The syntactic and semantic features of negative questions in english with reference to vietnamese based on the selection of bilingual plays an ideal husband and lady windermere’s fan

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

TRỊNH THỊ HỒNG NGỌC

THE SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE
BASED ON THE SELECTION OF BILINGUAL PLAYS “AN IDEAL
HUSBAND” AND “LADY WINDERMERE‟S FAN”
(NHỮNG ĐẶC ĐIỂM VỀ CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA CÂU HỎI
PHỦ ĐỊNH TRONG TIẾNG ANH LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT DỰA TRÊN
TUYỂN TẬP KỊCH “MỘT NGƢỜI CHỒNG LÝ TƢỞNG” VÀ
“CÁI QUẠT CỦA PHU NHÂN UYNĐƠMIA”)
M.A THESIS

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201

Hanoi, 2018


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

TRỊNH THỊ HỒNG NGỌC

THE SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE
BASED ON THE SELECTION OF BILINGUAL PLAYS “AN IDEAL
HUSBAND” AND “LADY WINDERMERE‟S FAN”
(NHỮNG ĐẶC ĐIỂM VỀ CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA CỦA CÂU HỎI

PHỦ ĐỊNH TRONG TIẾNG ANH LIÊN HỆ VỚI TIẾNG VIỆT DỰA TRÊN
TUYỂN TẬP KỊCH “MỘT NGƢỜI CHỒNG LÝ TƢỞNG” VÀ “CÁI
QUẠT CỦA PHU NHÂN UYNĐƠMIA”)
M.A THESIS

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr NGUYỄN ĐĂNG SỬU

Hanoi, 2018


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled THE SEMANTIC AND SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH WITH REFERENCE TO VIETNAMESE BASED ON
THE SELECTION OF BILINGUAL PLAY “AN IDEAL HUSBAND”
AND“LADY WINDERMERE‟S FAN” submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except where the
reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2019

TRỊNH THỊ HỒNG NGỌC

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Assoc.Prof.Dr.Nguyễn Đăng Sửu

Date:……………………


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to give my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Assoc.Prof.
Dr.Nguyễn Đăng Sửu from Ha Noi University of Business and Technology for his
extremely helpful advice, enthusiastic supports and comments when I carry out my
study.
I also give my sincere thanks to the leading board of Faculty of Graduate
Study- Ha Noi Open University for their help and right directions and the whole
staff of the Faculty of Graduate Study- Hanoi Open University for their support and
advice.
Finally, I want to send my thanks to my father, my mother, my husband and
my family for their long time support and encouragement during the completion of
my study.
Hanoi, March, 2018


TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................2
1.1. Rationale of the study .......................................................................................2
1.2. Aims and Objectives of the study .....................................................................3
1.2.1. Aims of the research ...................................................................................3
1.2.2. Objectives of the research ..........................................................................3
1.3. Scope of the research ........................................................................................3
1.4. Research question .............................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study ..................................................................................3
1.6. The organization of the study ...........................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................5

2.1. Review of previous studies ...............................................................................5
2.2. Questions in English and Vietnamese. ..............................................................7
2.2.1. Overview of Questions ...............................................................................7
2.2.2. Classification of questions in English and Vietnamese .............................8
2.2.2.1. Classification ofquestions inEnglish ....................................................8
2.2.3. Negation in English ..................................................................................18
2.2.3.1. Overview of negation. ........................................................................18
2.2.3.2 Scope of negation ................................................................................18
2.2.4. Negation in Vietnamese ...........................................................................20
2.2.5. Negative question .....................................................................................20
2.2.5.1 What is a negative question?...............................................................20
2.2.5.2. The semantic approach to English negative questions ......................21
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................24
3.1. Research-governing orientations ....................................................................24
3.1.1. Research approach ....................................................................................24
3.1.2. Research questions ...................................................................................24
3.1.3. Research setting ........................................................................................24


3.1.4. Principles/criteria for intended data collection and data analysis ............24
3.2. Research Methods ...........................................................................................24
3.2.1. Major methods and supporting methods ..................................................24
3.2.2. Data collection techniques........................................................................25
3.2.3. Data analysis techniques ..........................................................................25
Chapter 4: SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NEGATIVE
QUESTIONS IN ENGLISSH AND VIETNAMESE ...............................................26
4.1. The syntactic features of negative questions in English .................................26
4.1.1. Negative questions in English ..................................................................26
4.1.2. The syntactic features of Negative Yes/No questions ..............................26
4.1.2.1.Uncontracted form ..............................................................................27

