Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online
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Example 59-331
mama, ala ga?!
mama,
mother
ala
2sg
.
def
ga?!
come
Mother, have you really come?!
Comment:
The contour marked by /?!/ rises and falls, accompanied by stress. It expresses surprise, a challenge, etc.
Ala
is also used for both second and third persons singular (‘you’ and ‘he’ or ‘she’) in a respectful or deferential manner.
Type:
naturalistic spoken
Source:
nd
Language:
Sango
by
William J. Samarin
cite
Datapoints:
Polar questions: Only interrogative intonation
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