Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Asking a question or being of the nature of a question.
- adjective Of, relating to, or being an element or construction used to ask a question.
- noun A word or form used to ask a question.
- noun A sentence or an expression that asks a question.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Asking or denoting a question; pertaining to inquiry; questioning: as, an interrogative phrase, pronoun, or point; an interrogative look or tone of voice.
- noun In grammar, a word (pronoun, pronominal adjective, or adverb) implying interrogation, or used for asking a question: as, who? what? which? why?
- noun A question; an interrogation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Denoting a question; expressed in the form of a question
- noun (Gram.) A word used in asking questions; as,
who ?which ?why ?
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Asking or denoting a
question ; pertaining toinquiry ; questioning: as, an interrogative phrase, pronoun, or point; an interrogative look or tone of voice. - noun grammar A
word (pronoun, pronominal adjective, or adverb) implyinginterrogation , or used for asking aquestion : why, who, when, etc. - noun rare A
question ; aninterrogation .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun some linguists consider interrogative sentences to constitute a mood
- adjective relating to the use of or having the nature of an interrogation
- adjective relating to verbs in the so-called interrogative mood
- noun a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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-- When are they called interrogative pronominal adjectives?
English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Samuel Kirkham
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The language of vainglory, of indignation, pity and revengefulness, optative: but of the desire to know, there is a peculiar expression called interrogative; as, What is it, when shall it, how is it done, and why so?
Leviathan 2007
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I'm already very pleased by a bit of information from the Abaza section:Abaza and Abkhaz questions are very unusual in that they choose rightward question movement; that is, the interrogative pronoun appears at the end of the verb, and since the verb is usually the last word of the phrase, these wh-words, as they are called, appear phrase finally.
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The language of vainglory, of indignation, pity and revengefulness, optative: but of the desire to know, there is a peculiar expression called interrogative; as, What is it, when shall it, how is it done, and why so?
Leviathan, or, The matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill 1651
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Wikipedia describes it well: "a nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the interrogative point) and the exclamation mark or exclamation point (known in printers 'jargon as the bang)".
Daring Fireball 2008
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&c. _Who, which_, and _what_, when used in asking questions, are called interrogative pronouns, or relatives of the interrogative kind; as,
English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Samuel Kirkham
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They were the period, the semicolon, the comma, the "interrogative," and the parenthesis.
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The relative and interrogative which is a compound of wch-ich fignifying the above a&on, as ich means the firft a£l: of motion or crea - tion, and uch man's utmoft return of that adt or fpring up - wards.
Hieroglyfic: Or, A Grammatical Introduction to an Universal Hieroglyfic Language; Consisting of ... 1768
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Above all, it was, and still is, a book that imparts in me a kind of interrogative compulsion, compelling me to question everything I did in the classroom, especially those cherished assumptions I didn’t even know I had.
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Above all, it was, and still is, a book that imparts in me a kind of interrogative compulsion, compelling me to question everything I did in the classroom, especially those cherished assumptions I didn’t even know I had.
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