INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN THE BILINGUAL NOVEL ‘THE GREAT GATSBY’ INVESTIGATED FROM SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC PERSPECTIVES

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGO THI THU HA

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN THE
BILINGUAL NOVEL ‘THE GREAT GATSBY’ INVESTIGATED FROM
SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC PERSPECTIVES
(CÂU NGHI VẤN TRONG CUỐN TIỂU THUYẾT SONG NGỮ “THE GREAT GATSBY” VÀ SỰ
TƯƠNG ỨNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT TRÊN PHƯƠNG DIỆN CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA)

M.A THESIS
Field: English Language
Code: 8220201

Hanoi, 2018


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

NGO THI THU HA

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN THE
BILINGUAL NOVEL ‘THE GREAT GATSBY’ INVESTIGATED FROM
SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC PERSPECTIVES
(CÂU NGHI VẤN TRONG CUỐN TIỂU THUYẾT SONG NGỮ “THE GREAT GATSBY” VÀ SỰ
TƯƠNG ỨNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT TRÊN PHƯƠNG DIỆN CÚ PHÁP VÀ NGỮ NGHĨA)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Language
Code: 8220201
Supervisor : Dr. DANG NGOC HUONG

Hanoi, 2018


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS IN
THE BILINGUAL NOVEL ‘THE GREAT GATSBY’ INVESTIGATED
FROM SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC PERSPECTIVES submitted in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the English
language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other persons’ works have
been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2018

Ngo Thị Thu Ha

Approved by
Dr DANG NGOC HUONG

Date:……………………

I


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Dang
Ngoc Huong of Dai Nam University for his helpful advice, support and valuable
comments for the study.
I would also wish to extend my sincere thanks to the organizers of the M.A.
course and the whole staffs of the Department of Post–Graduate Studies of Hanoi
Open University for their help, precise guiding, and assistant encouragement.
I highly appreciate the helpful advice, assistance from teachers of Hanoi
Medical College and participation from my colleagues, friends and students. I could
not have finished the thesis on time without their helps.
Finally, I am so indebted to my family for supporting and encouraging me
during the course.
Hanoi, October 2018

Ngo Thi Thu Ha

II


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Table of contents
Lists of tables
List of abbreviations
Abstract
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................. 1
1.1 Rationales of the study ....................................................................................... 1
1.2 Aims and objectives of the study ....................................................................... 2
1.2.1 Aims of the study .................................................................................. 2
1.2.2 Objectives of the study ....................................................................... 2
1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................. 3

1.4 Scope of the study ............................................................................................... 3
1.5 Significance of the study .................................................................................... 5
1.6 Design of the study.............................................................................................. 6
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW OF ENGLISH AND VIETNAMESE
QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 7
2.1 Review of previous studies ................................................................................. 7
2.2 Theoretical background ................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Theory of Syntax ............................................................................... 10
2.2.2 Theory of semantic ........................................................................... 11
2.3 Theoretical framework .................................................................................... 13
2.3.1 Overview of English sentence ............................................................ 13
2.3.2 Definition of questions ........................................................................ 13
2.3.3 Syntax and semantic features of questions ......................................... 14
2.3.4 Overview of questions in Vietnamese .................................................. 20
2.4 Summary of the chapter .................................................................................. 22
Chapter 3: DATA AND METHODS .................................................................... 23
3.1 Research questions ........................................................................................... 23
3.2 Research approach methods ............................................................................ 23
3.2.1 Research approaches .......................................................................... 23

III


3.2.2 Research methods ................................................................................. 24
3.3 Data collection technique ................................................................................. 25
3.3.1 Subjects ............................................................................................... 25
3.3.2 Instrumentation ................................................................................... 25
3.3.3 Procedures .......................................................................................... 26
3.3.4 Statistical Analysis ............................................................................... 26
3.4 Summary of the chapter .................................................................................. 32

