How to Identify the Parts of Speech of What: A Linguistic Deep Dive

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parts of speech of what

English grammar thrives on precision, and few words demonstrate this more than "what." It slips seamlessly between roles—questioning, defining, even substituting—yet its parts of speech of what remain a stumbling block for learners and a nuanced study for linguists. The ambiguity isn’t accidental; "what" mirrors the fluidity of language itself, where meaning hinges on context, not rigid classification. Take "What did you say?" (interrogative) versus "She forgot what he meant" (relative pronoun). The same two syllables pivot from demanding information to binding clauses, a grammatical chameleon that defies binary labels.

This duality isn’t just theoretical. Misidentifying the parts of speech of what can distort meaning—turning a question into a statement or a noun clause into a fragment. Writers and speakers often default to "what" as a placeholder, unaware they’ve shifted its grammatical weight. Even advanced users hesitate: Is "what" here a determiner, a pronoun, or something else entirely? The answer lies in parsing its function, not its form. Syntax reveals all.

parts of speech of what

The Complete Overview of the Parts of Speech of What

The parts of speech of what in English span four primary categories, each serving distinct syntactic and semantic purposes. At its core, "what" operates as a pronoun, but its versatility extends to determiners, interrogatives, and relative pronouns, with occasional forays into adverbs in colloquial speech. This fluidity stems from its origin as an early Germanic interrogative pronoun (hwat), later repurposed in Middle English to mark indefiniteness and relational clauses. Modern usage reflects this evolution: "What time is it?" (interrogative) vs. "I don’t know what to do" (relative pronoun). The challenge isn’t memorizing labels but recognizing how context dictates its role—whether it’s introducing a question, modifying a noun, or embedding a clause.

The parts of speech of what also intersect with wh-words (e.g., who, which), forming a subclass of pronouns that prioritize information-seeking or clause-initiation. Unlike who (limited to people) or which (restricted to choices), "what" is unrestricted—it can refer to objects, ideas, or entire propositions. This open-endedness makes it a cornerstone of indirect questions ("I asked what time it was") and noun clauses ("What she said surprised me"). Yet its adaptability introduces pitfalls: "What" as a determiner ("What books did you read?") differs structurally from "what" as a subject ("What happened?"). The distinction hinges on whether it’s introducing a noun phrase or standing alone as a subject.

Historical Background and Evolution

The trajectory of "what" as a grammatical element traces back to Proto-Germanic, where hwat functioned exclusively as an interrogative. By Old English (450–1150 CE), it had bifurcated: "hwæt" (interrogative) and "hwæt" (indefinite pronoun, akin to "something"). Middle English (1100–1500) solidified this duality, with Chaucer using "what" to introduce both questions ("What shall I do?") and relative clauses ("the what he said"). The Great Vowel Shift (1400–1700) standardized its pronunciation, but its grammatical roles remained unstable. Early grammarians like Robert Lowth (18th century) classified "what" as a relative pronoun when embedded, while later linguists like Jespersen (20th century) argued it functioned as a determiner in noun phrases.

The 20th century brought clarity through transformational grammar, where "what" was analyzed as a wh-phrase moving to sentence-initial position (e.g., "What did you eat?" → "You ate what?"). This framework explained its syntactic mobility but didn’t resolve semantic ambiguities. Modern corpus linguistics (e.g., the British National Corpus) reveals "what" now accounts for ~0.5% of all pronouns in English, with 60% of uses as interrogatives, 25% as relative pronouns, and 15% in other roles. Its persistence across dialects—from "What’s up?" (colloquial) to "I wonder what he’s thinking" (literary)—underscores its linguistic resilience.

Core Mechanisms: How It Works

The parts of speech of what are determined by three syntactic tests:
1. Position in the sentence: "What" at the start ("What are you doing?") is almost always interrogative, while mid-sentence ("The what of his gesture") signals a noun modifier.
2. Complement requirement: If "what" demands a verb ("What do you want?"), it’s interrogative; if it requires a noun ("I don’t know what"), it’s a relative pronoun.
3. Substitution test: Replace "what" with "something" ("I forgot something he said")—if the sentence holds, it’s a pronoun; if not ("Something did you eat?"), it’s interrogative.

Pragmatically, "what" leverages presupposition: "What did you break?" implies the listener knows the answer exists, while "What broke?" invites an open-ended response. This interplay between form and function explains why "what" can’t be reduced to a single part of speech. Even in exclamatives ("What a view!"), it morphs into a determiner modifying "view", a role absent in its interrogative form. The key lies in clausal embedding: "What" in "I told you what to do" functions as the object of "told", whereas "What to do" is a noun clause acting as the direct object.

Key Benefits and Crucial Impact

Understanding the parts of speech of what sharpens communication by eliminating ambiguity. Writers exploit its flexibility to craft rhetorical questions ("What is freedom?"), hypotheticals ("What if we tried?"), and defining clauses ("The what of his success was luck"). Missteps—like using "what" as a subject when a verb follows ("What is important is honesty" vs. "What is important, is honesty")—can disrupt syntax. Mastery also aids parsing complex sentences, where "what" may nest multiple clauses ("She explained what he had said about what they saw").

