Part 2: The question mark: wa

wa is a Slot 0 particle (manual ch9 §3, ch10 §5): it stands at the very front and declares the whole sentence a question before one word of content arrives. English's question mark is terminal: a sentence can impersonate a statement until its last glyph, and spoken English patches the gap with a rising tone and luck. Phi's question mark is the first thing out of your mouth. The listener consents to be asked before they have heard what.

wa thia towe nai.
Q 2SG well be.
(Are you well?)

wa thia theo sola sheluo.
Q 2SG read DISJ listen.
(Do you read or listen?)

The second line is the choice question (ch17 §3): wa frames the whole, sola offers the fork, and no mark anywhere had to curl at the end.

The questions that need no wa

Content questions carry their own announcement: the gap-word (sua who, hina what, weno when, kua where, misa why, thela how) stands exactly where the unknown belongs, and its presence is the question (ch10 §5).

thia hina nila.
2SG what see.
(What do you see?)

thia nomei hina nai.
2SG name what be.
(What is your name?)

wa and the gap-words never co-occur, and nothing is missing when they don't: wa marks uncertainty about the whole, the gap-word a hole in the middle, and each announces itself. English spends the same "?" on both kinds and lets the reader sort it out; Phi never conflated them in the first place.

Questions inside sentences

Even embedded, the question mark stays a word. The pair wela … welo wraps an embedded yes/no question (ch19 §2; the complementizers pamphlet drills it), and an embedded content question needs only its gap-word:

mia wela sorae sulae nai welo nila.
1SG INT.COMP sun warm be INT.COMP.CLOSE see.
(I see whether the sun is warm.)

mia kua ne sulae nai ma sano.
1SG where NAME sulae be NEG know.
(I do not know where sulae is.)

English writes neither of these with a question mark at all ("whether" swallows it) which is worth noticing: English's "?" is not even a reliable question detector in English. Phi's wa, wela, and the gap-words are nothing but.

Drill: ask at speed

Convert aloud, statement to question, until fronting wa costs nothing:

1. thia shalu nuola.
2. lo shia kau silawo so thalo.
3. sulae loamira kolua.

Then the judgment half: for each English question below, say whether Phi wants wa, a gap-word, or wela … welo, then say it.

1. "Is the water warm?"
2. "Where is the dog?"
3. "I wonder whether the child is asleep."

Answers: 1 wa thia shalu nuola. 2 wa lo shia kau silawo so thalo. 3 wa sulae loamira kolua. In a family room the bare name stands, exactly as the naming pamphlet licenses. 4 wa phialu sulae nai. 5 lohau kua nai. The gap-word sits where the answer will; no wa. 6 mia wela lopia nulae welo phaelo. The uncertainty wrapped whole, the wondering felt outside it, as ch19 renders wondering.