs before the negation.
a-not-A form
This form is only found in instances where A is disyllabic constituent with initial syllable a, and the two constituents are separated by negation.
a-not-AB form
This form is similar to the a-not-A form with a representing the initial syllable of A and the two separated by negation, but A is joined to another constituent to form the complex constituent AB.
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Similar forms in English
For the English question (1.a) "Are you happy or sad?", the response to this question must be an echo answer, stating either "I am happy," or the acceptable alternative, "I am sad". In other words, this sentence is a leading question, where the speaker has an expectation as to what the answer will be. In contrast, (1.b) "Are you happy or not?" is a neutral question where the answer to this can be yes or no in response to the first and more explicitly stated alternative.
(1.a) Q: Are you <b id="mwPA">happy</b> or <b id="mwPQ">sad</b>? A: I am happy. I am sad. (1.b) Q: Are you <b id="mwPg">happy</b> or <b id="mwPw">not (happy)</b>? A: Yes. No.
A-not-A questions are not usually used in English, but the following example shows how A-not-A questions are answered.
(2) Q: Did John eat beans or not? A: (Yes,) John ate beans. (No,) John didn't eat beans. *Yes. *No.<sup about="#mwt16" class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-6" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-6"}}'><a href="./A-not-A_question#cite_note-6" id="mwQg"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwQw"><span class="cite-bracket" id="mwRA">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket" id="mwRQ">]</span></span></a></sup>As seen in this example, simply answering "Yes" or "No" does not suffice as a response to the question. This question must be answered in the "A" or "not A" form. If this question was asked in the A-not-A pattern, its direct form would be "Did John eat or not eat the beans?". However, the above examples also illustrate that A-not-A type questions in English usually contain some comparative operator such as "or" which is not seen in the Sinitic forms. There is also no significant evidence of either of the disyllabic A-not-A forms in English. These factors complicate the inclusion of English in the set of languages that contain the A-not-A question type, and though there are close English approximations in some cases, the A-not-A question is more accurately exemplified in Sinitic languages.
Approximations
Below are examples of English approximations of the A-not-A question. They are similar to the Sinitic A-not-A in that they present two possibilities and require an echoed response. However, they include an extra segment ("or" in the below examples) in order to read grammatically, which changes these approximations to an alternative question (AltQ) type. This extra segment is not seen in Sinitic A-not-A questions, and in fact the Mandarin segment 還是 haishi 'or' is used to contrast the syntax of the A-not-A form and demonstrate the latter's sensitivity to islands. Nevertheless, for the convenience of understanding this phenomenon from the perspective of an English speaker, the below examples are included to provide context.
A-not-A form
(1) Was John at the party or not at the party?
AB-not-A form
(2) Was John at the party last night or not at the party?
A-not-AB form
(4) Was John at the party or not at the party last night?
AB-not-AB form
(3) Was John at the party last night or not at the party last night?
In Sinitic
NQ Morpheme
It is proposed that the A-not-A sequence is morpheme created by the reduplication of the interrogative morpheme (represented by the A in A-not-A). Though the specific syntactic location of this morpheme is not agreed upon, it is generally accepted that the A-not-A sequence is essentially a word formed by the concatenation of an abstract question morpheme and this duplicated predicate, which likens it to a VP-proclitic. This Morpheme is referred to as NQ in order to represent its character as negative and interrogative.
Similarity to kam-type questions
An extensive cross-dialectic survey conducted in 1985 concluded that the Taiwanese question particle kam appears in the same contexts as the hypothesized Mandarin NQ. From this, it was concluded that kam-type questions and A-not-A questions are in complementary distribution: a language either has kam-type questions or A-not-A questions but not both. It was also interpreted that kam and NQ are "different morphological exponents of the same underlying morpheme".
Movement, sensitivity, and parallels to weishenme 'why'
Unlike the yes/no question type formed using the segment 嗎/吗 (ma), the A-not-A question can be embedded, and may scope beyond its own clause. This scoping may be blocked if the original location of NQ and its intended final location are separated by an island boundary. These distributional characteristics of NQ are parallel to non-nominal adjunct question particle weishenme 'why'. Due to the uncontroversial nature of the movement-based analysis of weishenme, the similarity of the NQ to weishenme implies that NQ may be subject to the same analysis of its movement.