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................... 34
4.1 The syntactic and sematic features of English questions and their equivalents
in the novel ............................................................................................................... 34
4.1.1 Major classes .................................................................................................. 34
4.1.1.1 Yes- no questions ............................................................................. 34
4.1.1.2 Wh questions ..................................................................................... 44
4.1.1.3 Alternative questions ........................................................................ 46
4.1.2 Minor types of questions ............................................................................... 47
4.1.2.1 Exclamatory questions...................................................................... 47
4.1.2.2 Rhetorical questions ......................................................................... 47
4.2 The syntactic and semantic comparison between English question and their
equivalents in the novel and their translation...................................................... 49
4.2.1 Similarities ............................................................................................ 49
4.2.2 Differences ............................................................................................ 51
4.2.3 The equivalence of the translation........................................................55
4.3 Implication in teaching and learning English question for Vietnamese
learners of English .................................................................................................. 56
4.3.1 Consideration in teaching English questions ....................................... 56
4.3.2 Consideration in learning English questions ...................................... 57
4.3.3 Consideration in translating English questions ................................... 58
4.4 Summary ........................................................................................................... 59
Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 61
5.1 Summary of findings ........................................................................................ 61
5.2 Concluding remarks ......................................................................................... 62
5.3 Limitations ........................................................................................................ 64

IV


5.4 Recommendations for further study ............................................................... 64

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 66
APPENDIX 1........................................................................................................... 70
APPENDIX 2........................................................................................................... 71
APPENDIX 3........................................................................................................... 84

V


LIST OF TABLES

1. Table 3.1. Types of English questions in the novel The Great Gatsby
2. Table 3.2. Test result of Test 1 made by students at Hanoi medical college when
using yes /no question
3. Table 3.3. Test result of test 2 made by students when matching interrogative
sentences with their communicative purposes
4. Table 3.4. Test result of Test 3 made by students when translating from
Vietnamese into English and vice versa.
5. Table 4.1. Types of yes/no English questions in the novel
6. Table 4.2. Sentence structure of genuine yes/no questions in the novel
7. Table 4.3. Sentence structures of declarative questions in the novel
8.Table 4.4. Structures of tag-questions in the novel The Great Gatsby
9. Table 4.5. Different forms of the elliptical Yes/No questions in the novel
10. Table 4.6.Structures of Wh-questions in the novel The Great Gatsby
11. Table 4.7. Structures of rhetorical questions in the novel The Great Gatsby
12. Table 4.8. Syntactic and semantic similarities and differences between English
questions and their Vietnamese equivalents in the novel The Great
Gatsby

VI

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Aux

Auxiliary

NP

Noun phrase

No

Number

N

Noun

Op

Operator

Pg

Page

RT

Rough translation

S

Subject

ST

Source language

TC

Target language

V

Verb

VII


ABSTRACT

This research focuses on analyzing the interrogative sentences found in the
bilingual novel the Great Gatsby in the perspectives of syntax and semantics in the
hope that certain findings may be found in relation to the descriptions of English
questions in grammar books compared with their uses in communication, and
possible difficulties those differences may cause for Vietnamese learners when they
learn and use English questions. The objectives of the study are firstly to describe
the types of interrogative sentences found in the bilingual novel in terms of their
syntactic and semantic features, compare the English questions with their

Vietnamese equivalents and finally to suggest a number of ways for Vietnamese
learners to master the use of English questions. During the process of study, the
thesis applies three research methods; the descriptive qualitative method used to
describe the syntactic and semantic features of English questions; the comparative
and contrastive methods to make syntactic and semantic similarities and differences
between English questions and their Vietnamese equivalents and the survey
methods to collect data for giving pedagogical implications for the ways of learning
English questions. The data collected for description and analysis of English
questions are from the bilingual novel the Great Gatsby and its Vietnamese
translation by Hoang Cuong, published 2016 by the The Gioi Publisher and the data
used for giving pedagogical implications are from the survey with students from
Hanoi Medical College. The study results of the thesis are expected to make certain
contributions not only to the theory and use of English questions in general but also
to the English language learning for the students in Hanoi Medical College in
particular.

