Yes/No Questions

Yes/no questions are marked with the question particle:

han

The particle han stands at the beginning of the clause.

Structure:

han + normal sentence order

Example:

astor malgam calei
= The cantor binds the fracture.

han astor malgam calei?
= Does the cantor bind the fracture?

With copula:

astor sacrau anei
= The cantor is sacred.

han astor sacrau anei?
= Is the cantor sacred?

With negation:

han astor malgam nac calei?
= Does the cantor not bind the fracture?

Yes and No

Asteran answers yes/no questions with:

Asteran	Meaning
lai	yes, so, it is so
nac	no, not

Examples:

han astor malgam calei?
= Does the cantor bind the fracture?

lai.
= Yes.

nac.
= No.

Asteran may also answer by repeating the verb:

lai, calei.
= Yes, he/she/it binds.

nac, nac calei.
= No, he/she/it does not bind.

Content Questions

Content questions do not use han.

Instead, they use an interrogative word in the position where the answer would appear.

So:

astor malgam calei
= The cantor binds the fracture.

tsan malgam calei?
= Who binds the fracture?

astor tsamam calei?
= What does the cantor bind?

The sentence remains structurally ordered.

Interrogative Words

Asteran	Meaning	Type
tsan	who	pronoun
tsam	what	pronoun
tsor	what place	place root
tsen	what time	time root
tsai	why, for what purpose	particle
tsau	how, in what manner	particle
tsirau	which	adjective
tsim	how many / how much	quantifier

Who: tsan

tsan means who and declines like a singular pronoun.

Case	Form	Meaning
Nominative	tsan	who
Genitive	tsanēn	whose / of whom
Dative	tsanai	to whom / for whom
Accusative	tsanam	whom
Ablative	tsanō	from whom / by whom / with whom
Locative	tsanul	at/within whom

Examples:

tsan malgam calei?
= Who binds the fracture?

astor tsanam calei?
= Whom does the cantor bind?

astor malgam tsanai caltei?
= For whom will the cantor bind the fracture?

astor tsanō malgam calreit?
= By whom was the cantor bound to the fracture? / From whom did the cantor bind the fracture?
Context decides the ablative meaning.

What: tsam

tsam means what and declines like a singular pronoun.

Case	Form	Meaning
Nominative	tsam	what
Genitive	tsamēn	of what
Dative	tsamai	to what / for what
Accusative	tsamam	what as object
Ablative	tsamō	from what / by what / with what
Locative	tsamul	in/at/within what

Examples:

tsam calei?
= What binds?

astor tsamam calei?
= What does the cantor bind?

astor tsamō calrei?
= By what did the cantor bind?

mel tsamul anei?
= Inside what is it?

Where: tsor

tsor is the place-question root. It normally appears with dative, ablative, or locative case.

Form	Meaning
tsorai	to where / toward what place
tsorō	from where
tsorul	where / in what place

Examples:

astor malgam tsorul calei?
= Where does the cantor bind the fracture?

astor tsorai caltei?
= To where will the cantor go/act?
The specific verb determines the exact reading.

astor tsorō calrei?
= From where did the cantor bind/act?

With prepositions:

mel tsorul?
= inside where?

or tsorul?
= above where?

dar tsorul?
= behind where?

When: tsen

tsen is the time-question root. It normally appears with dative, ablative, or locative case.

Form	Meaning
tsenai	until when / to what time
tsenō	since when / from what time
tsenul	when / at what time

Examples:

astor malgam tsenul calei?
= When does the cantor bind the fracture?

astor malgam tsenai caltei?
= Until when will the cantor bind the fracture?

astor malgam tsenō calrei?
= Since when did the cantor bind the fracture?

Why: tsai

tsai means why / for what purpose.

It is an indeclinable question particle and usually stands before the verb phrase or near the end of the clause.

Example:

astor malgam tsai calei?
= Why does the cantor bind the fracture?

With passive:

malga tsai caleit?
= Why is the fracture bound?

How: tsau

tsau means how / in what manner.

It is indeclinable.

Examples:

astor malgam tsau calei?
= How does the cantor bind the fracture?

malga tsau caleit?
= How is the fracture bound?

Which: tsirau

tsirau means which.

It behaves like an adjective:

it stands before the noun
it agrees with the noun in case and number
it follows the normal adjective rule au → aw / _V

Examples:

tsirau astor malgam calei?
= Which cantor binds the fracture?

astor tsirawam malgam calei?
= Which fracture does the cantor bind?

tsirawī astorī malgam caleis?
= Which cantors bind the fracture?

How Many / How Much: tsim

tsim means how many / how much.

It stands before the noun it measures.

For countable nouns, the noun normally appears in the plural.

Examples:

tsim astorī malgam caleis?
= How many cantors bind the fracture?

tsim malgaī astor calei?
= How many fractures does the cantor bind?

For mass or abstract nouns, the noun may remain singular:

tsim sacr anei?
= How much holiness is there?
This depends on the noun system and can be refined later.

Whose

Asteran expresses whose with the genitive form tsanēn.

Because possession normally follows the possessed noun, the structure is:

possessed noun + tsanēn

Examples:

astor tsanēn anei?
= Whose is the cantor?

astor tsanēn malgam calei?
= Whose cantor binds the fracture?

sacrau astor tsanēn anei?
= Whose sacred cantor is it?

Questions with Prepositions

Prepositions can combine with interrogative pronouns and roots.

Examples:

sam tsanō?
= with whom?

lun tsamō?
= by means of what?

ren tsanai?
= for whom?

tas tsamam?
= against what?

fer tsamam?
= through what?

lar tsamam?
= across what?

sel tsamam?
= along what?

ham tsorul?
= between/among where?