wh-words
Inquiry-beginning terms collectively
Wh-words are the question words in English that typically begin with "wh": who, what, where, when, why, which, and how (the outlier).
They introduce questions seeking specific information rather than yes-or-no answers: What time is it? , Where did you go?
Wh-words also introduce relative clauses: the man who called, the reason why I left.
Linguists and language teachers use the term; most speakers just call them question words.
Request for information
- queryRequest for information
- inquiryRequest for information
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
- investigationFormal examination of facts
curiosity · probing · asking · querying · clarification · examination · exploration · inquisitiveness
For what purpose
Crime fiction identifying perpetrator
- howdyInformal rural greeting
- whatnotUnspecified additional items
- whereaboutsApproximate current position
- wherebyThrough which means
wherewith · wherewithal · somewhat · somehow · somewhere · anywhere · everywhere · nowhere
question
Request for information
- queryRequest for information
- inquiryRequest for information
- interrogationFormal, probing examination
investigation · curiosity · probing · asking · querying · clarification · examination · exploration · inquisitiveness · questioning
wherefore
For what purpose
howbeit · whoso · wherewithal · hitherto · thither · hence · thence
whodunit
Crime fiction identifying perpetrator
- howdyInformal rural greeting
- whatnotUnspecified additional items
- whereaboutsApproximate current position
whereby · wherewith · wherewithal · somewhat · somehow · somewhere · anywhere · everywhere · nowhere
wherefore
For what purpose
- whereinIn which place
- wheretoTo what place
- whereaboutsApproximate current position