Sensitivity to islands
The dominant view on A-not-A questions is that NQ is similar to a wh-word and related by the movement of NQ. This movement is not seen in alternative-type questions using haishi 'or', and therefore delineates A-not-A questions from alternative questions in terms of structure. Due to this syntactic differentiation, A-not-A questions may be contrasted with haishi questions for the purpose of revealing island sensitivity.
Sinitic examples
The following are examples of A-not-A questions in languages belonging to the Sinitic linguistic family.
In Mandarin
In forming A-not-A questions, A must remain the same on both sides. A is essentially a variable which can be replaced with a grammatical particle such as a modal, adverb, adjective, verb, or preposition.
Patterns
In Mandarin, there are 6 attested patterns of A-not-A: A-not-A, AB-not-AB, A-not-AB, AB-not-A, a-not-A, and a-not-AB of which "A" stands for the full form of the predicate, "B" stands for the complement, and "a" stands for the first syllable of a disyllabic predicate.
A-not-A form
Example (3) illustrates that A-not-A pattern, where A is the verb qu 'go', and qu bu qu is 'go not go'.
(3)
你
nǐ
you
去
qù
go
不
bù
not
去？
qù
go
Are you going?
AB-not-AB form
Example (4) illustrates the AB-not-AB pattern, where AB is the constituent consisting of the verb rende, 'know', as A, and the complement zhe ge ren, 'this CL man', as B, combining to form the AB constituent rende zhe ge ren 'know this CL man'. This produces rende zhe ge bu rende zhe ge ren, 'know this CL man not know this CL man.'
(4)
你
nǐ
you
認得
rèndé
know
這
zhè
this
個
gè
CL
人
rén
man
不
bù
not
認得
rèndé
know
這
zhè
this
個
gè
CL
人？
rén
man
Do you know this man?
A-not-AB form
Example (5) illustrates the A-not-AB pattern, where A is the verb rende, 'know', AB is the constituent consisting of the A verb rende, 'know', and the complement zhe ge ren, 'this CL man', as B, combining to form the AB constituent rende zhe ge ren 'know this CL man'. This produces rende bu rende zhe ge ren, 'know not know this CL man'.
(5)
你
nǐ
you
認得
rèndé
know
不
bù
not
認得
rèndé
know
這
zhè
this
個
gè
CL
人？
rén
man
Do you know this man?
AB-not-A form
Example (6) illustrates the AB-not-A pattern, where AB is the constituent rende zhe ge ren, 'know this CL man' consisting of rende, 'know' as A and zhe ge ren, 'this CL man as B; A is likewise rende, 'know', in the second part of the construction. This produces rende zhe ge ren bu rende, 'know this CL man not know'.
(6)
你
nǐ
you
認得
rèndé
know
這
zhè
this
個
gè
CL
人
rén
man
不
bù
not
認得?
rèndé
know
Do you know this man?
a-not-A form
Example (7) illustrates the a-not-A pattern, where a is the first syllable, fang, of the disyllabic predicate fangbian, 'convenient', and A is the full predicate fangbian, and fang-bu-fangbian is 'con(venient)-not convenient'.
(7)
不
bù
not
知道
zhīdào
know
你
nǐ
you
方 不
fāng-bù
con(venient)-not
方便？
fāngbiàn
convenient
Is that all right with you?
a-not-AB form
Example (8) illustrates the a-not-AB pattern, where a is the first syllable, he, of the disyllabic predicate heshi, 'suitable', and AB is the constituent consisting of heshi, 'suitable' as A and jiao quan, 'teaching fist' as B, combining to form the AB constituent heshi jia quan, 'suitable teaching fist'. This produces he-bu heshi jian quan, 'suit(able)-not suitable teaching fist'.
(8)
你
nǐ
you
看
kàn
see
這裡
zhèlǐ
here
合不
hébù
suit(able)-not
合適
héshì
suitable
教
jiào
teaching
拳?
quán?
fist
Is this suitable for your martial club?
