Talk:A-not-A question

The “A-NOT-A” question structure is commonly found in Chinese. The overarching principle is that of contrasting the positive and negative form of a premise side by side. A characteristic property of this structure is the restriction to not use YES/NO answers, and requiring an “echo response” instead. Therefor to properly answer the query, the recipient must select the positive or negative version and use it in the formation of their response.

In Chinese A-not-A can be formed by a verb, adjective, or an adverb . Modals can form A-not-A questions as well . Lchan519 (talk) 05:40, 22 October 2013 (UTC) A-not-A questions have a special interrogative type pattern in which all answers must be in “A” (affirmative form) or “not-A” (negative predicate form) . Koikkaze (talk) 02:41, 22 October 2013 (UTC) The interrogative clause, A-not-A occurs by repeating the first part in the verbal group (with the option of an auxiliary) and the negative form of the particle in placed in between. However, this clause does not apply when using perfective in aspect. Instead, meiyou is used to replace the repeated verb used in A-not-A form. Dtcoa (talk) 011:38, 22 October 2013

English analogy to Chinese A-not-A question pattern

Albeit over-simplified, an analogous approach to visualizing this structure would be the logically equivalent "(A)/(NOT A)." A restriction here would be that “A” must indeed remain the same on both sides. To English speakers, this would be similar to a popular form of exam or survey question style.

E.g. Consider the following question from a survey:

1. You are happy/not happy with your new job.

By selecting one of the options, you can form one of these two answers:

a. You are happy with your new job.

b. You are not happy with your new job. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aleksmar (talk • contribs) 06:58, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Examples of A-not-A question patterns

Verb

1. a. V-NEG-V type:

               你  去 不 去？			A: 去/不去
               ni  qu  bu  qu?			qu/bu qu
               you go not go                   go/not go
               N    V -NEG - V                 V/NEG V
               Are you going or not?           Going/Not going

1. b. V-NEG-V-Object type:

               你去不去学校？ 			A: 去/不去
               ni qu bu qu xue xiao?		qu/bu qu
               you go not go school            go/not go
               N V-NEG- V- N                   V/NEG V
               are you going to school?        Going/Not going

1. c. V-Object-NEG type:

               你去学校不？			A: 去/不去
               ni qu xue xiao bu?		qu/bu qu
               you go school not               go/not go
               N  V -  N    -NEG               V/NEG V
               are you going to school?        Going/Not going

1. c. V-Object-NEG type:

               你去学校不？			A: 去/不去
               ni qu xue xiao bu?		qu/bu qu
               you go school not               go/not go
               N  V -  N    -NEG               V/NEG V
               are you going to school?        Going/Not going

1. d. V-Object-NEG-V type:

               你去學校不去?			A: 去/不去
               ni qu xue xiao bu qu?		qu/bu qu
               you go school not go		go/not go
               N V - N - NEG - V		V/NEG V
               Are you going to school?	Going/Not going 

Answers to 1.a., 1.b., 1.c., 1.d. must be in the form “V” or “not-V”

Lchan519 (talk) 05:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC) Lchan519 (talk) 05:40, 22 October 2013 (UTC) Koikkaze (talk) 02:41, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Adjective

2. a. Adj-NEG-Adj type:

               我   美     不      美？		A: 美/不美
               wo mei     bu  mei?		mei/ bu mei
               I beautiful not beautiful
               N   Adj -  NEG - Adj
               Am I beautiful or not?

2. b. Adj-NEG type:

               我   美       不？		A: 美/不美
               wo mei     bui?			mei/ bu mei
               I beautiful not 
               N   Adj -  NEG
               Am I beautiful or not?

answers to 2.a., 2.b. must be in the form “Adj” or “not-Adj”

Koikkaze (talk) 02:41, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Adverb

3. a. Adv-NEG-Adv type:

               他 跑    得  快   不   快？	A: 快/不快
               ta pao de kuai   bu  kuai?	kuai/ bu kuai 
               he run    fast  not  fast
               N   V     Adv - NEG - Adv
               does he run fast or not?

Answers to 3.a., 3.b. must be in the form “Adj” or “not-Adj”

Koikkaze (talk) 02:41, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Modal

4. M-NEG-M-V-Object type:

               你會不會去學校?			A: 會/不會
               ni hui bu hui qu xue xiao?	hui/bu hui 
               you will not will go school	will/not will
               N M-NEG-M-V-N 			M/NEG M
               Will you go to school?		Will/will not

Answer to 4 must be in the form “Modal” or “Not-modal”

Lchan519 (talk) 05:45, 5 November 2013 (UTC) Lchan519 (talk) 05:40, 22 October 2013 (UTC)

Bibliography

Law, P. (2006). Adverbs in A-not-A Questions in Mandarin Chinese. Journal Of East Asian Linguistics, 15(2), 97-136. Koikkaze (talk) 01:56, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Chen, Y., & Weiyun He, A. (2001). Dui bu dui as a pragmatic marker: Evidence from chinese classrom discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 33(9), 1441-1465. Koikkaze (talk) 01:56, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Aldridge, E. (2011). Neg-to-Q: The historical origin and development of question particles in Chinese. The Linguistic Review, 28(4). 411-447. Dtcoa (talk) 03:00, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Li, E. S. & Yan, F. (2007). Enacting Relationships: Clause as Exchange. Systemic Functional Grammar of Chinese. 116-197. Dtcoa (talk) 03:00, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Huang, C. -. J. (1991). Modularity and chinese A-not-A questions. (pp. 305-332). aleksmar (talk) 03:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Huang, C. T. J., Li, Y. H. A., & Li, Y. (2009). A-not-A questions. The syntax of Chinese. (pp. 244-260). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. aleksmar (talk) 03:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Gasde, H. (2004). Yes/no questions and A-not-A questions in Chinese revisited.Linguistics - Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences, 42(2), 293-326. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from the Communication & Mass Media Complete database. lchan519 (talk) 03:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Huang, R. R. (2008). Deriving Vp-Neg Questions in Modern Chinese: A Unified Analysis of A-Not-A Syntax. Taiwan Journal of Linguistics, 6(1), 1-54. Retrieved October 13, 2013, from the Directory of Open Access Journals database. lchan519 (talk) 03:33, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Ernst, Thomas. (1994) Conditions on Chinese A-not-A Questions. Journal of East Asian Linguistics, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 241-264 ryoung04 (talk) 03:34, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Chan, Ka-wai, Sarah. (1995) Young Cantonese-speaking children’s response to A-not-A questions. Thesis (B. Sc) University of Hong Kong ryoung04 (talk) 03:34, 14 October 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dtcoa (talk • contribs)

Islands?

This term ("islands") seems to be used as a linguistic jargon term, rather than a geographical one. Since it's an unreferenced and unlinked concept, it probably needs to be given some kind of definition or link to somewhere that does define the term. Without that, the point made under the English examples (that they aren't true A-Not-A questions, because they aren't sensitive to "islands") does not seem intelligible. - DewiMorgan (talk) 19:30, 2 August 2019 (UTC)

Register of question.

In english a question of this type often has an impatient connotation. For example, one would ask, "would you like to buy something or not?" when the buyer is asking too many questions and the seller isn't sure whether he is wasting his time.

Is this connotation present in chinese? References and clarifications regarding register in the article would be appreciated. Thank you.--TZubiri (talk) 18:29, 15 November 2021 (UTC)