[Lingtyp] query: declarative 'or' vs. interrogative 'or'

[Hannu Tommola]

  Dear Tianhua,

in Finnish the distinction is made, _tai_ in declarative, and _vai_ in
interrogative sentences:

​a. (minä) tule-n       (tänään) iltapäivä-llä           tai  
huomen+aamu-lla.
​    1sg    come-1sg  today     afternoon-adess   or    tomorrow+morning-adess

   'I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning'

​b. Tule-t-ko                  tänään vai huomenna?
​    come-2sg-INTERR  today   or  tomorrow

    ‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’

​Best,

  Hannu


Quoting Tianhua Luo <tianhualuo at zju.edu.cn>:

> 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 '/or/' (either 'or') and
> interrogative '/or/' (whether 'or').   Thanks,  Tianhua  --
>
>   In English the same disjunction/ /is used in both declarative
> sentences and alternative questions. 
>
>   (1)  English
>
>    
>
>       a. /I will come this afternoon OR tomorrow morning.      
>  /b. /Will you come today OR tomorrow?/ 
>
>   In Mandarin Chinese (and most other Sinitic languages),
> /huozhe/ ‘or’ is used in declarative sentences and a different
> disjunction /haishi /‘or’ is used in alternative questions. 
>
>   (2)  Mandarin Chinese
>
>    
>
>
>   a.
>
>        
>
>       /wo/
>
>        
>
>       /jintian/
>
>        
>
>       /xiawu/
>
>        
>
>       /HUOZHE/
>
>        
>
>       /mingtian/
>
>        
>
>       /shangwu/
>
>        
>
>       /lai./
>
>        
>    
>
>       1sg
>
>        
>
>       today
>
>        
>
>       afternoon
>
>        
>
>       or
>
>        
>
>       tomorrow
>
>        
>
>       morning
>
>        
>
>       come
>
>        
>    
>
>       ‘I will come this afternoon or tomorrow morning.’
>
>
>   b.
>
>        
>
>       /ni/
>
>        
>
>       /jintian/
>
>        
>
>       /lai/
>
>        
>
>       /HAISHI/
>
>        
>
>       /mingtian/
>
>        
>
>       /lai?/
>
>        
>    
>
>       2sg
>
>        
>
>       today
>
>        
>
>       come
>
>        
>
>       or
>
>        
>
>       tomorrow
>
>        
>
>       come
>
>        
>    
>
>       ‘Will you come today or tomorrow?’ 
>
>    
>    
>    
>   --
>   Tianhua Luo
>   Department of Chinese
>   Zhejiang University
>   Tian Mu Shan Lu 148
>   310028 Hangzhou 
>   China 
>   eMail: tianhualuo at zju.edu.cn
  Hannu Tommola
Professor emer. of Russian Language (Translation Theory and Practice)
School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies
FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland
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