What is a wh-question?

Definition

A wh-question is a question that contains an interrogative pro-form.

Also known as:

Content question, question word question, information question

Examples (English)
	Here are some examples of words that begin wh-questions in English. Most of them begin with wh-:
	who what when where why how

Sources
	Elson and Pickett 1988 110
	Crystal 1980 294, 383
	Lyons 1977b 757
	Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1985 817, 819

Concept module: wh-question
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): W
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004