Grammatical particles used to form A-not-A questions
A-not-A can be formed by a verb, an adjective, or an adverb, as well as modals.
Verb
In the interrogative clause, A-not-A occurs by repeating the first part in the verbal group (with the option of an auxiliary) and the negative form of the particle is placed in between. However, this clause does not apply when using perfective in aspect. Instead, 沒有; meiyou is used to replace the repeated verb used in A-not-A form.
- V-NEG-V type:
Here, the verb qu, 'go', is A, and there is no object.
(9.a)
你
nǐ
you
DP
去
qù
go
V
不
bù
not
NEG
去？
qù
go
V
Are you going?
A:
去
qù
go
V
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
去
qù
go
V
Yes/No
- V-NEG-V-Object type:
Here the verb kan, 'watch', is again A, and while there is an object, the object is not included in "A", and is therefore not reduplicated.
(9.b)
你
nǐ
you
N
看
kàn
watch
V
不
bù
not
NEG
看
kàn
watch
V
电影？
diànyǐng?
movie
N
Will you watch the movie?
A:
看
kàn
watch
V
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
看
kàn
watch
V
Yes/No.
- V-Object-NEG type:
Here, the verb kan, 'watch', is likewise A, and while the object is included before NEG, it is not included in A, and is therefore not reduplicated, although it remains an option.
(9.c)
你
nǐ
you
N
看
kàn
watch
V
电影
diànyǐng
movie
DP
不？
bù?
not
NEG
Will you watch the movie?
A:
看
kàn
watch
V
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
看
kàn
watch
V
Yes/No
- V-Object-NEG-V type(debatable):
Here, the verb kan, 'watch', is also used for A, and while the object is included before NEG, it is not included in A, and is therefore not reduplicated. A is reduplicated here.
(9.d)
你
nǐ
you
DP
看
kàn
watch
V
电影
diànyǐng
movie
DP
不
bù
not
NEG
看？
kàn?
watch
V
Will you watch the movie?
A:
看
kàn
watch
V
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
看
kàn
watch
V
Yes/No
- Answers to (9.a), (9.b), (9.c), and (9.d) must be in the form "V" or "not-V"
There is some debate among speakers as to whether or not 3.d. is grammatical, and Gasde argues that it is.
Adjective or adverb
- A-NEG-A type:
Here, the adjective hao, 'good', is A, and it is reduplicated. The word ben is a classifier, which means it is a counter word for the noun 'book'.
(10.a)
这
zhè
this
DP
本
běn
CL
书
shū
book
好
hǎo
good
A
不
bù
not
NEG
好？
hǎo?
good
A
Is this book good?
A:
好
hǎo
good
A
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
好
hǎo
good
A
Yes/No
- A-NEG type:
Here, the adjective hao, 'good', is A, but it is not reduplicated.
(10.b)
这
zhè
this
DP
本
běn
CL
书
shū
book
好
hǎo
good
A
不？
bù?
not
NEG
Is this book good?
A:
好
hǎo
good
A
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
好
hǎo
good
A
Yes/No
- Answers to (10.a), (10.b) must be in the form A or not-A.
Preposition
- P-NEG-P type:
Here, the preposition zai, 'at', is A, and it is reduplicated.
(11.a)
张三
Zhāngsān
Zhangsan
DP
在
zài
at
P
不
bù
not
NEG
在
zài
at
P
图书馆？
túshūguǎn?
library
DP
Is Zhangsan at the library?
A:
在
zài
at
P
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
在
zài
at
P
Yes/No
- P-NEG-P type:
Here, the preposition zai, 'at', is A, and it is not reduplicated.
(11.b)
张三
Zhāngsān
Zhangsan
DP
在
zài
at
P
图书馆
túshūguǎn
library
DP
不？
bù?
not
NEG
Is Zhangsan at the library?
A:
在
zài
at
P
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
在
zài
at
P
Yes/No
- Answers to (11.a) and (11.b) must be in the form P or not-P.
Modal
- M-NEG-M-V-Object type:
Here, the modal dare is A and it is reduplicated.
