<div dir="ltr">
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span>Dear Jeanne,<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">Tiang (Oceanic, Papua New Guinea) has a
complementiser <i>po</i>, which can be used
in both declarative and interrogative complement clauses. The interpretation
depends on the context and the verb.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">The verb <i>kalapa</i></span><i><span lang="EN-AU">ŋ</span></i><span lang="EN-AU"> ‘to know’ can be interpreted both as declarative and interrogative
with <i>po</i> when it is preceded by <i>buák</i> ‘want’ (1), but on its own, it is
always declarative in my corpus (2).<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">(1)<span> </span><i>nó<span> </span>buák<span> </span>kalapaŋ<span> </span>lâŋ=âtâ,</i><span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">2SG<span> </span>want<span> </span>know<span> </span>like=VIS.DIST<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">[<i>po<span> </span>patita<span> </span>si=m<span> </span>a<span> </span>rokon<span> </span>tâmo</i>]COMP<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">COMP<span> </span>sweet.potato<span> </span>AL=2SG<span> </span>PFV<span> </span>good<span> </span>now<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">‘You want to
know that/whether your sweet potatoes are good now.’<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">(2)<span> </span><i>niáu<span> </span>ók<span> </span>kalapaŋ,</i><span> </span>[<i>po<span> </span>nan<span> </span>mo<span> </span>a<span> </span>puka</i>]COMP<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">1SG<span> </span>FUT<span> </span>know<span> </span>COMP<span> </span>3SG<span> </span>only<span> </span>PFV<span> </span>fall<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:36pt;margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">‘I will know
that only he will have fallen down.’<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">(There is also a second complementiser, <i>ina</i>, which derives from the inalienable possessive
preposition <i>i(n)</i>. <i>Ina</i> always has a declarative meaning, usually with purposive overtones, and <i>kalapaŋ ina</i>
means ‘to know how to do sth.’)<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">More information in:<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">Holz, Christoph. 2023. <i>A comprehensive grammar of Tiang</i>.
Cairns: Central Queensland University dissertation.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span>-<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU">complement clauses: pp. 681–692<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span>-<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-AU">complement-clause-taking verbs:
pp. 142–143<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span>-<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-AU">po</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">: pp. 485–488<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span>-<span style="font:7pt "Times New Roman"">
</span></span></span><i><span lang="EN-AU">ina</span></i><span lang="EN-AU">: pp. 491–493<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">Best wishes<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0cm;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><span lang="EN-AU">Christoph<span></span></span></p>
<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 at 19:24, Jeanne Lecavelier des Etangs-Levallois via Lingtyp <<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>Dear all,<br>
<br>
I am looking for languages which have only one complementiser for clausal <br>
embedding (with no further marking to distinguish between declarative <br>
clauses and polar questions).<br>
For instance, Akan uses the complementiser 's3' for both declarative clauses <br>
(e.g. "THAT it is raining" in (1)) and interrogative clauses (e.g. "WHETHER <br>
it is raining" in (2)), see below. The interpretation depends on the <br>
predicate (gye di 'believe' in (1), bisaa 'asked' in (2)).<br>
<br>
(1) Yaw [gye di] s3 nsuo reto.<br>
Yaw believes COMP rain is.falling<br>
'Yaw believes THAT it is raining.'<br>
<br>
(2) Yaw bisaa me s3 nsuo reto.<br>
Yaw asked me COMP rain is.falling<br>
'Yaw asked me WHETHER it is raining.'<br>
<br>
Interestingly, even though Akan nim 'know' can take both declarative and <br>
interrogative complements, it interprets s3-clauses (without further <br>
markings) as exclusively declaratives, see (3).<br>
<br>
(3) Yaw nim s3 nsuo reto.<br>
Yaw knows COMP rain is.falling<br>
'Yaw knows THAT it is raining.' (not: 'Yaw knows WHETHER it is raining.')<br>
<br>
If you know of any other language that behaves like Akan for (1) and (2) <br>
(i.e., one complementiser for both polar questions and declaratives), could <br>
you please let me know?<br>
And, optionally: could you tell me what interpretation arises under 'know', <br>
if you know it? (are both possible, or is there only one possible reading?)<br>
<br>
Many thanks in advance!<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Jeanne<br>
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</blockquote></div>