VIII


Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale for the study
Language is a means of communication and interaction between one person to
another person to find out the intention of meaning and to deliver or get some
information. Language expresses meaning by relating a sign to its meaning or its
contents.
It is a well-known fact that nowadays English is used in global communication
even textual audio, visual media or novel. Humans cannot be separated with the
language because language is the most important thing of human life. As an
international language, English is used in many parts of the world. People should
master English language very well, learn it effectively and understand it easily.

Using English language, people get information about science and technology from
other countries. But Vietnamese people in which the mother tongue is not English
sometimes have difficulties in learning and transferring the message using English.
Every language has its own linguistic feature and rule. It is important to learn
how to use the language properly. It is undeniable that interrogative sentence plays
a significant role in communication. Le Quang Thiem (2004, p. 222) states that the
main purpose of question is to seek for unknown information. Particularly,
interrogative sentences plays the role of drawing the interlocutor’s attention, and
getting him/her involved in the topic that the speaker is addressing. But Nguyen
Dang Suu (2002) analyses that when considering whether a statement is a question
or not, one has to look at two angles, form and content, because of the fact that the
form of some questions in interrogative sentence but it is not used for asking,
conversely, some statements are not questionable but are used to ask question.
In addition, interrogative sentences appear a lot in conversation. It is
considered universal category of sentence divisions for speech purpose. By using
interrogative sentences, people aim to get information. However, in everyday
conversation, questions carry various meanings. Based on certain situations,
questions have different communicative functions to serve different purposes for
language users.

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In teaching and learning English, the contrast of types of interrogative
sentences in English is necessary to help students understand more about the
similarities and difference in using grammar as well as translating text, novel.
In this research, the writer introduces the previous study, which is related to a
study of types of interrogative sentences, which was conducted by Anik Sulisva
Ningsih (2013). Her research is entitled A Subtitling analysis of interrogative
sentence in Snow White and the Huntsman movie. She analyzes the types of

questions from English language to Indonesian language.
From the previous research, there is similarity to this research; the thesis is
aimed at syntactically and semantically analyzing the interrogative sentences and
their equivalents in the bilingual novel - The Great. The study is also expected to
provide Vietnamese users of English with better mastering how to apply
interrogative sentences in sensible ways, how to understand comprehensively and
how to communicate, translate effectively and correctly.
1.2 Aims and objectives of the study
1.2.1 Aims of the study
As the title indicates this study is aimed at investigating syntactic and semantic
features of interrogative sentences in the bilingual novel The Great Gatsby by
American author F.Scott Fitzgerald. The impetus for conducting the research is
three-fold: there might be differences between theory and reality in the use of
questions in English and between English and Vietnamese questions. It is also
assumed that the differences between them induce the fact that Vietnamese learners
of English questions might encounter some difficulties in learning and using
English questions.
1.2.2 Objectives of the study
In order to fulfill this task, the thesis attempts to set up as its foundation a
theoretical framework with a number of basic concepts related to interrogative
sentences in English which could be defined to assist the writer to take a deep
insight into the structures and the meanings of the interrogative sentences used in
the novel. Since it is a bilingual literary product, the writer would like to take this
opportunity to exploit the novel as a source of information to compare between

2


kinds of questions in English and their Vietnamese equivalences in terms of syntax
and semantics to find out the similarities and differences between them. Based on

the study results, the thesis expects to give some implications for teaching and
learning English questions to Vietnamese learners of English in general and the
students of Hanoi Medical College in particular.
1.3 Research questions
In order to achieve the goals of the study, the thesis attempts to answer the
following questions:
1.

