1.2.2. Alternative interrogatives

Alternative interrogatives provide alternatives to the addressee to choose from. These are usually in the form of a polar interrogative as in the English example ‘Is he young or old?’ and thus, in TİD an alternative interrogative may be articulated with the non-manual markers of polar interrogatives. Body leans to opposite directions accompany each alternative.

 

 

          bl-r                bl-l

              y/n              y/n

/pahalı mı/   /ucuz mu/

expensive   cheap

‘Is it expensive or cheap?’

 

When the manual signs in an alternative question are articulated with the non-manual markers of a content question, the question can be interpreted as ‘Is it a girl or a boy? Which one?’, namely as a content question.

 

 

 

         wh

gırl boy

‘Is it a girl or boy? (Which one?)’

                                  

      

 

Sometimes, the question can contain an overt question sign such as what/which.

 

 

 

                            wh

gırl boy which

‘Is it a woman or a man? Which one?’