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<p>Dear Tianhua,<br>
<br>
in Finnish the distinction is made, _tai_ in declarative, and _vai_ in interrogative sentences:<br>
<br>
a. (minä) tule-n (tänään) iltapäivä-llä tai huomen+aamu-lla.<br>
1sg come-1sg today afternoon-adess or tomorrow+morning-adess<br>
<br>
'I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning'<br>
<br>
b. Tule-t-ko tänään vai huomenna?<br>
come-2sg-INTERR today or tomorrow<br>
<br>
‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’<br>
<br>
Best,</p>
<p>Hannu</p>
<p><br>
Quoting Tianhua Luo <<a href="mailto:tianhualuo@zju.edu.cn">tianhualuo@zju.edu.cn</a>>:</p>
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Dear all,
Is anybody familiar with languages in which different disjunctions are used in declarative sentences and alternative questions? I am looking for further languages that employ a distinction between declarative '<i>or</i>' (either 'or') and interrogative '<i>or</i>' (whether 'or').
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Thanks,
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Tianhua
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--
</pre></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 17.5px;">In English the same disjunction<i> </i>is used in both declarative sentences and alternative questions.</span> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="2">(1) English</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="2"> a. <i>I will come this afternoon <b>or</b> tomorrow morning. </i></font></span><font style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">b. <i>Will you come today <b>or</b> tomorrow?</i></span></font><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">In Mandarin Chinese (and most other Sinitic languages), <i>huozhe</i> ‘or’ is used in declarative sentences and a different disjunction <i>haishi </i>‘or’ is used in alternative questions.</span> </font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="2">(2) Mandarin Chinese</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
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<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 20pt; line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">a.</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">wo</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">jintian</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">xiawu</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">huozhe</font></span></i></b></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">mingtian</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">shangwu</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">lai.</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps;"><font face="Arial" size="2">1sg</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">today</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">afternoon</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">or</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">tomorrow</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">morning</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">come</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></span></p>
</td>
<td colspan="7" style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="2">‘I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning.’</font></span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 20pt; line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">b.</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">ni</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">jintian</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">lai</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">haishi</font></span></i></b></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">mingtian</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">lai?</font></span></i></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></span></p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps;"><font face="Arial" size="2">2sg</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">today</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">come</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">or</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">tomorrow</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 15.4px;"><font face="Arial" size="2">come</font></span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></span></p>
</td>
<td colspan="6" style="padding: 0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top">
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’</span> </font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">--</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">Tianhua Luo</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">Department of Chinese</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">Zhejiang University</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">Tian Mu Shan Lu 148</span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">310028 Hangzhou </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">China </span></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="2"><span lang="EN-US">eMail: <a href="mailto:tianhualuo@zju.edu.cn" target="_blank">tianhualuo@zju.edu.cn</a></span></font></div>
</blockquote>
<div>Hannu Tommola<br>
Professor emer. of Russian Language (Translation Theory and Practice)<br>
School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies<br>
FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland</div>
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