4.1.2.2.Contracted form ..................................................................................27
4.1.2.3. Negative declarative Yes/No questions .............................................28
4.1.2.4..Negative Yes/No questions in the selection of plays .........................28
4.1.3. The syntactic features of Negative Tag Questions ..................................29
4.1.3.1. The syntactic features of negative tag-questions ...............................29
4.1.3.2. Negative tag- questions in the selected plays ....................................30
4.1.4. The Syntactic features of Negative Wh- questions ..................................31
4.1.4.1.The syntactic features of negative WH- questions .............................31
4.1.4.2.Negative WH- questions in the selected plays....................................31
4.1.5. The Syntactic features of Negative alternative questions ........................32
4.1.5.1. The syntactic features of negative alternative questions ...................32
4.2. Semantic features of negative questions in English .......................................33
4.2.1. negative question used to express disappointment ...................................33
4.2.2. Negative questions used to confirm the truth: ..........................................33
4.2.3. Negative questions used to express suggestions: .....................................33
4.2.4. Negative questions used to express advice: .............................................33
4.2.5. Negative questions used to express offer: ................................................34
4.2.6. Negative questions used to invite the negative response from the hearer: ........34
4.3. Negative questions in Vietnamese ..................................................................34


4.3.1. Negative Yes/No questions ......................................................................34
4.3.2. Negative WH–questions..........................................................................35
4.3.3.Negative alternative questions ..................................................................36
4.4. Similarities and differences of negative questions between English and Vietnamese ....37
4.4.1. Similarities of English and Vietnamese negative questions. ...................37
4.4.1.1. Yes/No questions ...............................................................................37
4.4.1.2. Negative Wh- questions .....................................................................40
4.4.1.3. Negative alternative questions ...........................................................41
4.4.2. Differences of English and Vietnamese negative questions ....................41

4.4.2.1. Negative Yes/No questions ................................................................41
4.4.2.2. Negative Wh- questions .....................................................................42
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................................45
REFERENCE ............................................................................................................47
APPENDIX ...............................................................................................................49


ABSTRACT
In English, especially in grammar, many aspects have been focused on
including questions. Hence, in this research, the author would like to concentrate on
questions which specifically are negative questions.
The research will make clear the syntactic and semantic features of negative
questions with reference to Vietnamese based on grammar books, reliable materials
and the selection of bilingual plays “An Ideal Husband” and “Lady Windermere‟s
fan” . From that research, readers, learners will be able to understand and use
negative question in English and Vietnamese effectively.
Each topic consists certain content to besolved. In this study, the main issue is
how to clarify the syntactic and semantic features of negative questions in English
and in Vietnamese especially,how the negative questionsare used in bilingual plays
“An Ideal Husband”and “Lady Windermere‟s fan”.
We hope the result of the study will be applied to improve the students‟ ability
of understanding negative questions and use them fluently after graduating from
university. They will be able to deal with common mistakes made by students in
English in general and in using negative questions in particular.

1


CHAPTER1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study

In English, especially English grammar, every student also hear about the
questions in English, the main purpose of giving question is to get needed
information, besides, question also functions to express the emotion, attitude or
command of interviewer. Based on the context, question is given in a suitable
structure for a certain purpose. In many kinds of questions, negative questions seem
more popular in daily conversation and in the literature. User can use negative
questions with variety of aims, for example:when someone has a negative question,
they can reply “No” in response to the agreeing answer, but “yes” to negative
answer. Hence, negative question is difficult to use and understand in both their
meaning and structure. As the result, in the hope of helping both teachers and
students to use negative question effectively, this study is concerned about the new
aspect of negative question: the syntactic and semantic features. The full title is: the
syntactic and semantic features of negative question in English with reference to
Vietnamese based on the selection of plays “An Ideal Husband”and “Lady
Windermere‟s Fan”. In this study, English user can know more deeply about the
meaning and structure of negative question, besides, researcher also points out some
mistakes made by learners, especially, by students in the Faculty of English at
Hanoi Open University and some solutions to the problems.
Many teachers and students have confessed that they have made confusion in
different situations when they use negative questions. Sometimes, they do not know
what their partners talk about, the partners agree or disagree even they can‟t understand
their partners‟ emotion. That‟s why, they always ask for further information and in
some cases, they require the answer again and again but with unclear and equivocal
questions. The problem is: “how to understand clearly when to use and give negative
question? How to make a negative question in the proper situation? For all the abovementioned reasons, the researcher would like to introduce to English users the new
respect of negative question: “the syntactic and semantic features of English negative
questions with reference to Vietnamese(based on the selection of bilingual plays “An
Ideal Husband” and “Lady Windermere‟sfan”. Although, this aspect has beenstudied in
different areas,this study deals with syntactic and semantic features of negative
questions based on the selection of bilingual play,which helps learners make correct

negativequestions. Moreover, this study also helpsstudentseasily understand when
negative questions are used in different contexts.

