American Journal Of Philological Sciences
90
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue04 2025
PAGE NO.
90-92
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue04-22
The Use of Monosyllabic Words in Interrogative
Sentences in French
Nasimova Dilbar Baxodurovna
Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages, Uzbekistan
Received:
16 February 2025;
Accepted:
17 March 2025;
Published:
16 April 2025
Abstract:
This article explores the nature and usage of monosyllabic interrogative sentences in the French
language, focusing on their syntactic structures, semantic meanings, and communicative roles. It emphasizes the
distinction between general and specific questions and how these forms are used to gather specific information
in various speech contexts. The research also delves into the pragmatic functions of such sentences, highlighting
how they convey emotions like doubt, surprise, and irony.
Keywords:
Monosyllabic interrogative sentences, syntactic structure, semantic meaning, communicative role,
general questions, specific questions, pragmatic functions, emotions in language.
Introduction:
In society, the formation of the
communication process, its continuation, and the
achievement of the intended goal all place great
importance on the act of asking questions. In general, a
question is a request addressed to someone in order to
obtain information. Thus, a question is any utterance
directed by the speaker in pursuit of acquiring
information. A question, as something that seeks
specific information and prompts a response, is
contrasted with a statement and forms a question -
answer pair. In such situations, the primary function of
interrogative sentences - namely, to request necessary
information within the context of speech - is taken into
account, as well as their secondary functions and other
communicative purposes.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the study of
the functions of interrogative sentences in speech acts
belongs to the category of issues that have not yet been
fully explored. This is because the matter is not limited
to grammatical analysis alone; it is also directly
connected to fields such as pragmatics, sociolinguistics,
and communicative linguistics.
It is well known that interrogative sentences in French
are traditionally classified into two types:
•
General questions (interrogation totale)
pertain to the entire sentence and require a yes (oui) or
no (non) response.
•
Specific questions (interrogation partielle)
are
always formed with interrogative pronouns and are
used to ask for specific information.
General questions are formed using methods such as
intonation (a change in pitch), "est-ce que" (while
maintaining the usual word order), and inversion
(reversing the subject and verb positions).
Specific questions, on the other hand, use interrogative
pronouns to indicate exactly which part of the sentence
needs to be clarified or inquired about. Such methods
of forming questions can be expressed in various
contexts, both semantically and grammatically.
The monosyllabic words, which are the subject of our
research, are widely used in the expression of
interrogative sentences. They allow for clear and
effective communication, which in turn facilitates a
quick and fluent exchange of information. As proof of
our point, based on the types of interrogative
sentences mentioned above, examples taken from
everyday questions encountered in daily life can be
classified as follows:
Interrogation totale:
Intonatsiya
C’est une blague?
Tu veux que j’aille voir?
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Vous êtes sûr?
Il est bon, hein?
Tu as vu l’heure?
Tu te rends compte?
C’est (très) long?
Tu en es sûre?
Cette place est libre?
C’est vrai? Tu es sûre?
Cette table est libre?
Ça va?
Tu comprends?
Tu veux boire?
Ça ne va pas?
T’es sûre?
C’est vrai ou ce n’est pas vrai?
T’as dit?
Est – ce que
Est – ce que ça peut être vrai?
Est – ce que tu me crois?
Inversiya
n’est – ce pas?
Interrogation partielle:
Qui parle?
Que faites – vous dans la vie?
Qui est là?
Que se passe – t- il?
Qui vous a dit ça?
Que fais – tu là?
Qui est – ce?
Que veux – tu me dire?
Quel air a – t – il (elle)?
Où sommes – nous?
Quel est votre nom?
D’où viens – tu?
Quel âge a – t- il?
Où se trouve… (le bar, le WC)?
De quelle gare part notre train?
Quand?
va boshqalar
As seen from the analysis of the examples, intonation
and inversion
—
universal tools in forming monosyllabic
interrogative sentences
—
are actively used in speech,
making it more fluent and livelier, especially in oral and
informal communication.
