Page 377 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

eɦ kʰet ke ɡ ̈ ɑs ɡʌr ̥ -bʌ ki kɑʈ-bʌ
prox farm GEN grass uproot-2.OPT.MH or cut-2.OPT.MH

'Will you UPROOT or CUT the grass in this farm?' (011.350)
In example (9a), the alternative question between affirmative and negative is
presented whereas in (9b-d) the alternative questions of choices between two different

works as well as different ways of doing the same work are presented (italicised in
Devanagari and IPA as well as capitalized in its free English translation) are simply

juxtaposed to each other with ;क /ki/ 'or' between the choices.

c) Tag question
Tag question form in Bhojpuri is difficult to be found equivalent to that in

English. But functionally, such fragrant of sentences can be found.
(10) a. एह तरे हमरा >ेरणा िमलल रामदेवजी से, ज7ी ?

eɦ tʌre ɦʌmrɑ prerʌnɑ milʌl rɑmdeoji se
eɦ tʌre ɦʌm-rɑ prerʌnɑ mil-ʌl rɑmdeo-ji se

prox such 1SG-DAT inspiration get-3SG.PST Ramdeo-H ABL

jʌnni
jɑn-ni
know-PST.H

'In this way I got inspiration from Ramdevji, did you know?' (04.102)
b. हमरा लगे गोरखापC त आवेला ना, जDी ?

ɦʌmrɑ lʌɡe ɡorkʰɑpʌtrʌ tʌ ɑwelɑ nɑ
ɦʌm-rɑ lʌɡe ɡorkʰɑpʌtrʌ tʌ ɑ-welɑ nɑ

1SG-POSS with Gorkhapatra COND come-3SG.PRES NEG

jʌnni
jɑn-ni
know-PST.H

'First of all Gorkhapatra doesn't come to me, did you understand?' (04.171)
Moreover, Khatri (2012:30) describes tag question in Bhojpuri to be marked

with antecedent clause ;क ना /ki nɑ/ 'or not'. In my opinion, it is a yes/no question but

not a tag one.
11.1.2 Constituent questions
"In content (or information) questions, a questionword replaces one of the

constituents of the corresponding declarative sentence, to be always the focused

349