(12.a)
你
nǐ
you
N
敢
gǎn
dare
M
不
bù
not
NEG
敢
gǎn
dare
M
杀
shā
kill
V
鸡?
jī?
chicken
DP
Do you dare kill chicken?
A:
敢
gǎn
dare
M
/
/
/
/
不
bù
not
NEG
敢
gǎn
dare
M
Yes/No
- The answer to (12.a) must be in the form M or not-M.
A-not-A questions in Cantonese
Despite having the same negative marker as Mandarin, "不" bat1 is only used in fixed expressions or to give literacy quality, and only "唔" m4 is used as a negative marker in A-not-A questions.
One distinction in Cantonese when compared to Mandarin is that certain forms of A-not-A questions are not attested due to dialectal differences.
Patterns
A-not-A form
Like its Mandarin counterpart, this form is attested in Cantonese as shown by the sentence pair in (13), where in example (13.a), A is the verb lai, 'come', and lai m lai is 'come not come', and in (13.b), A is the verb lai, 'come', and lai bu lai is 'come not come'.
(13.a)
佢哋
keoidei
they
嚟
lai
come
唔
m
not
嚟？
lai?
come
Are they coming?
(13.b)
他們
tamen
they
來
lai
come
不
bu
not
來？
lai?
come
Are they coming?
AB-not-AB form
As shown by (14.a), this is not an attested form in Cantonese, unlike the counterpart in Mandarin in (14.b).
Here in (14.a) A is the verb zungji, 'like', and B the noun jamok, 'music', producing the AB form zungji jamok, 'like music'. This would produce the ungrammatical structure zungji jamok m zungji jamok, 'like music not like', which is a poorly-formed sentence in Cantonese.
In the well-formed sentence shown below in (14.b), A is the verb xihuan, 'like', and B is the noun yinyue, 'music', producing the AB form xihuan yinyue, 'like music'. This produces xihuan yinyue bu xihuan yinue, 'like music not like music', a grammatical sentence in Mandarin.
(14.a)
??/*你
??/*nei
??/*you
鐘意
zungji
like
音樂
jamok
music
唔
m
not
鐘意
zungji
like
音樂？
jamok?
music
Do you like music?
(14.b)
你
ni
you
喜歡
xihuan
like
音樂
yinyue
music
不
bu
not
喜歡
xihuan
like
音樂？
yinyue?
music
Do you like music?
A-not-AB form
This form is only attested in Cantonese if the predicate is a monosyllabic word as shown by (15.a), where A is the verb faan, 'return', and AB is the constituent faan ukkei, 'return home'. This can be compared to the Mandarin counterpart in (15.b) where A is the verb hui, 'return', and AB is the constituent hui jia, 'return home.
(15.a)
你
nei
you
返
faan
return
唔
m
not
返
faan
return
屋企？
ukkei?
home
Are you going home?
(15.b)
你
ni
you
回
hui
return
不
bu
not
回
hui
return
家？
jia?
home
Are you going home?
A-not-AB is not attested in Cantonese if the predicate is a bi-syllabic word as shown by (16.a), where A would be the verb zungji, 'like', and AB would be the constituent zungji jamok, 'like music'. This contrasts with its Mandarin counterpart in (16.b), where A is the verb xihuan, 'like', and B is the complement yinyuee, music', combining into the AB form xihuan yinyue, 'like music'. In such cases, Cantonese speakers usually use the form a-not-AB, like (8).
(16.a)
??/*你
??/*nei
??/*you
鐘意唔鐘意
zungji-m-zungji
like-not-like
音樂？
jamok?
music
Do you like music?
(16.b)
你
ni
you
喜歡不喜歡
xihuan-bu-xihuan
like-not-like
音樂？
yinyue?
music
Do you like music?
AB-not-A form
This form is only attested in Cantonese if the predicate is a monosyllabic word A, exemplified in (17.a) with the verb faan, 'return', with an object B, exemplified in (17.a) with the noun ukkei, 'home'. (17.a) is shown below with its Mandarin counterpart in (17.b), where A is the verb hui, 'return', and B is the noun jia, 'home'.