2


1.2. Aims and Objectives of the study
1.2.1. Aims of the research
The study is mainly aimed at providing the syntactic and semantic features of
English negative questions with reference to Vietnamese equivalents based on the
selection of plays “An Ideal Husband” and “Lady Windermere‟s fan”, thus
proposing some implications for teaching English negative questions to
Vietnamese learners of English.
1.2.2.Objectives of the research
The objectives of the research include:
- describing the syntactic and semantic features of English and Vietnamese
negative questions.
-pointing out the similarities and differences between English and
Vietnamese negative questions.
1.3. Scope of the research
The study “English negative questions in English and Vietnamese focuses on
English negative questions and Vietnamese equivalents within the frame of
negative structures. The three main types of questions will be focused: Yes-No
question, Wh-question, Alternative question. Especially, only negative questions
that use negator “not” will be discussed, others will be suggested for further study.
1.4. Research question
The research questions of the study are:
- What are the syntactic and semantic features of negative questions in English
and in Vietnamese?
- What are the similarities and differences of negative questions between

English and Vietnamese?
- What are the use of negative questions in the selection of plays “An Ideal
Husband” and “ Lady Windermere‟s fan”?
1.5. Significanceof the study
- In term of theories: this study provide foundation theories for semantic and
syntactic features of negative question, and also provide information to help
students and teachers of English.
- In term of realities: the study will help both teachers and students use negative
questions correctly in their communication, teaching and learning of English.

3


1.6. The organization of the study
The study consists of five chapters:
- Chapter 1: Introduction: this part shows the general view of the study, the
aims and objectives of study.
- Chapter 2: Literature review: in this part, author want to mention some
previous study, theoretical background and theoretical framework. From that
point,it makes the readers know the foundation sources of the topic: the syntactic
and semantic features of negative questions in English with reference to Vietnamese
(based on the selection of bilingual plays “An Ideal Husband” and “Lady
Windermere‟s fan”). In addition, it would be the foundation for the finding and
discussion.
- Chapter 3: Methodology: This part is to provide the data which author collected
and explains the ways and the reasons why author is able to collect the data
- Chapter 4: Finding and discussion: this is the most important part of the
study. It illustrates the results of study including: some general knowledge of
negative questions, the syntactic and semantic features of negative questions in
English with reference to Vietnamese equivalents.

Chapter 5: Conclusion: this part summarizes the result of this study and gives
some suggestions for further study.

4


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Review of previous studies
The theoretical knowledge of the study is based on the view point from
different prospects of great linguists as well as the ideas extracted from the
researches previously done. In this chapter, the author would like to review some
researches related to the study of previous authors as references for carrying out the
study. Based on these studies, the author can find out many good ideas for this
thesis. They are foundation for this thesis.
The book "Negation in English and Other Language" of Otto Jespersen was
published in Kgl. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab in 1917 which lays the broad
foundation for studies of negation later. This book is actually very advanced for its
age. It contains lots of stuff of interest to logicians and linguists, even those reading
it today. In his excellent work, Otto Jespersen has discovered a pattern that
describes how linguistic negation shifts between several stages. He provides general
tendencies of negation, strengthened and weakened negatives, indirect and
incomplete negation, special and nexal negation, the meaning of negation. This
book provided valuable information on negation in English and other language. It
will be foundation to create many ideas for other study. Focus of negation gives a
stress on particular part of a negative clause; this not only indicates the contrast of
meaning implicit in the negative but also implies the rest of the clause in the
positive. Therefore, based on the study of Otto Jespersen, I will also investigate
negation in English and Vietnamese as theoretical background of this research.
Questions are an important part of the English grammar. Negative questions
are used to indicate the speaker‟s idea(what he/she believes is or is not true) and

attitude (surprise, anger,…).Many grammarians have described negative questions
like L.G.Alexander (1990), Betty Scrapper Azar (2002), Anne Seaton( 2007),
&Randolph Quirk (1973) and so on. They have their own way to describe
thenegative questions. Fundamentally, they concentrate their attention on the
definition, formation, functions of the negative questions, types of negative
questions and their uses. Moreover, negative questions in Vietnamese are also
described by such authors as Diep Quang Ban (2002), Nguyen Tai Can (1999),
Cao Xuan Hao (2003), Nguyen Kim Than (1997) and Nguyen Phu Phong (2002).
L.G. Alexander (1990) in Longman English Grammar constantly concernswith

5


basic different uses between some questions. He focuses on Yes/ No questions,
Negative statements, Yes/ No answers. He only doesn‟t deal with the formation of
making Yes/ No questions. He also introduces theforms of negative alternative
questions. In negative question, he describes the full form and the short form.
Furthermore, he describes how to use stress and intonation in negative questions.
Betty Schrampfer Azar (2002) in Understanding and Using English
Grammar refers to the background knowledge of negative questions. He
givesspecific details for each negative question. He introduces more about the
forms of yes/ no and information questions, negative Wh- questions, negative tagquestions. He specifies forms of avoiding double negatives.
In the book Basic English Grammar book 1, Anne Seaton (2007) only
focuses his attention on two kinds of questions. They are yes/ no questions and
Wh-questions. He gives some more simple uses, functions and positions of the
questions. In addition, he pays much attention to the usages of some negative
questions such as yes/ no negative questions and wh- negative questions.
Randolph Quirk (1973) in the book A University Grammar of English gives
some features of negative questions or specific details of relationship between
subjects, predication with negative questions. In his opinion, assertion and nonassertion are some major types of sentence.

