Why + past + cry + your + yesterday? “Why did your sister cry yesterday? English”
101. Aso modom si Mira namanyogoti?
Si Mira aso modom namanyogoti? Namanyogoti aso modom si Mira?
Why + past + sleep + your + last morning? “Why did Mira sleep in the morning? English”
102. Aso inda kehe ho sikola sadarion?
Ho sadarion aso inda kehe sikola? Sadarion inda kehe ho sikola aso?
Why + don’t + S + V + school + today? “Why don’t you go to school today? English”
3.3.2 Yes-No Question
Apart from Wh-Questions, yes-no questions are other types of question that can be used to ask for persons or things, and it can be found in Mandailing language. It is
related to the entity of either affirmation or negation of the question being asked as its answer.
In drawing yes-no question in Mandailing language, there is no use of auxiliary verb. To give response to a speaker’s question, a hearer may answer depending on the
interest. However, normally, if the answer is ‘yes’, so the answer is given by repeating
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the constituent that precedes in a brief answer or these constituent are followed by the other elements in the complete sentence, and if the answer is no, so the question is only
answer by inda, madung, and olo in a short question.
For Examples: Table I
Mandailing language English
103. A: Ro do ho sannari? B: inda
104. A: Ho do namarlagu i? B: olo
105. A: Mangan do ho di horja i? B: Inda
106. A: Ra do ho mangecek dohot ia? B: Inda
107. A: Madung marangkat do ho sannari? B: Olo
108. A: ho ma kepala desa i? B: Olo
A: Did you come today?
B: No A: Did you sing a song?
B: Yes A: Did you eat in the
party? B: No
A: Would you like to talk with him?
B: No A: Have you leaved the
town? B: Yes
A: Are you the chief of this village?
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B: Yes
a. Positive Question
Positive question is often made by adding ‘do’ in a certain position of the sentence, which is usually put after verb or noun. The tendency to the given answer is
‘yes’ despite the fact that the answer may probably be ‘no’. For examples:
Table II No Negative question
Meaning in English 109
110 111
a. Ayah kehe do tu kobun tiop ari. b. Bayo i minum susu do tiop ari.
c. Rina mayuan bunga a. Father goes to garden every day.
b. The man drinks milk everyday. c. Rina plants the flower.
b. Negative Question
Like in English, in Mandaiiling language, negative question is also found. The negative question words i.e. inda, indape,, ngadong inda adong, are formed by adding a
negative particle in the initial position of the interrogative sentence. For Examples:
112. Inda ro ho namarpokat i? Namarpokat i inda na ro ho?
Didn’t +S + come + to the meeting?
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