Questions
Answering questions
When a Mando'ad use tion or meg to ask a question, an honest answer is expected. Regardless of how the question is asked, always include a question mark at the end of a question (or a rising tone, if talking and the speaker can do that) as an additional way to indicate that the sentence is a question.
Closed questions
Closed questions are ones that can be answered with elek (yes) or nayc (no). To turn a statement into a closed question, add the question particle tion at the beginning of the statement. The speaker may drop the subject if they are certain the listener will understand who the question is directed toward. Do not use a beten to link tion with a pronoun, verb, or adjective.
Example: Ni ba'slana. (I leave.) Tion ni slana? (I leave?)
Open questions
Open questions require more thoughtful answers.
To ask for clarification about a specific topic, attach tion with a beten to the noun.
Example: Tion'ad pirimmu ibic? (Which person uses this? Who uses this?)
To ask a more general "what" or "which" question, use tion'meg. (Normally, meg is a relative pronoun used in the middle of a sentence and means "that," "which," "who," or "what," depending on context. At the beginning of a sentence, it means "what" or "which.") In casual speech, some choose to drop the tion. Do not attach meg with a beten to any other word. In certain idioms, meg appears as me’, but those are the only circumstances in which meg is shortened that way unless doing so is part of your local dialect.
Example (formal): Tion'meg hiibi teh tayat? (What take/took from storage? What do/did you take from storage?)
Questions without tion
The final way to create a question is leave off the subject and the question particle (tion) and only indicate that it is a question with a rising tone or question mark. Such questions can be understood one of two ways.
If the sentence follows another question, or if the sentence is short and rhetorical (no answer is needed), the tion is implied and it is only necessary to include a question mark or (if possible) a rising tone. One example: Tion'meg pelne? Sarade, senaare, ra shune? What is softest? Flowers, birds, or breads?
If a subjectless question is presented by itself, the question is rude or sarcastic. In such situations, unlike with other forms of questions, a Mando doesn't expect any other answer than backing down or an apology. One example: Duraani, bur'cya? You looking at me funny, pal?
Ways to start specific questions
Note that none of these phrases are used in the middle of a sentence. All are loose translations. In particular, tion does not specifically mean "what" or "which," but that's how it is often translated into English. See below for tips on translating "how" questions.
Tion'ad ... : Who ...
Tion'jor ... : Why ...
Tion'meh ... : What if ...
Tion'solet ... : How much ... How many ...
Tion'tuur ... : Which day ...
Tion'ca'nara ... : What time ...
Tion'de ... : By which means (is it accomplished) ... By what procedures ... By what methods ...
Tion'ti ... : With what ...
Tion'nar ... : What action ...
(Note that some places render this Tion'nari ..., following the original dictionary entry.)Tion'bor ... : What task ...
Tion'yust ... : Which way ...
(Note that this is only used for asking for directions, not in the metaphysical or procedural sense.)Tion'vaii ...: Where ...
Me'copaani? : What do you want?
Me'bana sha ca'nara ...: What happens when ...
Me'bana bah ...: What happens to ...
Me'bana meh ...: What happens if ...
Me'bana projor? What happens next?
Note that in some dialects, me'bana? and me'copaani? are complete phrases that cannot be combined with anything else. With those dialects, use meg bana or tion'meg bana in place of me'bana.
More about "how"
Because there is no canon way of asking "how" in Mando'a, you'll need to get creative. Choose one of the phrases above that can best get you the information you need. You might also choose a version based on what the rest of the sentence is asking. There are no defined rules, but a guideline is:
tion'de ("by which means/by what procedures") questions ask the steps of a plan to be laid out
tion'bor ("which task/project") questions ask for a broad idea of what to do
tion'nar/tion'nari ("which action") questions seek to understand one step that needs to be done.
tion'ti ("with what") questions want to find out which tool, device, etc. is needed.