In the book Ngu Phap Tieng Viet, Diep Quang Ban (2005) deals with
specific characteristics, classifications and descriptionof negative questions. He
mentions four types of Vietnamese negative questions such as negative structure in
Yes/No questions, negative structures in Tag- questions, negative structures in Whquestions, negative structures in alternative questions. Language group of philology
faculty, Hanoi Pedagogical University (2006) in the textbook Ngu Phap Tieng Viet
part 1 gives basic features and kinds of negative questions. They pay attention to
the classification of negative questions by functions and intended uses.
In short, much research has been done on the negative questions but they
don‟t carry out comparison between them in English and Vietnamese. In fact,
there are similarities and differences between them. Consequently, it is very
essential to have a comprehensive study of negative question in English in
comparison with that in Vietnamese.
In fact, there is a great deal of investigation of negative questions. However,
there is little research of negative questions in English and Vietnamese.

6


2.2.Questions in English and Vietnamese.
2.2.1. Overview of Questions
In the Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar (Chalker and Weiner,1996
),the term question is defined as “A sentence seeking information,a sentence that
is interrogative in form .Some grammarians make a distinction between
sentences that are questions inform and those that are questions in meaning,
using interrogative for the syntactical classification and question as functional
label . Inpractice, many grammarians used the word question with both
meanings on different occasions . Ingeneral, sentences that are interrogative
inform are also genuine questions in meaning”.
In the book “ Oxford guide to English grammar ”,an interrogative sentence,ora
question is defined as a sentence whose most basic usage is to ask for information

(Eastwood,2002,p.27).According to Vietnamese linguist Le Quang Thiêm,questions
are sentences whose main purpose is to find out more about something we have not
known or have not understood yet.
Examples: Do you speak French? How can I do that?
As you can see,the two above definitions share the same idea with each other .
However, as Le Quang Thiêm states,in reality,sometimes we ask questions so as
not to seek for extra information but for other purposes .For instance,Vietnamese
can use questions in order to greet each other.
Forexamples: Nam,đang xem phim hả?
Cháu đang đi đâu thế?
It is also true in English .We ask questions such as:“Hi there,what are you
doing?”,“Hello,how are you ? ”which do not really need a particular reply. When
doing research about questions,we may also come across some ideas defining
question as a sentence that needs a reply.This definition is not accurate because I
have mentioned,there are some kinds of questions which do not need answers.
Among the mare rhetorical questions and paradoxical questions.Sometimes we ask
questions as a means of expressing the way we feel or as away of showing our
frustration, anxiety, agreement, anger etc.Wec all the serhetorical questions.
Forexamples: What the hell are you talking about?
There is also another type of question that cannot be answered because there is
no answer to it.We call this type of question aparadox.The most famous paradoxical
question is:“What came first :the chicken or the egg?”

7


In conclusion, we can see that there are many different ways to define a
question, largely based on their purpose of usage. Most of them are not
contradictory to each other, they are complementary to each other.The most
accurate and concise definition I think is the one in “Oxford guide to English

grammar”. Let me put it again here as to sum up this part: A question, or in other
words, an interrogative sentence is a sentence whose most basic usage is to ask for
information.
2.2.2. Classification of questions in English and Vietnamese
2.2.2.1. Classification of questions inEnglish
This is not an easy question because there are a variety of ways to classify
English questions .In “The grammar handbook ”,Feigenbaum(1985) says that there
are two kinds of them: questions to learn and questions to confirm.Questions to
learn include information or WH- questions and affirmative yes/no questions .
Questions to confirm include Negative Yes/No questions, Tag questions and
Restatements (p.16) . As you can see, this way of categorizing is based on the
purpose of using questions.
However, according to Angela (2003), interrogative structures in English are
of three main types: Polar, Alternative and Non- polar [p. 185]. A polar
interrogative, also called yes/ no question, is a question whose answer is either
“Yes” or “No” (Can you swim?). Non- polar interrogative, also called WHquestion or information questions is the one asking for some information refered to
by the Wh- word (Where are you from?). The third one is alternative interrogative,
which consists of two polar interrogatives joined by“or”(Do you want to stay a bit
longer or would you prefer to go home ?). There is also another kind of
classification .In “System in English Grammar ”, Master (1996) claims that there
are four types of questions in English : Yes/No questions, Information questions,
Tag questions and Echoquestions.
Annette Capel, Lorna Heaslip and Douglas Williamson state in their book
“English usage” published in 2001 that there are two main types of questions:
„yes/no‟ questions and wh-questions.
Yes/no questions: Yes/no questions are thequestions which can be answered
by „yes‟ or „no‟. For example: „Are you ready?‟ - „Yes‟
„Have you read this magazine?‟ - „No‟.