What are the syntactic and semantic features of interrogative sentences and

their Vietnamese equivalences in the novel ‘The Great Gatsby’?
2. What are the syntactic and semantic similarities and differences of
interrogative sentences and their Vietnamese equivalences in the novel?
3. What are the possible ways to assist Vietnamese learners of English to learn
and use English interrogative sentences effectively?
1.4 Scope of the study
As the research questions indicate, the thesis aims to investigate the syntactic
and semantic features of both English interrogative sentences and their
Vietnamese equivalences in the bilingual novel The Great Gatsby (527 pages)
by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1925. It was translated into Vietnamese by
Hoang Cuong and published by the The Gioi Publisher in 2016. In other words,
the novel is the source of secondary information.
In terms of form, English sentences have four types; Declarative,
interrogative, imperative and exclamative. Basing on the position of subjects, verbs
and punctuations (interrogatve has question mark, exclamative has exclamation
mark..). However, in terms of meaning, English sentences have four funtions;
Statement, questions, request and exclamation. The thesis focuses on describing and
analyzing the meaning. Firstly, the word question, according to Longman
Dictionary of Current English, has a number of meanings: a sentence or phrase to
ask for information, a subject, and problem or doubt (p.1423). In the thesis, question

3


is used with the first meaning: a sentence to ask for information. For this reason,
interrogative sentences can be replaced by questions in the thesis.
Secondly, in English, questions could be categorized into indirect and direct
questions. Indirect questions are featured by the fact that they do not have question
marks (?) at the end, for example: He asked me whether or not I knew the way.
Questions of this type are not put under investigation. In other words, the thesis
only investigates direct questions in the novel. Another point which is noteworthy is
that the comparison of English interrogative sentences with their equivalences in
terms of syntax and semantics inevitably involves a theory of equivalence. In the
thesis, the equivalents of English questions are just the sentences translated into
Vietnamese by the translator. The thesis did not make any attempt to investigate the
type, relevance, applicability of equivalence or the translation techniques the
translator ever used.
The word equivalent (adj), equivalence (n) is defined in the Longman
Dictionary of Current English (2010) as having the same value, purpose etc as
something else (p.569). In other words, equivalence consists of the concept of
sameness and similarity; it has the same or a similar effect or meaning in
translation. Equivalence is defined differently by different translation theorists. For
example, Nida (1982) argues that there are two different types of equivalence:
formal equivalence which focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and
content, unlike dynamic equivalence which is based upon 'the principle of
equivalent effect, triggering the same impact on the target culture (TC) audience as
the original wording did upon the source text (ST) audience. After all, equivalence
can be of various categories: semantic, grammatical, textual, pragmatic, cultural,
etc. However, the thesis does not make any attempt and cannot have enough space
and ability to investigate how equivalence has been achieved in the translated

sentences in Vietnamese. It accepts the Vietnamese equivalences of English
questions as the target language to contrast with the source questions in English

4


1.5 Significance of the study
The thesis interrogative sentences and their equivalences in the bilingual
novel ‘The Great Gatsby’ investigated from syntactic and semantic perspectives is
expected to make several contributions when it is completed.
Theoretically, this study seeks to make a further investigation into the theory
of the interrogatives in English. There have been a great number of grammar books
and other documents referring to the topic so far. However, there is still
considerable amount of information concerning their syntactic and especially their
semantic characteristics which have not yet been extensively explored in reality of
use. This study which is conducted in the context of a novel in English expects to
make a certain contribution. In addition, literature on the similarities and differences
in English and Vietnamese interrogatives has revealed that many related works have
been done; however, to the best of the writer’s knowledge, the similarities and
differences between theory and reality of use of questions in English and between
English interrogatives and their equivalences have so far not yet been fully
investigated, this study is hoped to point out some of them.
Practically, by conducting an investigation into the use of questions in a great
variety of situations in an English novel, the study expects to point out the uses of
each type of English questions in communication and through analysis and
comparison between questions in two languages the thesis may be of great benefit
for teachers and learners of English as a good reference for teaching and learning
English questions effectively.
It is believed that if Vietnamese learners of English take it seriously to explore
these features of English questions, they could not only gain a good knowledge of

English questions in terms of structure and meaning but also have a better capability
of using them effectively in communication.

