Forum: Linguistics
Topic: Spanish punctuation - inversion of '?' and '!'
Poster: juvera
Post title: It is all very interesting...
...and I often wondered about it. So I was glad to see this thread.
On the other hand:
[quote]Andy Watkinson wrote:
Assuming you're not familar with the language, an easier way to understand why is that Spanish generally lacks "markers" to know when a question is a question.
a) Did John do it?
b) John did it.
In a) the question mark is almost superfluous; English marks open questions via the use of "do" or by inversion of the auxiliary verb which tell us from the very start that we're dealing with a question.
This is not the case in Spanish.
Word order does not reveal that a sentence is necessarily a question.
a) ¿Lo hizo Juan? (Did John do it?)
b) Lo hizo Juan. (John did it)
As you can see, the only way we'd know it is a question (in writing, and therefore without intonation) is by placing a question mark at the beginning.
Andy [/quote]
...I have to say, that in Hungarian, the above example would be exactly the same:
Did John do it? - John did it.
John csinálta? - John csinálta.
Was it John? - It was John.
John volt? - John volt.
The same with more ellaborate questions, if you like:
Did they depart the day before yesterday?
They departed the day before yesterday.
Elutaztak tegnapelőtt?
Elutaztak tegnapelőtt.
...and it never caused the slightest problem and never crossed anybody's mind of forwarning the reader.
Of course, you can phrase the questions and answers differently, and the answer to the above question may be:
They departed. Or: The day before yesterday.
Elutaztak. / Tegnapelőtt.
- depending on the emphasis.
What I would like to know now, what other languages can express the same English question of 7 words in two words?
Huge word-count difference in source and target!
;-) Judith
Topic: Spanish punctuation - inversion of '?' and '!'
Poster: juvera
Post title: It is all very interesting...
...and I often wondered about it. So I was glad to see this thread.
On the other hand:
[quote]Andy Watkinson wrote:
Assuming you're not familar with the language, an easier way to understand why is that Spanish generally lacks "markers" to know when a question is a question.
a) Did John do it?
b) John did it.
In a) the question mark is almost superfluous; English marks open questions via the use of "do" or by inversion of the auxiliary verb which tell us from the very start that we're dealing with a question.
This is not the case in Spanish.
Word order does not reveal that a sentence is necessarily a question.
a) ¿Lo hizo Juan? (Did John do it?)
b) Lo hizo Juan. (John did it)
As you can see, the only way we'd know it is a question (in writing, and therefore without intonation) is by placing a question mark at the beginning.
Andy [/quote]
...I have to say, that in Hungarian, the above example would be exactly the same:
Did John do it? - John did it.
John csinálta? - John csinálta.
Was it John? - It was John.
John volt? - John volt.
The same with more ellaborate questions, if you like:
Did they depart the day before yesterday?
They departed the day before yesterday.
Elutaztak tegnapelőtt?
Elutaztak tegnapelőtt.
...and it never caused the slightest problem and never crossed anybody's mind of forwarning the reader.
Of course, you can phrase the questions and answers differently, and the answer to the above question may be:
They departed. Or: The day before yesterday.
Elutaztak. / Tegnapelőtt.
- depending on the emphasis.
What I would like to know now, what other languages can express the same English question of 7 words in two words?
Huge word-count difference in source and target!
;-) Judith