8

„Yes/no‟ questions are formed by changing the order of the subject and the
verb group. If the verb group consists of more than one word, you put the first word
at the beginning of the sentence, in front of the subject and put the rest of the verb
group after the subject. For example:Will you have finished by lunchtime? ; Has he
been working? If you are using a simple tense, you use an appropriate form of the
main verb after the subject. For example:Do you meet Jane in London? Does Anne
do this sort of thing often? However, if the main verb is „be‟ you put the form of
„be‟ at the beginning of the clause, followed by the subject and „do‟ must not be
used. For example: Are you Okay? Was it lonely without us?
You can use a structure such as „Have you got…?‟ Or a structure such as „Do
you have…?‟ in yes-no questions. People no longer say „Have you…?‟ when using
„have‟ as the main verb. If you want to ask a „yes/no‟ question, you do not usually
use the normal word order of a statement. However, you can use the normal word
order of a statement to ask a „yes/no‟ question if you want to express surprise, or to
check that something is true. For example:
You‟ve flown this machine before?
You‟ve got two thousand already?
Wh-questions: Wh-questions are used to ask about the identity of the people
or things involved in an action, or about the circumstances of an action. Whquestions begin with a „wh‟word. The „wh‟-words are:
- the adverbs „how‟, „when‟, „where‟, and „why‟;
- the pronouns „who‟, „whom‟, „what‟, „which‟, and „whose‟;
- the determiners „what‟, „which‟, and „whose‟.
When a „wh‟-word is the subject of a question, the „wh‟-word comes first,
followed by the verb group. The word order of the clause is the same as that of an
ordinary statement. For example:
- What happened?
- Who could have done it?
The form of a question is similar when the „wh‟-word is part of the subject.

For example:
- Which men had been ill?
When a‟wh‟-word is the object of a verb or preposition, or when it is an
adverb, the „wh‟-word comes first. The formation of the rest of the clause is the

9


same as for „yes/no‟ question; that is the subject is put after the first word in the
verb group, and the auxiliary „do‟ is used for simple tenses. For example:
- Which do you like best?
- When would you be coming down?
The form of a question is similar when the „wh‟-word is part of the object. For
example:
- Which book are you going to read?
- Which city is the biggest in Vietnam?
If there is a preposition, it usually comes at the end of the clause. For example:
- What are you looking for?
- Which country do you come from?
However, if a phrase such as „at what time‟ or „in what way‟ is being used, the
preposition is put at the beginning. For example: In what way are they different?;
At what time will she come back?
If „whom‟ is used, the preposition is always put first. „Whom‟ is only used in
formal speech ans writing. For example:
-With whom are you talking?
In the book “The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language”, Rodney
Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum state that the term „question‟is commonly used
at both the semantic and pragmatic levels. At the semantic level, a question is
distinguished by the fact that it defines a set of logically possible answers:
Question

Answers
i Have you seen it?
I have seen it.
I haven‟t seen it.
ii Who broke it?
I broke it.
Jane broke it?
The waiter broke it.
One of my sons broke it
Instead of saying I have seen it to the question Have you seen it?we might say
“Yes” or “I have.” Or “Yes, I have” or „Yes, I have seen it.” And so on. Although
these are different in form they are equivalent, and we will regard them as the same
answer. Similarly for the negatives: “I have not seen it; I have not; I haven‟t; No;
No, I haven‟t”.These all count as the same answer. It is in this sense of the term that
we can say that question “Have you seen it” defines a closed set of just two possible
answers. Questions like “Who broke it?”, on the other hand define in principle an
open set of answers: there are definitely many others besides those given as “I
broke it; Jane broke it;The waiter broke it; One of my sons broke it.”

10


At the pragmatic level, the pragmatic concept of question is an illocutionary
category. Prototypically, a question in this sense is an inquiry. To make a genuine
inquiry is to ask a question to which one doesnot know the answer with the aim of
obtainingthe answer from the addressee. An inquiry can be thought ofas effective a
kind of a directive - a directive (usually a request) to the addresseeto supply the
answer. The directive forceis indirect, however, since the propositional content of
the implied directive is not the same as that which is actually expressed. As with the
indirect directive, the request force can be signaled explicitly in the nonpropositional component by the marker please,as in “What is the time, please?