5


1.6 Design of the study
Chapter 1: Introduction indicates the background, aims and objectives of the
study, significance of the research and research question as well as research scope
of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature Review, The discussion of the theoretical preliminaries
which emphasizes key concepts and kind of questions in English , subtypes and
futher features and theoretical framework, which go along with the proposed
framework.
Chapter 3: Data and methods, Data collection techniques and research questions
are cited as orimentation for the selection of different research approaches and
methods for the study.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion, The analysis of syntactic and semantic
features of English questions and their equivalents in the novel, the comparision of
English questions and their equivalents and implication in teaching and learning
English questions for Vietnamese learners of English.
Chapter 5: Conclusion, the summary of the study, limitation of the research and
suggestions for further study.

The references and Summary of the novel and Appendix put an end to the study

6


Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Review of previous studies
There have been many researchers studying about Interrogative sentences.
Theory of Frank is used to analyze the type of interrogative sentences. Frank (1972:
221) defines that interrogative sentence ends with the question mark and the subject
and the auxiliary are often reversed. Frank (1972: 88) also suggests the kinds of
question into three parts namely, Yes-No Question, Attached or Tag Question, and
Interrogative Word Questions.
In the book A University Course in English Grammar [91], Angela Downing
and Philip Locke considered question has interrogative form, and distinguished in to
three types: Yes – No question (polar question) , Tag question ( in tag question has
declarative tag, exclamation tag and command tag), Alternative question and WH
question ( Non-polar question) .
Baker distinguishes two WH types in English: ‘questions’ and relative clauses.
Although Baker points out morpho-syntactic dissimilarities between ‘direct’ and
‘indirect ’questions (the absence of whether or if in direct questions; inversion in
direct WH-questions), he concludes that the dissimilarities between direct and
indirect questions are relatively minor compared to dissimilarities between
‘embedded’ questions and relative clauses.
Randolph Quirk et al. (1985) classifies English questions into major classes
and minor types of questions according to the type of reply they expect (p.806-825).
In the major classes, in line with their classification, English questions are
categorized into three types: yes/no question, as in Have you finished the book?
Yes/no questions expect affirmation or negation. Wh-questions, for example, what
is your name? which expect a reply from an open range of replies. And the third
type is alternative questions, as in Would you like to go for a walk or stay at home?
Such questions as this expect a reply as one of two or more options presented in the
questions. Exclamatory and rhetorical questions belong to the minor types of
questions. Exclamatory questions are interrogative in structure, but has the
illocutionary force of an exclamatory assertion; for example, Wasn’t it a marvelous
concert!Questions of this type are used with a rising tone as in yes/no questions to

7


express strong positive feelings of the speakers that invite the hearer’s agreement.
As the other type of minor classes of questions, the rhetorical question is
interrogative in structure, but has the force of a strong assertion; normally it does
not expect an answer. Rhetorical questions are used in various situations for
different purposes; one of the typical features of rhetorical is that a positive
rhetorical yes/no question is like a strong negative assertion, a negative question
like a strong positive one; for example: Is that a reason for despair?(Surely no!)or
Isn’t the answer obvious?(Surely yes!).
The observations we have made so far in this paper suggest that the notion of
‘question’ is necessarily distinct from the notion of ‘interrogative’ in syntax. The
former focuses more on the form, the latter more on the meaning.
In Vietnam, many Vietnamese grammarians and linguists studied Vietnamese
questions, publishing their findings in a great numbers of documents. Some names
of the famous author which could be listed here are Diệp Quang Ban, Cao Xuân
Hạo, Lê Quang Thiêm, Nguyễn Kim Thản, Đinh Văn Đức, Hoàng Trọng Phiến, Lê
Đông, etc. For example, Nguyen Kim Than (1964, 254) and Ho Le (1976, 8) had
some common opinions on questions. One of which is that questions and statements
are different in using interrogatives pronouns and interrogative particles in
questions. In Vietnamese Grammar Book (1983, p.202), the authors characterized
that making questions generally means requiring an answer.
Based on the purpose of speaking, Professor Diep Quang Ban (1998, p.226)
claimed that question is an interrogative sentence that is used to seek an information
answer or an explanation from the questioned. From another perspective, Professor
Cao Xuan Hao (1998) based himself on illocutionary force, stated that the question
has illocutionary act which requires an answer giving information on predicate or
part of predicate which provides true presupposition. Questions with illocutionary
force do not always require an answer for what have been asked. They have value

