A prefix symbol for interrogative statements in English is redundant, as most questions include question words early in their development that signify the intent. "How are you doing?" "Hey, what are we eating tonight?" etc.

In more complex sentence constructions, our brains naturally build bite-sized chunks of information as they parse the sentence. The question chunk almost always comes at the end, which fits well with a postfix symbol, as it associates the grammatical signifier in proximity with the information of the question. "Honey, I know how much you love banana bread (you mentioned it in our wedding vows), and I know I said that you could have the last bite, but -- pretty please with a cherry on top -- can I have the last bite?" Reading that sentence, the brain builds a cogent picture in tempo with the words; a prefix '?' symbol wouldn't add anything or aid in parsing.

Note also that, in English speech, questions are typically indicated by a rising inflection at the end of the statement, perfectly in line with a question mark at the end of a sentence.

In Spanish I would say to member @cmartinez : César, ¿no tendríamos que verificar cuidadosamente la propuesta del miembro bogosort, antes de dar una respuesta? Here, we need the opening question mark.

Otherwise, we move that question mark to the end, like this: César, tendríamos que verificar cuidadosamente la propuesta del miembro bogosort antes de dar una respuesta, ¿no?

 

n long sentences (albeit not frequent) is good to have it, ¿no?

Sorry, but, for me, it's just another unnecessary punctuation mark that breaks the flow of the narrative.
I have no problem realizing it's a question when I get to the end of the sentence.

 

That's not what I perceive... whenever I listen to a question in English or Spanish, its proper intonation starts at the very beginning.

I think that's atypical. I'd say that, in English, the standard cadence of a question is a normal, declarative cadence marked by a rising inflection at the end.

"My wife led me to drinking; I never got a chance to thank her."
"My wife was just here, did you see her?"

I'd say that the beginnings of both sentences have the same cadence for most English speakers.

The operative word being "most". As Agustín's just mentioned, a question mark at the beginning of a long sentence is a good aid.

Can you give me an example of an English question that would be aided by a prefix question symbol?

 

In Spanish I would say to member @cmartinez : César, ¿no tendríamos que verificar cuidadosamente la propuesta del miembro bogosort, antes de dar una respuesta? Here, we need the opening question mark.

Otherwise, we move that question mark to the end, like this: César, tendríamos que verificar cuidadosamente la propuesta del miembro bogosort antes de dar una respuesta, ¿no?

In English, the first form is "Should we not carefully check the proposal before responding?" The leading should we grammatically implies a forthcoming question without need of a symbol.

The second form is, "We should carefully check the proposal before responding, don't you think?" Here, a declaration ("we should check") is followed by a question about the declaration. Again, the '?' is in proximity to the appropriate grammatical chunk, the question, and not the declaration.

 

Sorry, but, for me, it's just another unnecessary punctuation mark that breaks the flow of the narrative.
I have no problem realizing it's a question when I get to the end of the sentence.

WRT Spanish, in long sentences, and when I say long I mean several lines in a paragraph, unless you cheat quick enough by spying to know if there is an ending question mark, better you have one at the start.

As I have shown in post #21 (2nd example), you could asseverate something to later (that is, at the very end) ask an (usually) short question looking for agreement from the one listening you. When you speak from a position of authority your do not do that, most probably.

I do not see, Carl, why a punctuation mark of any kind could break the flow. ¿?

 

... when I get to the end of the sentence.

Can you give me an example of an English question that would be aided by a prefix question symbol?

You think it's really necessary for me to go to such great extent just to make a point.

Try the above sentence with and without question marks at the beginning and the end. Or just at the very end. If you were to be giving a lecture, and reading from a paper to a bunch of people for the very first time, the use of both types of question marks in the aforementioned sentence would be of great aid for you to use the proper intonation.

 

You think it's really necessary for me to go to such great extent just to make a point.

Try the above sentence with and without question marks at the beginning and the end. Or just at the very end. If you were to be giving a lecture, and reading from a paper to a bunch of people for the very first time, the use of both types of question marks in the aforementioned sentence would be of great aid for you to use the proper intonation.

