"what" and "[+Question]"
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I.“Is (your) specialty the Japanese language?”
-
(Your) specialty is the Japanese language. --> /senmon-wa nihongo-desu/ （せんもんは にほんごです）
Key 1: [+Question] --> The particle
/ka/ immediately follows the clause that you want to make a question of.
1) senmon-wa
nihongo-desu [+Question]
2) senmon-wa
nihongo-desu-ka.
せんもんは にほんごですか。
II. “What is
(your) specialty?”
-
(Your) specialty is … --> /senmon-wa …-desu/
（せんもんは …です）
-
[+Question] --> /-ka/ （か）
-
what (Noun) --> /nani/ Note that the form /nani/ realizes as [nan] optionally
if it is the complement of the copula /desu/ or always if it is the complement
of classifiers or counters like /-ji/ '- o'clock' and /-hon/ '[Counter
for cylindical objects]'.
what time --> nan-ji（なんじ）
how old --> nan-sai（なんさい）
what year… in school --> nan-nensee（なんねんせい）
what number --> nan-ban（なんばん）
N.B. what language --> nani-go（なにご） [The form /go/ is not a classifier
but a word. Classifiers or counters do not occur independently as words.]
Key 2: Fill the slot with
the 'wh'-word where an alternative can occur if the alteranative satisfies
the formula.
Key 3: Every question word always
co-occurs with the question particle.
1) senmon-wa nan(i)-desu
[+Question]
2) senmon-wa
nan(i)-desu-ka.
せんもんは なんですか。