of command in these cases, no value of asking for information; for example: Con
có đưa cho mẹ không thì bảo? Could function as a command, which is similar to
Đưa đây ngay!

8


Structurally, based on the study of Nguyen Kim Than (1975), questions in
Vietnamese can be divided into three types: whole questions, partial questions, and
alternative questions, each type of question having its own sstructural features. In
addition, Ngô Đình Phương (2007) classified Vietnamese questions based on
functional grammar into four types: questions with interrogative pronouns; with
interrogative words such as không, chưa; with the connective word hay; and typical
particles, such as: à, hả,…
Le Dong (1996) studied about “True Questions” based on the view of
semantics and pragmatics. The author provided some theoretical back ground of
Question and their common character based on different aspects.
Generally speaking, Vietnamese questions are described and analyzed on the
basis of the fact that they are constructed by means of words; they function
differently according to different contexts of communication.
Recently, along with the foreign language learning development, a great
number of researchers embarked on comparison between English with Vietnamese
questions. Some authors could be cited as illustrations. Assoc. Dr. Nguyen Dang
Suu (2002) conducted a study of English questions in the contrast with Vietnamese
ones. In which , the author figured out the features of question in both English and
Vietnamese to have a clear understanding about way to form a question and their
equivalent meaning in the two languages, then the author studies and compared the
pragmatic – semantics featured to find out the similarities and differences between
questions in English and Vietnamese language. He also conducted surveys to
investigate the understanding of Vietnamese student of questions in two languages.

Then came to some conclusion about student’s mistakes and suggested solutions in
language teaching. Questions in some books are used illustrate example and as the
source to display the mistake in question translation in English – Vietnamese.
Assoc. Prof. Vo Dai Quang (2000) conducted a study to compare and contrast
“true question” and the field of semantics and pragmatic in English and Vietnamese.
In the study the author used both English and Vietnamese as source and target
language in order to find out the similarities and differences of semantic, pragmatic
features of English and Vietnamese. He also deals with the contrast of different

9


types of true question as well as pragmatic means which is often seen in those
question types.
Based on what has been described as above, The English question
classification of Randolph Quirk is the most outstanding for the thesis to apply. The
sentences in general could be concluded to be basic units of grammar and questions
are basic units of communication. Both English and Vietnamese questions have
been studied vigorously in many aspects so far. However, to the best knowledge of
the author, there has not been much work investigating the structural and semantic
features of English questions compared with their Vietnamese equivalents in a
specific type of literary work where the use of questions is typically used in various
contexts of communication. This is a strong reason which motivates the author to
write up the thesis entitled “Interrogative sentences in the bilingual novel The Great
Gatsby from syntactic and semantic perspectives”.
2.2. Theoretical background
2.2.1. Theory of syntax
Syntax is usually defined as a set of rules in language. It dictates how words
from different parts of speech are put together in order to covey a complete thought.
Dixon, R.M.W. (1991) defines that syntax deals with the way in which words are

