1502. (1.) Yes or No questions are sometimes put without any
interrogative particle: as,
#Thraex est Gallīna Syrō pār?# H. _S._ 2, 5, 44, of two gladiators, _is
Thracian Bantam for the Syrian a match?_ Often intimating censure: as,
#rogās?# Pl. _Aul._ 634, _dost ask?_ or _what an absurd question_.
#prōmpsistī tū illī vīnum? :: nōn prōmpsī#, Pl. _MG._ 830, _thou hast
been broaching wine for him? :: not I_. Especially with #nōn#: as,
#patēre tua cōnsilia nōn sentīs?# _C._ 1, 1, _you don’t see that your
schemes are out?_ It is often doubtful whether such sentences are
questions, exclamations, or declarations.
1503. (2.) Yes or No questions are usually introduced by one of the
interrogative particles #-ne# or #-n#, #nōnne#, #num#, #an#, #anne#.
1504. A question with #-ne# or #-n# may enquire simply, without any
implication as to the character of the answer, or it may either expect
an affirmative answer like #nōnne#, or less frequently a negative answer
like #num#: as,
(_a._) #valen?# Pl. _Tri._ 50, _art well?_ #habētin aurum?# Pl. _B._
269, _have you got the gold?_ (_b._) #iussīn in splendōrem darī bullās
hās foribus?# Pl. _As._ 426, _didn’t I give orders to polish up the
bosses of the door?_ #facitne ut dixī?# Pl. _Am._ 526, _isn’t he acting
as I said?_ (_c._) #istō immēnsō spatiō quaerō, Balbe, cūr Pronoea
vestra cessāverit. labōremne fugiēbat?# _DN._ 1, 22, _I want to know,
Balbus, why your people’s Providence lay idle all that immeasurable
time; it was work she was shirking, was it?_ #quid, mundum praeter hunc
umquamne vīdistī? negābis#, _DN._ 1, 96, _tell me, did you ever see any
universe except this one? you will say no_.
1505. Sometimes the #-ne# of an interrogative sentence is transferred to
a following relative, chiefly in Plautus and Terence: as, #rogās? quīne
arrabōnem ā mē accēpistī ob mulierem?# Pl. _R._ 860, _how can you ask,
when you have got the hansel for the girl from me?_ Similarly, #ō sērī
studiōrum, quīne putētis difficile#, H. _S._ 1, 10, 21, _what laggards
at your books, to think it hard_, i.e. #nōnne estis sērī studiōrum, quī
putētis difficile?# Compare 1569.
1506. To a question with #nōnne#, a positive answer is usually expected,
seldom a negative: as,
(_a._) #nōnne meministī? :: meminī vērō#, _TD._ 2, 10, _don’t you
remember? :: oh yes_. Sometimes a second or third question also has
#nōnne#, but oftener #nōn#: as, #nōnne ad tē L. Lentulus, nōn Q. Sanga,
nōn L. Torquātus vēnit?# _Pis._ 77, _did not Lentulus and Sanga and
Torquatus come to see you?_ (_b._) #nōnne cōgitās?# _RA._ 80, _do you
bear in mind?_ #nōnne# is rare in Plautus, comparatively so in Terence,
but very common in classical Latin.
1507. To a question with #num# a negative answer is generally expected.
Less frequently either a positive or a negative answer indifferently:
as,
(_a._) #num negāre audēs?# _C._ 1, 8, _do you undertake to deny it?_
#num, tibi cum faucēs ūrit sitis, aurea quaeris pōcula?# H. _S._ 1, 2,
114, _when thirst thy throat consumes, dost call for cups of gold?_
Rarely #numne#: as, #quid, deum ipsum numne vīdistī?# _DN._ 1, 88, _tell
me, did you ever see god in person?_ (_b._) #sed quid ais? num
obdormīvistī dūdum?# Pl. _Am._ 620, _but harkee, wert asleep a while
ago?_ #numquīd vīs?# Pl. _Tri._ 192, _hast any further wish?_
1508. A question with #an#, less often #anne#, or if negative, with #an
nōn#, usually challenges or comments emphatically on something
previously expressed or implied: as,
#an habent quās gallīnae manūs?# Pl. _Ps._ 29, _what, what, do hens have
hands?_ #an# is also particularly common in argumentative language, in
anticipating, criticising, or refuting an opponent: as, #quid dīcis? an
bellō Siciliam virtūte tuā līberātam?# _V._ 1, 5, _what do you say?
possibly that it was by your prowess that Sicily was rid of the war?_
#at vērō Cn. Pompēī voluntātem ā mē aliēnābat ōrātiō mea. an ille
quemquam plūs dīlēxit?# _Ph._ 2, 38, _but it may be urged that my way of
speaking estranged Pompey from me. why, was there anybody the man loved
more?_ In old Latin, #an# is oftener used in a single than in an
alternative question, while in classical Latin it is rather the reverse.
1509. (3.) Yes or No questions are sometimes introduced by #ecquis#,
#ecquō#, #ecquandō#, or #ēn umquam#: as,
_heus, ecquis hīc est?_ Pl. _Am._ 420, _hollo, is e’er a person here?_
#ecquid animadvertis hōrum silentium?# _C._ 1, 20, _do you possibly
observe the silence of this audience?_ (1144). #ō pater, ēn umquam
aspiciam tē?# Pl. _Tri._ 588, _O father, shall I ever set mine eyes on
thee?_
1510. (4.) In Plautus, #satin# or #satin ut#, _really_, _actually_,
sometimes becomes a mere interrogative or exclamatory particle: as,
#satin abiīt ille?# Pl. _MG._ 481, _has that man really gone his way?_
[Errata:
1507a ... H. _S._ 1, 2, 114
H _S._
_DN._ 1, 88
_DN_]