In the book, they have clarified that questions can be classified in many
different ways. First of all, we have to look at and distinguish the three kinds of
questions as polar, alternative and variable.
a.Polar questions
The question“Is it raining?” has as answers a pair of polar opposites, positive
and negative. The answer to“Is it raining?” are It is raining and It is not raining
orequivalently Yes and No, or Yes, it is and No, it is not, and so on.The propositional
content of one answer is expressed in the question itself, and that of the other is
obtained by reversing the polarity. Usually the answer is the positive that is
expressed in the question, but it can also be the negative. Yes and No are used in
positive and negative answers respectively. The choice between them is determined
by the polarity of the answer, with the polarity of the question being irrelevant.
Thus Yes it is and No, it‟s not are answers to both Is it raining? And Isn‟t it
raining?
Polar questions prototypically have the form of a closed interrogative clause as
in Is it raining? which is mentioned above. They do not always have this form,
however, they may be the following:
- You want to go to the movie this evening?
- Last night, you went to the Wedding but your sister stayed at home?
- Another cup of coffee?
“You want to go to the movie this evening?” is what we call a declarative
question: it has declarative not interrogative syntax with the question meaning
normally signaled by rising intonation or the punctuation “?”. “Last night, you went
to the Wedding but your sister stayed at home?”has the form of a coordination of

11


declarative clauses: there are two clauses, but it is a single question. And finally
“Another cup of coffee?” is a clause fragment.

b. Alternative questions
Alternative questions have as answers a set of alternatives given in the
question itself. For example, the answers to the question “Is it good or bad?” are
“It‟s good” and “It‟s bad”, which are derivable directly from the question. This
example contains two alternatives, but there may be more: e.g. three in“Would you
like to come in the morning, the afternoon or the evening?” The propositional
content of an alternative question is equivalent to, a disjunction of propositions,
disjunction being the relation expressed by “or”. Each of these propositions gives
the content of one of the answers. The propositional content of“Is it cool or cold?,
for example, is “It is cool or cold”, which is logically equivalent to “It is cool or it
is cold”.
The essential characteristic of alternative questions is the coordinator “or”
which relates the alternatives. The or-coordination is normally prosodically marked
by a rise on the first coordinate and fall on the final one, as indicated by rising
arrow ↓↓↓↑ which is put after a word or a phrase that is uttered with rising pitch and
by falling arrow ↓ after a word or ↓phrase that is uttered with a falling pitch. For
example:
- Is it a man ↑ or a woman ↓?
- Is it real ↑ or is it false ↓?
- You‟re staying here ↑ or coming with him ↓?
- Tea ↑ or coffee ↓?
With multiple coordination the intermediate coordinates take rising intonation
like the first, for example: Would you like tea ↑ coffee ↑, or orange juice
↓?Alternative questions usually have closed interrogative syntax. In Is it a man ↑ or
a woman ↓? the or-coordination is within the clause, whereas in Is it real ↑ or is it
false ↓? It is between clauses which are two interrogative clauses but a single
question. It is also possiblefor an alternative question to have the form of a
declarative as You‟re staying here ↑ or coming with him ↓?, or of a clause fragment
as Tea ↑ or coffee ↓?. Prosodically marked declaratives, however, are much less
readily used for alternative questions than for polar ones; this is no doubt because

questions with declarative form are biased, and alternative questions tend to be
neutral.

12


The coordinator is an essential component of an alternative question, but it
may also occur incidentally in a polar question as in “Will I be able to get some tea
or coffee at the bus station?” Herethe answers are “Yes, you will” and“No, you
won‟t” The meaning of the question is that I am not asking which drink is available
but whether or not I‟ll be able to get one or other of the drinks.
In writing there will often be ambiguity between an alternative question and a
polar question that happens to contain an or-coordination, but the two cases are
distinguished in speech by intonation. An alternative question has a rise on the first
coordinate and a fall on the last: a polar question will not distinguish the coordinates
in this way but will normally have a rising pitch on the last:
- Alternative question: Are you free on Tuesday↑ or Wednesday↓?
- Polar question:
Are you free on Tuesday or Wednesday↑?
The answers to the alternative question “Are you free on Tuesday↑ or
Wednesday↓?” are “I am free on Tuesday” and “I am free on Wednesday.”The
polar question is equivalent to “Are you free on Tuesday or Wednesday, or not?The
answers are “Yes, I am free on Tuesday or Wednesday” and “No, I am not free on
Tuesday or Wednesday.”
It‟s so interesting to note that there is a specil type of alternative question that
has the alternative consisting of a positive and its negative counterpart. Questions
of this kind are logically equivalent to polar questions, and we call them polaralternative questions, for example:
i. Are you ready or are you not ready?
ii. Are you ready or aren‟t you ready?
iii. Are you ready or aren‟t you?