combined together. Syntax seeks to describe the way words fit together to form
sentences or utterances. In other words, syntax refers to the rules that govern the
ways in which words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences. Therefore,
studying the syntactic features means studying the properties of words and their
relationships when they combine together in specific patterns of arrangement in a
sentence.
Regarding how syntax is defined, it is clear that syntax is the study of structure
of language. In other words, its main targets are said to be the set of rules,
principles, and processes that govern the structure of sentences in a given language.
For this reason, the goal of many syntacticians is to discover the syntactic rules
common to all languages. They are to dictate how words from different parts of
speech are put together to convey a complete thought. It is also said that syntax is a
form of grammar and it is concerned primarily with word order in a sentence and
10


with the agreement of words when they are used simultaneously. It is also true that
every language has developed a specific mechanism that is similar to syntax to
make a boundless number of sentences. This is a common feature that can be
witnessed in all languages.
So far, there have been numerous definitions of the sentence in English since
different grammarians look at the sentence from different perspectives. For
example, A sentence is defined as a group of words that are put together to mean
something. A sentence is the basic unit of language which expresses a
complete thought. It does this by following the grammatical rules of syntax.
A sentence is the largest independent unit of grammar: it begins with a capital letter
and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Through the definition
of the sentence, it can be understood that the sentence comes first and then comes
grammar and words as its elements are not categorized according to their word
classes or the role they play in the sentence.

The thesis follows the definition in the dictionary in which the sentence is said
to be a group of words that usually contains a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete idea; in writing the sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a
stop or question mark (Dictionary of Contemporary English, p.1587).
2.2.2. Theory of semantics
It is often believed that semantics is the study of meaning in language.
Structural semantics applied the principles of structural linguistics to the study of
meaning through the notion of semantic relations (also called sense relation), such
as synonymy and antonym. In generative grammar, the semantic component is a
major area of the grammar’s organization, assigning a semantic representation to
sentences, and analyzing lexical terms of semantic features. The theory of semantic
field’s views vocabulary as organized into areas, within which words (lexical items)
interrelate and define each other. The concepts of syntax and semantics are basic of
the study to study syntactic and semantic features of the interrogative sentence in
English
Semantics contrasts with syntax, the study of the combinations of units of a
language (without reference to their meaning), and pragmatics, the study of the

11


relationships between the symbols of a language, their meaning, and the users of the
language. According to Dictionary of Contemporary English (2010), semantics has
two meanings, one being the study of the meaning of words and phrases and the
other the meaning of a word. In the study of language by George Yule, semantics is
defined as the study of the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. In semantic
analysis, there is always an attempt to focus on what the words conventionally
mean, rather than on what a speaker might want the words to mean on a particular
occasion. Also, linguistic semantics deals with the conventional meaning conveyed
by the use of words and sentences of a language.

Semantics is a branch of linguistics, which deals with meaning or the content
of communication. According to Hurford and Heasley (1983, p.1), semantics is the
study of meaning in language. Language is a means of communications, and people
use language to communicate with others by making conversations, giving
information, and other things to make social relationship. Human beings have been
given the capacity to talk, to communicate with each other, to make meaningful
utterances, so that they are understood by other human beings. They communicate
about the world in which they live, about themselves, about their thought and
feeling, about what has happened, about what might happen or what they would like
to happen, and a lot more. Hurford and Heasley (1983:5) state that the giving of
information is itself an act of courtesy, performed to strengthen social relationships.
This is also part of communication. When meaning is understood in this way,
semantics is usually connected with pragmatics: the investigation of the meaning of
expressions in historically given natural language which may be regarded as part of
pragmatics. The reason seems to have been that differences in the use of particular
expressions were not only inevitable in language - behavior, but must be taken
account of in the description or context. Hurford and Heasley (1983, p.14) further
explain that the study of semantics is largely a matter of conceptually and exploring
the nature of meaning in a careful and thoughtful way, using a wide range of
examples, many of which we can draw from our knowledge.
Based on the way of understanding what semantics is about, the thesis accepts
the fact meaning of the sentence should be conceived not only from lexical or
grammatical perspectives; meaning should be put in a specific context of