Shall we ask the Russians what they think on the matter?

 

In English, the first form is "Should we not carefully check the proposal before responding?" The leading should we grammatically implies a forthcoming question without need of a symbol.

The second form is, "We should carefully check the proposal before responding, don't you think?" Here, a declaration ("we should check") is followed by a question about the declaration. Again, the '?' is in proximity to the appropriate grammatical chunk, the question, and not the declaration.

Now I understand the different positions in this exchange: I was referring exclusively to Spanish where we use them always. That is why to demonstrate my point, I put the sentences in pure Spanish. By translating them to English, you made your point but to your native tongue.

Who originated Babel, is still laughing and enjoying. Sure.

 

А ты говоришь по русски?

No leading punctuation.

 

А ты говоришь по русски?

No leading punctuation.

translating Cyrillic is beyond my abilities...

 

translating Cyrillic is beyond my abilities...

It asks "Do you speak Russian?"

 

I do not see, Carl, why a punctuation mark of any kind could break the flow. ¿?

I suppose it's because I'm used to not having any marks at the beginning of a sentence, so when one occurs I then think "Oh there's a question coming" which breaks the flow of my thought about what's being said.
Likely it's just whatever you get used to.
But I suppose if a question is several lines long (which is not common in English) I suppose a mark at the sentence beginning could be useful.

 

You think it's really necessary for me to go to such great extent just to make a point.

Try the above sentence with and without question marks at the beginning and the end. Or just at the very end. If you were to be giving a lecture, and reading from a paper to a bunch of people for the very first time, the use of both types of question marks in the aforementioned sentence would be of great aid for you to use the proper intonation.

I read the statement aloud twice, first declaratively, then interrogatively. Both readings had precisely the same cadence, except for the very end, where in the interrogative version I raised the pitch of the word "point" to indicate it was a question. A prefix '?' would have added nothing.

 

But I suppose if a question is several lines long (which is not common in English) I suppose a mark at the sentence beginning could be useful.

I've yet to see an example of such a thing.

 

To segue a bit from my soapbox... I blame a lot of it on AOL and their "handles" that allowed anonymity to hide behind the keyboard and say things that would never have been said face to face. That ranting led to a lot of misunderstanding of just what was the intent of the person making a statement and led to emoticons and acronyms. A LOT of the extreme vulgarity got cleaned up a bit when we started putting cell phones in children's hands with texting capability and computer social media sites started to become popular. BFF suddenly became Best Friends Forever instead of Best Effn Friends for example. One thing I always liked about Amateur Radio is the Call Sign allocation with a real person's name and address given so you knew just who it was you were communicating with.

 

A nit.
I've noticed (with the mild annoyance I feel for such things as using all capitals, all bold letters, or a large font) that many posters use multiple question marks at the end of an interrogative sentence.
Is this characteristic of some foreign languages?
Or is that just the poster's lame way of trying to emphasize that it's really a big question?

I suspect that the number of '?' symbols following a question is supposed to be indicative of the writer's level of confusion. Such an affectation is, of course, insufferably cute and, when used unironically, suggests that the writer has the literary capacity of a below-average 7-year old child. Not recommended.

 

Here's thinking of you, @Hypatia's Protege ... I'm sure this cartoon depicting the classic and proper use of English will be to your liking:

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Here's thinking of you, @Hypatia's Protege ... I'm sure this cartoon depicting the classic and proper use of English will be to your liking:

View attachment 204459​

Re: emoticons -- Yebut! I'm 'cutting down' (Wah!) -- Seems a bit like AA's 'take' on topers (To Wit: despite progress they're in a perpetual state of 'recovery' - never recovered!)

TTFN
HP

 

Or is that just the poster's lame way of trying to emphasize that it's really a big question?

Yes, I belive so! --- With the occasional exception of '???' often indicatig a request for clarification of percived contridiction.

Best regards
HP

 

despite progress they're in a perpetual state of 'recovery' - never recovered!)

And constantly "falling off their horse" and recovering all to do it again. Ad Infinitum. Perpetual Failure mode. Why even bother...