iv. Are you ready or not?
v. Are you, or are you not, ready?
c. Variable questions or Wh- questions
- Variable questions
Variable questions or Wh-questions have a propositional content consisting of
an open proposition (which has a place left open) containing a variable. The
answers express closed propositions (which haven‟t left anything available to be
filled in) derived by substituting a particular value for the variable. We look at the
variable question “What did they give Ann?” The answers may be: “They gave Ann
some books; They gave Ann the key; They gave Ann everything she asked

13


for…”“Some books, the key, everything she asked for” are the variables which have
different values. Prototypically, there is no logical limit to the number of different
possible values so that the set of answers will be open-ended. These questions have
the form of an open interrogative clause. They are marked by a phrase containing an
interrogative word-whose role is to express the variable. The question may consist
solely of the interrogative element, forming a clausal fragment: Who?; What about
the others?; and so on.
When the interrogative phrase has a function other than that of subject of the
interrogative clause, it is normally fronted to pre-nuclear position, and in main
clauses this triggers subject-auxiliary inversion. For example: “Where are those
senses located?” “What were the results of that examination?”
Fronting of a non-subject interrogative phrase is not obligatory in main
clauses: it can remain in situ, i.e. in the default position of corresponding noninterrogative phrases, following the verb. For example: “And those senses are
located where?” It is easy for us to see the difference in the following presentation.
Fronted inversion
i.Where are those senses located?

ii.What were the results of that

In Situ: No inversion
- And those senses are located where?
- And the results of that examination

examination?
were what?
-Single variable and multi-variable questions
All the variable questions given so far have contained a single variable, for
example, Who said that? Where are those senses located? What were the results of
that examination? They are the single variable questions. But it is possible for there
to be more than one variable. For example:
i- Who said what?
ii- Who said what to whom?
In the first multi-variable question “Who said what?” there are two variables,
they arewho and what. And in the second variable question, there are three variables
which are who, what and whom.
Multi-variable questions may have either singulary answers or multiple
answers. For example:
- Who beat who?
- John beat Jane.  singulary answer
- John beat Jane and Smith beat Ken.  multiple answer

14


A singulary answer simply provides a single value for each variable. A
multiple answer provides sets of values- pairs if there are are two variables, triples if
there are three, and so on..

In the book "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language"
(Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, Jan Svartvik, 1985),
question can be classified into three major kinds according to the types of reply
they expect such as Yes/No question, WH-questions and Alternative questions.
This way of classification, in my opinion, is suitable and logical. That‟s why I
take this classification for the study in my thesis.
Questions that expect answer is affirmation or negation, as in "Have you
finished the book?" are Yes/No questions. Specially, Yes/No question also known
as a polar question.
Polar questions have divergent forms. The most prototypical form is
interrogative clause, as in “Is Jane coming?”
Not all yes/no questions have subject-operator inversion. Another form is
declarative question. The declarative question is type of question which is identical
in form to a declarative, except for the final rising intonation. It rather casual in tone
as in "You think I'm kidding you? You think it's a joke to have to walk home on a
clear night with an umbrella? You think that because I'm quirky I don't
hurt? You've got it backwards. I'm quirky because I hurt."
(Jack Weston as Danny in The Four Seasons, 1981)
A further type of Yes /No question which conveys positive or negative orientation is
Tag question like “a. She's Italian, isn't she? ; b. She doesn't have any
children, does she?”
Huddleston noted that Interrogative clause added as a supplement to the
declarative clause is called the tag. The declarative clause is referred as an anchor
(Huddleston & Pullum, 2002, p. 892). A special rule is that a negative tag is
attached to a positive anchor. This is easily seen in “a. He is a professor in your
university, isn‟t he? And “b. He isn‟t a professor in your university, is he?
Tags questions can be used for imperatives or suggestions. After
imperatives, "won‟t you" often used to invite people to do things, and
"will/would/can/can‟t/could you" to tell or ask people to do things (Swan, 2000,
p.480). For instance:

15


a. Close the door, will you?
b. Take a seat, won‟t you?
c. Let‟s go to the zoo, shall we?
The tag is raised or fell depending on the illocutionary of the utterance. The
rising tag expresses doubted or asked for verification. Meanwhile, the rising tag
expresses acknowledgement that the anchor is true. (Huddleston & Pullum, 2002, p.
894)
Questions that typically expect a reply from an open range of replies, as in
"What is your name?" or "How old are you?" are WH-questions. These questions
have interrogative form containing interrogative such words to express the variable
as who, which, whom, where, when…..etc.
Questions that expect as the reply one of two or more options presented in
the question, as in "Would you like to go for a walk or stay at home?" are
Alternative questions. There are two types of alternative questions. The first
resembles a Yes/No question, but differs from Yes/No question only in
intonation; instead if final rising tone, it contains a separate nucleus for each
alternative: a rise occurs on each item on the list, except the last, on which there
is a fall, indicating that the list is complete. ↑example: Shall we go by bus ↑or
train↓? Would you like chocolate ↑ vanilla or strawberry ↓?
The second type of alternative question is really a compound of two separate
questions: a wh-question followed by an elliptical alternative question. For
example:Which ice cream would you like? Chocolate↑, vanilla↑ or strawberry↓?
b.Classification of questions in Vietnamese
A little similar to English question, in the book “ Vietnamese Grammar ”
written by a Vietnamese linguist, Diệp Quang Ban. He classifies Vietnamese
question into four types: Câu hỏi có từ nghi vấn (WH-question), câu hỏi lựa chọn

