[1780.] -ne in the second member only of an alternative question is rare, and not used by Caesar or Sallust: as, sine sciam captīva māterne sim, L. 2, 40, 5, let me know whether I am a captive or a mother.
[1781.] (1.) A few times in Plautus and Terence, the second member only of an alternative question is expressed with quī sciō an? or quī scīs an? equivalent to perhaps: as, quī scīs an quae iubeam faciat? T. Eu. 790, perhaps she’ll do as I direct. Horace has once quī scīs an, AP. 462, in the sense of perhaps, and once quis scit an, 4, 7, 17, in the sense of perhaps not.
[1782.] (2.) The second member only of an alternative question is often expressed after haud sciō an, I don’t know but, possibly, perhaps, with nōn; nēmō, nūllus, &c., if the sentence is negative: as,
haud sciō an fierī possit, V. 3, 162, I don’t know but it is possible. Similarly, though not often, with nesciō an, haud sciam an, dubitō an, dubitārim an, dubium an, incertum an, &c.: as, ēloquentiā nesciō an habuisset parem nēminem, Br. 126, in oratory I fancy he would have had no peer. This use, in which haud sciō an becomes adverbial, and the subjunctive approaches closely that of modest assertion, is principally confined to Cicero. In later Latin, haud sciō an, &c., sometimes has a negative sense, I don’t know whether, with ūllus, &c.
[1783.] From Curtius on, an is used quite like num or -ne, in a single indirect question, without implication of alternatives.
[1784.] Two alternatives are rarely used without any interrogative particles at all: as, velit nōlit scīre difficile est, QFr. 3, 8, 4, will he nill he, it is hard to know, i.e. whether he will or not. Compare 1518.
[Pronoun Questions.]
[1785.] Indirect pronoun questions are introduced by the same pronominal words that are used in direct pronoun questions ([1526]): as,
cōgnōscit, quae gerantur, 5, 48, 2, he ascertains what is going on. vidētis ut omnēs dēspiciat, RA. 135, you can see how he looks down on everybody. quid agās et ut tē oblectēs scīre cupiō, QFr. 2, 3, 7, I am eager to know how you do and how you are amusing yourself.