As mentioned above, interrogative sentences serve the
function of requesting information. They differ from
other sentence types through their grammatical
structure, intonation, and often the use of interrogative
pronouns. Their main syntactic structures are distinct
from one another. It should be noted that through
syntactic structures, thoughts in a language can be
expressed clearly, grammatically correctly, and in a
stylistically appropriate manner. The following table
allows us to observe the diversity of syntactic
structures in interrogative sentences:
Types of Interrogative sentences:
Syntactic Forms:
General question
Inversiya
V+S (verbe+sujet)
Est – ce que
Est- ce-que +S+V
Intonatsiya
S + V
Specific questions
Maxsus savollar(formelle)
So’roq olm. + V+S
Maxsus savollar(neutre)
So’roq olm. + est-ce-que + S + V
Maxsus savollar(oral/fam)
S’roq olm. + S + V
Throughout our research, we observed that
monosyllabic interrogative sentences are short but
express a clear questioning meaning. These types of
sentences are typically used in spoken language during
communication. Their structures are syntactically
simple, which distinguishes them in speech.
For example, S + V:
Tu as vu l’heure? Il est bon, hein? T’es sûre? Cette place
est libre?
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American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Interrogative pronoun + V + S:
Où sommes-nous? Qui est-ce? Quel est votre nom?
Que veux-tu me dire?
Est-ce que + S + V:
Est-ce que ça peut être vrai? Est-ce que tu me crois?
such structural questions are commonly found in
speech. In spoken French, structures like Est-ce que + S
+ V are more dominant. They can convey emotions such
as exclamation, doubt, or surprise.
For instance, the question Est-ce que ça peut être vrai?
reflects an inner sense of amazement or disbelief Can
this really be true? Is it possible?
The question Est-ce que tu me crois? although it is a
simple yes /no question, can express either affirmation
or doubt depending on the tone used. Thus, even
though
interrogative
sentences
may
appear
structurally similar, they can convey different meanings
depending on the context of the conversation.
In French, interrogative pronouns such as qui, que, où,
quoi, quelle, and quand also play a significant role in the
formation of monosyllabic interrogative sentences.
Although these pronouns are usually short and simple,
they can convey a complete question or a pragmatically
complete meaning. Let us take a look at the following
dialogues:
-
Qui? - Que? - Quoi?
-
Claire - le livre - ça va.
In such dialogues, although the interrogative sentences
are short and simple, they can still convey a complete
meaning, and each interrogative pronoun requires a
specific answer. These monosyllabic interrogative
sentences are not only used for asking questions but
also aimed at obtaining specific information.
In the process of speech communication, the primary
function of interrogative sentences is to request the
information required by the speech situation, while
their secondary function lies in expressing pragmatic
relationships. These relationships can convey different
emotions such as doubt, irony, surprise, dissatisfaction,
and so on, depending on the situation. During our
research, the pragmatic nature of the monosyllabic
interrogative sentences analyzed was as follows:
Emotions:
Monosyllabic
Interrogative sentences:
Uzbek interpretation:
Hayratlanish
T’as dit?
Que fais-tu là?
-
Nima deding?
-
Bu
erda
nima
qilyapsan?
Shubha
Tu en es sûre? / T’es sûre?
C’est vrai? Tu es sûre?
-
Ishonching komilmi?
-
Rostmi?
Tasdiqlash istagi
Il est bon, hein?
N’est-ce pas?
-
Yaxshi, to’g’rimi?
-
To’g’rimi?
Thus, when studying interrogative sentences, we can
rely on two main factors. First, the role of the question
in the communicative process, and second, the
relationship between its syntactic structure and
semantic meaning. In conclusion, at the current stage
of linguistic development, we have witnessed the
diverse interpretations of the nature of interrogative
sentences, which is primarily reflected in monosyllabic
interrogative sentences.
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