(17.a)
?你
?nei
you
返
faan
return
屋企
ukkei
home
唔
m
not
返？
faan?
return
Are you going home?
(17.b)
你
ni
you
回
hui
return
家
jia
home
不
bu
not
回？
hui?
return
Are you going home?
Such forms of AB-not-A in monosyllabic words are used by older generations.
When the predicate is a bi-syllabic word, then AB-not-A form is not attested as shown in (18.a), unlike its Mandarin counterpart in (18.b).
(18.a)
*你
*nei
you
鐘意
zungji
like
佢
keoi
she
唔
m
not
鐘意?
zungji?
like
Do you like her?
(18.b)
你
ni
you
喜歡
xihuan
like
她
ta
she
不
bu
not
喜歡？
xihuan?
like
Do you like her?
In Amoy
Amoy exhibits A-not-A forms, and differs from Mandarin and Cantonese in its frequent use of modals or auxiliaries in forming these constructions. Amoy forms also differ in that the morphemes for A do not match each other in a given sentence. In these constructions one of the morphemes may also be deleted, as can be seen in Examples (27), (28), and (29), though when this happens it may only be deleted from the negative predicate.
Negative markers in Amoy
The following negative markers are used. Alternate transliterations are shown in bold.
(19) a. <span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt270" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"m"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAd0"><i lang="nan-Latn">m</i></span> negative of volition (<i id="mwAd4">m-1</i>) b. <span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt271" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"m"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAd8"><i lang="nan-Latn">m</i></span> negative simplex (<i id="mwAeA">m-2</i>) c. <span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt272" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"bo"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAeE"><i lang="nan-Latn">bo</i></span> negative possessive/existential/affirmative aspect <b id="mwAeI"><span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt273" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"bou"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAeM"><i lang="nan-Latn">bou</i></span></b> d. <span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt274" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"bue"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAeQ"><i lang="nan-Latn">bue</i></span> negative potential/possibility e. <span title="Min Nan Chinese-language romanization" about="#mwt275" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"Transliteration","href":"./Template:Transliteration"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"nan"},"2":{"wt":"be"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAeU"><i lang="nan-Latn">be</i></span> negative perfective aspectWhile m-1 occurs as a free morpheme with its own semantic feature indicating volition, m-2 cannot function by itself as a verb and works only to express negation. It is attested only with a limited amount of verbs.
A-not-A constructions
Shown below are A-not-A constructions in Amoy.
With auxiliaries that can be used as main verbs
The following is a list of A-not-A constructions in Amoy with auxiliary verbs which may function as the main verb of a sentence.
U — bou: 'have — not have'
The auxiliary verb u here functions as an aspectual marker indicating that an action has been completed. In u — bou A-not-A constructions, u functions as the first A, corresponding with the auxiliary 'have', while bou functions as the second A of the A-not-A construction, corresponding with the negative counterpart 'not have'. Example (20) illustrates the use of this construction.
(20)
li
you
u
have
k'ua
see
hi
movie
bou?
not have
Did you see the movie?
Bat — m bat: 'to have experienced — not to have experienced'
The auxiliary verb bat functions as an aspectual marker indicating experience. In bat — m bat A-not-A constructions, bat functions as the first A, corresponding with an auxiliary expressing the sense of 'to have experienced', while m bat functions as the second A of the A-not-A constructions, corresponding with the negative counterpart 'not to have experienced'. Example (21) illustrates the use of this construction.
(21)
li
you
bat
have-ever
sie
write
p'ue
letter
ho
give
i
him
a
or
m bat
not have-ever
Have you ever written to him?
Si — m si: 'to be — not to be'
The auxiliary verb si works to express emphasis. In si — m si constructions A-not-A constructions, si functions as the first A, roughly corresponding with 'to be', and m si as the second A, indicating the negative counterpart 'not to be'. Example (22) illustrates the use of this construction.
(22)
i
he
si
be
tiouq
must
k'i
go
Tai-pak
Taipei
a
or
m si
not be
Does he really have to go to Taipei?
With auxiliaries that cannot be used as main verbs
The following is a list of A-not-A constructions in Amoy with auxiliary verbs which may never be used as the main verb of a sentence.