(Alternative question), câu hỏi dùng ngữ điệu (Declarative questions), câu hỏi có
tiểu từ chuyên dụng (Specialized copulative questions). However, with Le Quang
Thiem, he simply categorizes Vietnamese question just into two types in term of
semantic such as alternative questions and variable questions (Lê, 2004, p. 225).
Vietnamese Alternative questionshave the answers as the alternatives,
usually two alternatives. There are three subtypes: alternative questions marked by
là/hay là, có…không/ phải không/đã…chưa, à/ư/ nhỉ/ nhé.

16


Alternative questions marked by là/ hay là (or) may have the answers given
or negate the information in the question.
a. Mẹ em thích ăn bánh tráng hay bánh xèo?
b. Bánh tráng/ Bánh xèo/ Cả hai (both)/ Chẳng món nào cả (none of them).
Alternative questions marked by có…không, ….phải không, ….đã chưa have
the polar opposites.
a. Cậu có đi học Anh văn tối nay không? - Có/không
b. Bố con về hay chưa? - Dạ chưa/ Dạ rồi.
c. Con đánh vỡ cái lọ này phải không? - Dạ vâng/Dạ không phải.
Alternative questions marked by à, nhỉ, ư, sao, chứ…These words are put at
the end of the sentence.
a. Tối nay không đi chơi à? - Có chứ/ không.
b. Hôm nay là hạn cuối nộp bài ư? - Ừ/không.
Another kind of questions in Vietnamese is variable questions. This kind
uses the interrogative words or phrases to ask for information such as: ai (who),
gì/cái gì/nào(what), đâu/ở đâu (where), khi nào/bao giờ (when), sao (why),…For
example:
a. Khi nào cậu về quê nghỉ tết?- Một tuần nữa
b. Ai đi với cậu hôm qua?- Mẹ tớ.

As for Vietnamese,as said above, Le Quang Thiem, based on the semantics,
classifies questions inVietnamese into two main kinds:alternative questions and
non- alternative questions..He synthesized into the following table:
Language

Vietnamese

English
Alternative questions

Question types

Alternative
questions

Nonalternative
questions

Yes/no
questions

Alternative
questions

Non-alternative
questions

WH-questions

The more research we do, the more different ways we will discover .Therefore,

we cannot say this one is correct and that one is not . They are just different points
of view and might be based on different foundations. Because the purpose of this
paper is making a comparison between English and Vietnamese negative

17


questions, therefore, I will take the classification of Lê Quang Thiêm, which seems
the most logical one related to the two languages, as the foundation for my
analysis.
2.2.3. Negation in English
2.2.3.1. Overview of negation.
The definition of negation abounds with many newsworthy viewpoints. Many
scholars reckon that negation shows dissension, disagreement and a contradictory
opinion or quality of something that is absent. In the Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English, published in 1994, negation is defined as the act of stating
that something does not exist or is untrue, and the Dictionary of Vietnamese,
published in 1998 by the Centre of dictionary at Da Nang Publishing House says
that negation is the act of rejecting the existence, the necessity of something; is the
opposition to affirmation. The fact has shown thatthere also have been many
definitions of negation made by many scholars so far: Frank, Marcela (undated;
205) states that negation shows disagreement, denial, absence of somebody or
something, or an opposite idea or quality. Forming a negative clause means putting
“not” directly after operator. Semantically speaking, Frank has pointed out the
importance of negation in establishing “a counter–part” of affirmation.
Grammatically speaking, the insertion of “not” in predicate of a sentence is a signal
of negation.
My research mainly bases on English Grammar book “A University Grammar
of English” (R, Quirk.1973). According to him, the negation of a simple sentence is
accomplished by inserting not (abbreviated n‟t) between the operator and the

predication. Although the definition of negation varies from scholar to scholar, from
dictionary to dictionary, we can draw some main points as follows: Negation is a
part of men‟s cognition activity and communication process. It is also a basic
category of thinking, of formal logic. It is the opposition to the affirmative category.
2.2.3.2 Scope of negation
The term scope of negation is introduced to refer to the stretch of language
over which the negative has its effect. The relation between negative words and
non-assertive words that they govern will happen in scope of negation (that is part
of language that the negative meaning operates through). The scope of negation
formally extents from the negative words to the end of the clause; or extents from
the negative words to the beginning of a final adjunct. The subject and any adjuncts

18