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purpose of interrogative word questions is to achieve the reply based on the missing element or missing information posited by the wh-words.
In addition, Svartvik and Leech 1975 claim that the interrogative words used in interrogative word questions involve what, who, where, when, why, which,
whom, whose, and how. Furthermore, to gain information based on the expected reply, particular interrogative words used in interrogative word questions can be
modified, for examples, how becomes how much, how many, how long, how big, and who becomes who else.
2. The Identification of Interrogative Word Questions
According to Quirk and Greenbaum 1990, interrogative word questions or known as wh-questions are constructed by the addition of wh-words as the
question words. Formally, the wh-word is placed in the initial position of a question. As a matter of fact, each wh-word used in interrogative word questions
has its own meaning which is different from the other wh-words. The meaning is basically related to the purpose of the questions.
Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999 define the interrogative words based on the purposes or functions as follows:
a. Subject Noun Phrase
According to Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, the wh-words who and what are used to gain information about subject which is in the form of noun
phrase. The example is “What went wrong?” The answer to that interrogative
word question might be “The machine went wrong”.
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b. Object Noun Phrase
Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999 state that the wh-words whom and what require the object of sentence in the form of noun phrase as the answer.
Mostly, the use of whom requires addition of related preposition. The example is
“Whom did you tell the story to?” or “To whom did you tell the story?” The answer to those questions can
be ‘I told the story to Wendy’.
c. Possessive
The wh-word whose is used to question about possession or something
which belongs to someone, for example, “Whose idea was it?” The answer might
be ‘The idea was hers’.
d. Demonstrative
Based on Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, the wh-words which and what are used to gain demonstrative information about something pointed out.
The example is
“Which house is yours?” The answer to that question might be “My house is the one painted green”. Another example is “What date is the
concert?
” The answer to that question can be “The concert is 7
th
July
”. e.
Quantifier According to Murcia, Freeman, and Williams 1999, how much, how
many, how long, how big, etc. are type of question words used for indentifying the quantifier embedded in a statement. The question word how much is for
uncountable quantifier, meanwhile the question word how many is for countable
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quantifier. The example is “How much money did they get?” The answer to that
question can be “They got Rp 3.000.000”.
f. Adjective
How and what are two question words which are used to gain the
information about quality, condition, type, color, or any other adjectival phrase in a statement Murcia, Freeman, Williams, 1999. The example is
“How did they look?
” The answer to that question can be “They looked good”. Another example is
“What kind of dress did she wear last night?” The answer to that question might be “She wore a very sexy dress last night”.
g. Adverb of Time