Beq — m: 'to want to — not to want to'
The use of a beq — m construction is used to express an intention or an expectation. In these constructions, beq functions as the first A, indicating 'to want to', and m as the second A, here working with beq to express its negative counterpart 'not want to.' Example (23) illustrates the use of this construction.
(23)
li
you
beq
want
tsiaq
eat
hun
cigarette
a
or
m
not
Do you want to smoke?
Tiouq — m bian: 'must — must not'
The use of a tiouq — m bian construction expresses a sense of obligation. In these constructions, tiouq functions as the first A, indicating 'must', and m bian as the second A, here indicating the negative counterpart 'must not'. Example (24) illustrates the use of this construction.
(24)
li
you
tiouq
must
k'i
go
ouq-tng
school
a
or
m bian
not must
Do you have to go to school?
T'ang — m t'ang: 'may — may not'
The use of a t'ang — m t'ang construction expresses a sense of permission. In these constructions, t'ang functions as the first A, indicating 'may', and m t'ang as the second A, here indicating the negative counterpart 'may not'. Example (25) illustrates the use of this construction.
(25)
gua
I
t'ang
may
ts'ut
out
k'i
go
a
or
m
not
t'ang
may
May I go out?
E — bue: 'could — could not'
The use of an e — bue construction expresses a sense of possibility or probability. In these constructions, e functions as the first A, indicating 'could', and bue as the second A, here indicating the negative counterpart 'could not'. Example (26) illustrates the use of this construction.
(26)
li
you
e
could
k'i
go
Tai-uan
Taiwan
a
or
bue
not could
Will you be going to Taiwan?
E tang — bue tang: 'can, ability to do something — can't, inability to do something'
The use of an e tang — bue tang construction expresses a sense of the ability to do something. In these constructions, e tang functions as the first A, indicating 'can', and bue tang as the second A, here indicating the negative counterpart 'can't'. Example (27) illustrates the use of this construction as well as an instance of deletion from the negative predicate.
(27)
bin-ã-tsai
tomorrow
li
you
e tang
can
lai
come
a
or
bue
not
Can you come tomorrow?
E sai — bue sai: 'could, can manage to or might — couldn't, couldn't manage or might not'
The use of an e sai — bue sai construction expresses a sense of a potential ability to do something. In these constructions, e sai functions as the first A, indicating 'could', and bue sai as the second A, here indicating the counterpart 'couldn't'. Example (28) illustrates the use of this construction as well as an instance of deletion from the negative predicate.
(28)
li
you
e sai
could
ka
for
gua
I
kia
p'ue
letter
a
or
bue
not
Could you mail a letter for me?
E hiau — bue hiau: 'to know how/be knowledgeable about — not to know how/be knowledgeable about'
The use of an e hiau — bue hiau construction expresses a sense of one's knowledge. In these constructions, e hiau functions as the first A, indicating 'to know how', and bue hiau as the second A, here indicating the negative counterpart 'not to know how'. Example (29) illustrates the use of this construction as well as an instance of deletion from the negative predicate.
(29)
li
you
e hiau
know
kong
speak
Ing-bun
English
a
or
bue
not
Do you know how to speak English?
In Korean
The following are examples of A-not-A questions in Korean.
There are three salient morphological varieties of A-not-A question in Korean. Like all A-not-A questions, the questions can be answered with an affirmative, 네, ney, or negative 아니요, anyo.
Pre-predicate negation
Both an and mos can precede the predicate in A-not-A questions.
An
Example (26) illustrates the use of an, short form for ani-, which expresses simple negation. Here A is ca-ni, 'sleep-COMP', and ca-ni an ca-ni is 'sleep-COMP not sleep-COMP'.
(26)
Q:
지우-는
ciwu-nun
Jiwoo-TOP
자-니
ca-ni
sleep-COMP
안
an
not
자-니?
ca-ni?
sleep-COMP
Is Jiwoo sleeping or not?
