[tlhIngan Hol] Multiple question words / markers in a sentence

[Will Martin]

I believe that it is a mistake to use a question word and the verb suffix {-‘a’} in the same sentence. The explanation of it as a follow up question doesn’t cut it for me. In {SoHvaD jatlh’a’ ‘IV?} how could you answer that question? Would it be a person’s name, or yes/no? You don’t combine the two questions into one sentence. There is no grammatical justification for it, and it makes no sense.

It’s like combining “Is he going somewhere?” And “Who is going somewhere?” to get “Is who going somewhere?” Make up your mind which question you are asking and ask it. If you have two questions, ask both of them. Don’t expect one sentence to carry too much meaning.

Sent from my iPad

> On Feb 17, 2019, at 2:07 PM, Daniel Dadap <daniel at dadap.net> wrote:
> 
> I don’t remember the exact sentence, but some time ago somebody said something of the form “SoHvaD jatlh'a' 'Iv?”, which at first I thought was a mistake, until it was explained as a clarifying question on top of another question. The first question would have been something of the form “jIHvaD Dajatlh'a'?”, with the follow up question of “SoHvaD jatlh'a' 'Iv?” basically asking who the first question was being asked to. Within this context, this made sense, despite apparently being ungrammatical at first glance.
> 
> This form came up in a separate conversation recently, in a sentence that I believe was “HIq 'ar Datlhutlh'a'?” In this instance the -'a' did turn out to be an error, but I was able to concoct a contrived scenario where the question might make sense, as a clarifying follow up question to something like “cha' tlho'ren muqbogh HIq bal naQ vItlhutlh'a'?”
> 
> Anyway, more generally, does it make sense to have questions with more than one question word, like it does in English? Either something like the examples above, where a verb carries an interrogative marker in addition to a question word being present, or like one of the examples below:
> 
> ghorgh mej 'Iv? (perhaps, like the previous examples, as a follow up question to something like “ghorgh mej?”)
> nuq legh 'Iv? (perhaps asking for two separate pieces of information at once)
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