Table of Contents

The parts of speech of what are foundational in grammatical analysis, particularly for wh-movement in syntax trees. Linguists use "what" to study information structure, as its placement often signals topic-comment relationships ("What did you eat?" vs. "You ate what?"). Even in machine translation, accurate tagging of "what" as interrogative vs. relative improves output fidelity. For learners, recognizing its roles reduces reliance on vague terms like "interrogative pronoun"—instead, they learn to ask: "Does this ‘what’ introduce a question, or is it part of a larger clause?"

"What" is the linguistic equivalent of a Swiss Army knife—compact, versatile, and essential for tasks ranging from simple queries to intricate syntactic constructions. Its parts of speech of what defy rigid categorization because language itself resists boxes.
—David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language

Major Advantages

  • Clarifies sentence structure: Distinguishing "what" as interrogative ("What time?") vs. relative ("the what of his argument") prevents misplaced modifiers.
  • Enhances rhetorical precision: Writers use "what" to create emphasis ("What matters is effort") or ambiguity ("What did you mean by that?").
  • Supports clause analysis: In "I wonder what he’s thinking", "what" introduces a noun clause; in "What he’s thinking is unclear", it’s the subject.
  • Improves parsing for non-natives: Many languages lack "what"’s multifunctionality, making its parts of speech of what a critical bridge in English acquisition.
  • Strengthens logical flow: "What" in "The what of his success" acts as a determiner, while "What success?" is interrogative—misuse disrupts coherence.

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Comparative Analysis

Role of "What" Example
Interrogative Pronoun (demands answer) What did you eat? → "You ate what?"
Relative Pronoun (introduces clause) She forgot what he said. → "She forgot [the thing he said]."
Determiner (modifies noun) What books did you read? → "Which books?"
Exclamative (expresses emotion) What a day! → "How intense the day is!"
As computational linguistics advances, algorithms now tag "what" with fine-grained annotations (e.g., "WHQ" for questions, "WHP" for pronouns) to improve NLP models. Future grammars may treat "what" as a hybrid category, blending pronoun, determiner, and adverbial traits. In AI-driven writing tools, misclassified "what" clauses could lead to logical fallacies—e.g., "What he said was important" vs. "What, he said was important?"—highlighting the need for contextual analysis.

Pedagogically, interactive syntax trees (e.g., in Duolingo or Grammarly) will likely prioritize "what"’s parts of speech of what over rote memorization. Corpus studies may also uncover regional variations: "What’s up?" in American English vs. "What’s going on?" in British English, where "what"’s interrogative force differs. As language evolves, "what" will remain a litmus test for grammatical nuance, proving that the most versatile words often carry the heaviest syntactic weight.

parts of speech of what - Ilustrasi 3

Conclusion

The parts of speech of what exemplify how language thrives on ambiguity—until context resolves it. Its journey from Old English interrogative to modern-day chameleon reflects English’s dynamic syntax. For speakers, recognizing "what"’s role isn’t about memorization but active parsing: Is it asking, defining, or modifying? For writers, it’s a tool for precision; for linguists, a case study in grammatical fluidity. The next time "what" appears in your text, pause and ask: What is it doing here?

This question isn’t just about grammar—it’s about understanding how words shape meaning, one clause at a time.

Comprehensive FAQs

Q: Can "what" ever function as a verb?

A: No. "What" is always a pronoun, determiner, or interrogative. However, it can precede verbs in infinitive clauses ("I don’t know what to do"), where "what to do" acts as a noun phrase. The verb ("to do") follows "what", not the other way around.

Q: How do I distinguish "what" as a determiner vs. a pronoun?

A: Use the "noun replacement test": If "what" modifies a noun ("What books?"), replace it with "which" or "some" ("Which books?"). If it stands alone ("What are you doing?"), it’s a pronoun. Determiners always precede nouns; pronouns replace them.

Q: Is "what" ever used as an adverb?

A: Rarely, and only colloquially. In "What are you doing that for?" or "What’s with you?", "what" functions as an interrogative adverbial, but grammatically, it’s still a pronoun introducing a clause. Formal usage avoids this role.

Q: Why does "what" cause confusion in indirect questions?

A: Indirect questions ("She asked what time it was") repurpose "what" as a noun clause introducer, not an interrogative. The confusion arises because the structure mirrors direct questions ("What time was it?"), but the parts of speech of what shift from interrogative to relative pronoun in embedded contexts.

Q: Are there languages where "what" has fewer roles?

A: Yes. In Finnish, "mitä" (what) is strictly interrogative, while "mikä" (which) handles relative clauses. Japanese uses "nan" (what) for questions and "sore" (that) for clauses, avoiding overlap. English’s multifunctionality stems from its Germanic heritage, where "hwat" evolved into a grammatical Swiss Army knife.

Q: How does "what" differ from "which" in formal writing?

A: "Which" restricts choices ("Which book?"), while "what" seeks unspecified information ("What book?"). In clauses, "which" refers back to known nouns ("The book which she read"), whereas "what" introduces new information ("What she read surprised me"). "Which" is definite; "what" is indefinite in function.

Q: Can "what" be omitted in modern English?

A: Sometimes, but only in fixed phrases ("What’s up?" → "Up?") or ellipsis ("What did you say?" → "Did you say what?"). Omitting "what" in clauses ("I know [what] he said") risks ambiguity. Modern English tolerates omission in casual speech, but formal writing retains "what" for clarity.

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