Answering Votian questions

Dialectal alternatives

 * Votic of Ingria


 * Western
 * Hill:
 * Lempola dialect


 * Kukkuzi dialect
 *  kussalēB  may be  kust-lē  .

Syntax

 * A simple descriptive question may be composed starting a sentence with an interrogative word. Often you may answer with one word or phrase.
 *  kuhē̮ ke̮rjazit tširvē ? 'Where did you hide the ax?' Luuditsa dialect
 *  sinne . 'Over there.'

You may answer with more informative adverbs, than the general ones displayed in the table above.
 *  kuhē̮, kuza, kussa   'where (to), where, where (from)'
 * 'somewhere'
 * kuhē̮lēB e.g. Itšäpäivä dialect: kuhē̮lēG mennǖD tüttäreD, ep kūluG näitä  'Daughters have gone somewhere, they can't be heard.' kuhē̮
 * 'outside'
 * akkunaлā e.g. лahze̮d ̮johsivad ̮akkunaлā 'The kids ran out.' kuhē̮
 * akkunaллa e.g. meil on akkunaллa vanat ̮kazge̮D 'We have old birchtrees outside (in our courtyard).' kuza
 * akkunaлta e.g. akkunaлta tultī jo rihēsē 'They came in already.' kussa  (into the chamber from outside of the house)
 * 'down, below, under'
 * aлaz ~ aлā e.g. tämä tuli ähüpǟlt aлaz 'He came down from the oven.' kuhē̮
 * aллa e.g. koira on lavvā naллa, meni aлā 'The dog is under the table, went down.' kuza (The n of  naллa is actually a Genitive ending, which has slided from lavvā to the beginning of the following word.)
 * aлta e.g. ve̮ta linad ̮aлta vällǟ 'Take the bedsheets away.' kussa  (from below a blanket)
 * 'ahead, forward, onwards'
 * etezī ~ etēz e.g. ain ove̮s̄ etezī aje̮ Lempola dialect '(He) drove the horse forward all the time.' kuhē̮
 * 'back'
 * tagāz ~ tagaz e.g. vellet ̮tulivat ̮tagāz 'The brothers came back.' kuhē̮ ; täl tagāz ̮be̮ллu antā rahā 'She (the seller) had no money to give (return me) the change.'
 * 'back and forth, there and back, to and fro, up and down'
 * etēz ̮tagāz e.g. tšäütteleb ̮etēz ̮tagāz '(Se) walks back and forth.' kuhē̮'


 *  kui   'how'
 * 'below'
 * aлe̮tsē̮  ~ aлe̮ttse̮   ~ aлattsē̮   e.g. menemmä aлe̮tsē̮   "Let's pass below (the obstacle)."


 *  mihsi   'why'
 * ' otherwise, for no reason, for nothing'
 * muite̮z ~ muitez ~ muitaz
 * ' anyway, still (regardless to that)'
 * muite̮štši
 * ' of course'
 * muitokki Kukkuzi dialect

Affirmative question

 * A simple question may be composed adding a suffix -ko to the first word of a sentence.
 * pesiko tšäet puhtāssi? 'Did he wash his hands (clean)?' < pesi tšäet puhtāssi. '(He) washed (his) hands (clean).'
 * oŋko üvä issua? 'Is it good to sit (like this)?' < on üvä issua. 'It is good to sit (like this).'


 * A simple question may be composed starting a sentence with vai.
 *  vai siä karjuššin̄ e̮лe̮D? 'Are you (working as) a shepherd?' < siǟ e̮лe̮D karjuššin 'you are (working as) a shepherd?'

A vague answer may contain  ku b lie  (may be).

Neighbouring languages
There is a similar morpheme vai in Latvian with similar functions.
 *  Vai Ritai patīk aritmētika? 'Does Rita like arithmetic?' < Ritai patīk aritmētika? 'Rita likes arithmetic.' 

Exercises

 * 1. Compose questions and answers using the examples of the Syntax chapter.