A:
자-요
ca-yo
sleep-HON
/안
/an
/not
자-요
ca-yo
sleep-HON
(She) is sleeping/(She) isn't sleeping
Mos
Example (27) illustrates the use of mos, which expresses impossibility or inability. Here A is ka-ss-ni, 'go-PAST-COMP' and ka-ss-ni mos ka-ss-ni is 'go-PAST-COMP cannot go-PAST-COMP'.
(27)
Q:
민수 -는
Minsoo-nun
Minsoo-TOP
학교 -에
hakkuo-ey
School-LOC
갔-니
ka-ss-ni
go-PAST-COMP
못
mos
cannot
갔-니?
ka-ss-ni?
go-PAST-COMP
Could Minsoo go to school or not?
Inherently-negative predicate
Korean has three negative predicates that can form A-not-A question, molu-, eps-, and ani-.
Molu-
Example (28) illustrates the use of molu-, which means 'don't know'.
(28)
너-는
ne-nun
you-TOP
저
ce
that
학생-을
haksayng-ul
student-ACC
아-니
a-ni
know-COMP
모르-니?
molu-ni?
not.know-COMP
Do you know that student or not?
Eps-
Example (29) illustrates the use of esp-, which means 'do not have; do not exist'.
(29)
지우-는
ciwu-nun
Jiwoo-TOP
집-에
cip-e
home-LOC
있니
iss-ni
be-COMP
없니?
esp-ni?
not.be-COMP
Is Jiwoo at home or not?
Ani-
Example (30) illustrates the use of ani-, which means 'is not'.
(30)
이게
ike
this
네
ne
you
책-이-니
chayk-i-ni
book-be-COMP
아니-니
ani-ni?
not.be-COMP
IS this your book or not?
Negative modal auxiliary
Mal
Meaning 'desist from', mal follows an affirmative polar question, and will occur instead of a reduplicated full verb that has a post predicate negation, meaning that there is only one full verb in this type of A-not-A question.
(31)
우리-는
wili-nun
we-TOP
잘-까
ca-l-kka
sleep-PROP-COMP
말-까?
mal-kka?
not.PROP-COMP
Should or shouldn't we go to bed?
However, the modal auxiliary verb mal is restricted in that it does not co-occur in predicative adjectives or the factual complementizer ni. Moreover, with mal being a bound form, it cannot be the echo negative answer. Instead, the full negative verb will be provided as the answer, taking an negation, as illustrated in (32).
(32)
너-는
ne-nun
you-TOP
콘서트-에
khonsethu-ey
concert-LOC
갈-래
ka-l-ay
go-DES-COMP
말-래?
mal-lay?
not.DES-COMP
Are (you) going to the concert or not?
A:
*말-래
*mal-lay
not-DES-COMP
/
/
안
an
not
갈-래
ka-l-ay
go-DES-COMP
(I) am not going
Analysis: The post-syntactic approach
One analysis of the formation of the A-not-A construction is the post-syntactic approach, through two stages of M-merger. First, the A-not-A operator targets the morphosyntactic word (MWd) which is the head that is closest to it and undergoes lowering. Then, reduplication occurs to yield the surface form of the A-not-A question.
Tseng suggests that A-not-A occurs post-syntactically, at the morphological level. It is movement that occurs overtly at the phonetic form, after the syntactic movement has occurred. A-not-A is a feature of T that operates on the closest, c-commanded MWd, and not subwords (SWd). The elements that undergo post-syntactic movement are MWds. A node X is a MWd iff X is the highest segment and X is not contained in another X. A node X is a SWd if X is a terminal node and not an MWd. The A-not-A operation is a MWd to MWd movement.
Conditional criteria for grammatical A-not-A question derivation
A-not-A operator lowering
The A-not-A operator is defined as an MWd. The A-not-A operator can only lower to a MWd which is immediately dominated by the maximal projection that is also immediately dominated by the maximal projection of the A-not-A operator. An SWd cannot be the target for the A-not-A operator. In addition, if there is an intervening MWd or SWd between the A-not-A operator and its target, the A-not-A operation fails.
A-not-A operator lowering must satisfy four conditions:
- The A-not-A operator targets the closest MWd that is the X′-theoretic head that it c-commands.
