Spanish to Mongolian Cyrillic: what is this and is this big ask different kinds of questions
Spanish question marks do not supply a Mongolian particle
Spanish ¿Qué es esto? asks the listener to identify something. ¿Esto es grande? asks for confirmation of a proposed description. Both are questions, but the first leaves the answer open while the second offers a proposition to accept or reject. A Mongolian translation needs more than a question mark to preserve that difference.
The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies introductory textbook illustrates Энэ юу вэ? for What is this? and Энэ том уу? for Is this big? The final particles differ because the constructions differ. The source punctuation cannot decide between them: both Spanish sentences use the same opening and closing question marks.
An information request should not become a confirmation request
Imagine a visitor holding up an unfamiliar object. ¿Qué es esto? does not suggest that it is large, expensive, or a particular kind of tool. A translation framed only as a yes-or-no question would require a proposed description that the Spanish author has not supplied. Adding one would change what the visitor is asking.
Conversely, ¿Esto es grande? may be asked while comparing luggage against a permitted size. An answer naming the object would not resolve the size question. The translation should retain the attribute under discussion rather than turn every question about esto into the open identification pattern.
The same distinction appears when asking about a person. ¿Quién es? asks for identity; a question proposing a particular name asks for confirmation. The textbook’s examples with хэн and with a proposed name illustrate that these are separate constructions. Knowing that a sentence concerns a person does not settle which sort of question it is.
The surface form of the ending also depends on its surroundings
The textbook lists вэ and бэ among the information-question particles, and уу, үү, юу, юү among the other question forms. It gives phonological conditions for their shapes. These are not Spanish masculine and feminine endings, and they should not be selected by the grammatical gender of esto, persona, or the noun being discussed.
Spanish esto remains neutral with respect to the identity of the object. Its final vowel does not provide instructions for choosing a Mongolian ending, because the target sentence may end in a different word altogether. A decision based on the sounds of the Spanish source instead of the Mongolian construction would apply the right kind of rule to the wrong language.
For an identification request, preserve the missing information: the listener needs to say what or who something is. For a confirmation request, preserve the proposed claim: the listener needs to assess size, identity, or another stated property. The two short textbook examples show how Mongolian Cyrillic can make this distinction visible at the end of the clause even though Spanish presents both with identical question punctuation.
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