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communication. In line with this cognitive orientation, questions should be
understood in the way of meanings they express and they indicate or imply.
2.3. Theoretical framework

2.3.1 Overview of English sentence structure
Sentence structure is the way a sentence is arranged grammatically. The
sentence structure of your writing includes where the noun and verb fall within an
individual sentence. Sentence structure depends on the language in which you are
writing or speaking. It is common in English for a simple sentence to look like this:
"She writes novel." In this case, the sentence structure is "Subject – Verb - Object."
There are many ways to make the sentence structure much more complicated while
still providing a framework for the information you are conveying and being
grammatically correct. Depending on the number and types of clauses they contain,
sentences can be classified as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.
Clauses can be connected to form sentences by coordination, using a coordinating
conjunction to connect two independent clauses, and by subordination, using a
subordinating conjunction to connect one or more dependent clauses to an
independent clause. Depending on the purposes of their uses sentences can be
statements or declaratives, requests or commands, questions and exclamations
( />2.3.2 Definition of the interrogative sentence
Interrogative sentence is a type of sentence that asks a question as opposed to
sentences that makes a statement deliver a command or express an exclamation.
Interrogative sentences are typically marked by inversion of subject and
importantly, an interrogative sentence ends with a question mark (?). Interrogative
sentences can serve as yes/no question or as wh-question the latter being formed
using an interrogative word with who, which, where, how to specify the information
required. Different languages have various ways of forming questions such as, word
order or the insertion of interrogative particle. Questions are frequently marked by
intonation. In particular a rising intonation pattern in some language. This may the
sole method of distinguishing a yes –no question from a declarative statement.

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Questions are used to ask for information or for confirmation or denial of a
statement. Questions in English usually change the word order between the subject
and the operator so that the verb or part of the verb comes before the subject. A
question mark (?) is the proper ending punctuation for an interrogative sentence.
(Cited from Wikipedia.org/wiki/interrogative)
2.3.3 Syntactic and semantic features of questions in English
a. Types of English questions
Based on the categorizations of English questions, it can be generalized that English
questions can be syntactically divided into major class consisting of yes/no
questions, wh-questions (information questions), and alternative questions and
minor types of question
b. Structures of English questions
English questions normally require the inversion of the auxiliary verb to the
position before the subject noun phrase (NP) Thus, the general constituent structure
of English questions can be illustrated as follows:
S

Aux

NP

VP

Figure 2.1 Constituent structure of English questions (Adapted from Finnegan, 2004)
+ Yes- No Question
In linguistics, a yes/no question, formally known as a polar question, is a
question whose expected answer is either “yes” or “no”. Formally, they present an
exclusive disjunction, a pair of alternatives of which only one is acceptable. In the
English language, such questions can be formed in both positive and negative form
(Wikipedia).

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Examples:

Will you come back tomorrow?

Won’t you come back tomorrow?
According to Richarch Nordiques P.H.D in English at Armstrong Atlantic
state university, ayes/no question is an interrogative construction that expect an
answer of yes-no (cited in about grammar and composition). For yes/no questions
the structure is as follows:
Auxiliary verb + Subject (NP) + Verb (infinitive without to)
-

Marry, can you do me a favor?
Did you call me this morning?
Don’t you watch News during dinner?

-

Are you ready to answer me?
For each of the above questions, the answer will be either a yes or no answer.

According to Randolph Quirk in his book “Comprehensive Grammar of the
English Language (1985, p806) yes-no questions contains specific syntactic feature
in form as follows:
1.
2.

3.

Genuine yes/no questions (possitive/negative question)
Declarative questions
Tag questions
 Genuine yes/no questions

Genuine yes/no question are usually formed by replacing the operator before
subject and giving the sentence a raising intonation. Question operators (be, can,
may, do, will…)
Possitive yes/no questions: - Did anyone call last night?
-Has the boat left yet?
Negative yes/no questions: - Don’t you believe me?

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