- Closeness of the head is qualified by: (i) The closest head is a X′-theoretic head of the maximal which is immediately dominated by the maximal projection of the A-not-A operator. (ii) The target must have overt phonological realization.
- There is not any non-X′-theoretic head or SWd intervening between the A-not-A operator and its target.
- Intervention is defined by c-command relation.
After lowering, the A-not-A operator triggers reduplication on the target node. The reduplication domain can be the first syllable of the targeted element, the targeted element itself, and the maximal projection that contains the targeted element. Reduplication is linear and the A-not-A operator cannot skip the adjacent constituent to copy the next constituent.
Reduplication of first syllable of adjacent morphosyntactic word
In first syllable reduplication, the A-not-A operator copies the first syllable of the adjacent MWd and moves the reduplicant, i.e. copied syllable, to the left of the base MWd. Then the negation is inserted between the reduplicant and base to form a grammatical sentence. In (33.a), the A-not-A operator copies the first syllable tao of the MWd taoyan. The reduplicant tao is put at the left of the base taoyan and then the negative constituent bu is inserted in between. In figure (33.b) *Zhangsan taoyan Lisi-bu-tao is ungrammatical because tao cannot be put to the right of the maximal projection VP, taoyan Lisi.
(33.a)
张三
Zhangsan
Zhangsan
讨不讨厌
tao-bu-taoyan
hate-not-hate
李四
Lisi
Lisi
Does Zhangsan hate Lisi or not?
(33.b)
*
*
张三
Zhangsan
讨厌
taoyan
李四不讨
Lisi-bu-tao
Zhangsan hate Lisi-not-hate
Reduplication of adjacent morphosyntactic word
In MWd reduplication, the A-not-A operator copies the adjacent MWd and moves the reduplicant MWd overtly to the left of the base MWd or to right of the base maximal projection containing the MWd. Otherwise, the reduplicant can move covertly, i.e. in such a way that there is no overt surface evidence, to the right of the base maximal projection containing the MWd. The negation is then inserted between the reduplicant and base to form a grammatical sentence. In (34.a) the A-not-A operator copies the MWd taoyan. The reduplicant taoyan is overtly put at the left of the base taoyan and then the negative constituent bu is inserted in between. In (34.b) the A-not-A operator copies the MWd taoyan. The reduplicant taoyan is overtly put at the right of the base taoyan Lisi and then the negative constituent bu is inserted in between. In (34.c) the A-not-A operator copies the MWd taoyan. The reduplicant taoyan is covertly put at the right of the base taoyan Lisi after which the negative constituent bu is inserted.
(34.a)
张三
Zhangsan
Zhangsan
讨厌不讨厌
taoyan-bu-taoyan
hate-not-hate
李斯
Lisi
Lisi
Does Zhangsan hate Lisi or not?
(34.b)
张三
Zhangsan
Zhangsan
讨厌
taoyan
hate
李斯
Lisi
Lisi
不
bu
not
讨厌
taoyan
hate
Does Zhangsan hate Lisi or not?
(34.c)
张三
Zhangsan
Zhangsan
讨厌
taoyan
hate
李斯
Lisi
Lisi
不
bu
not
(讨厌)
(taoyan)
(hate)
Does Zhangsan hate Lisi or not?
Reduplication of the maximal projection containing adjacent morphosyntactic word
In maximal projection reduplication, the A-not-A operator copies the maximal projection that contains the adjacent MWd and moves the reduplicant either to the left or to the right of the base. The base may be just the MWd or the maximal projection containing the MWd. The maximal projection may be any XP (VP, AP, PP etc.). The negation is then inserted between the reduplicant and base to form a grammatical sentence. In (35) the A-not-A operator copies the maximal projection VP taoyan Lisi. The reduplicant taoyan Lisi is put at the left of the base taoyan Lisi and then the negative constituent bu is inserted in between.
(35)
张三
Zhangsan
Zhangsan
讨厌
taoyan
hate
李斯
Lisi
Lisi
不
bu
not
讨厌
taoyan
hate
李斯
Lisi
Lisi
Does Zhangsan hate Lisi or not?