Accent in questions

Accent in questions is different from accent in statements. As well, there are two types of questions, each with a different accent pattern:

• questions that ask for more information: they begin with sǫ nˀaht ‘who’, dęˀ hoˀdęˀ ‘what’, hwę:dǫh ‘when’, gaę-nhǫ: ‘where’, or dęˀ ni:yoht shęh ‘why’; and

• questions that imply imply ęhęˀ ‘yes’ or tęˀ ‘no’ answers: they include gęh ‘question word’.

For the first type, all of the vowels after the question word (bolded) have the same type of accent (the same pitch) as the question word:

• Gaę-nhǫ́: dísáhdę́gyǫ́:? ‘Where do you come from?’

• Dę́ˀ-hoˀdę́ˀ syá:sǫ́h? ‘What is your name?’

• Dę́ˀ-hoˀdę́ˀ ę́hsnége̲háˀ? ‘What will you drink?’

For questions that imply yes or no answers, the accent is different:

• Saˀdá:tęhs, gę́h? Are you thirsty?