punctuation - Question mark when ending sentence with "I wonder"?


I know that when a sentence begins with "I wonder" followed by a question, it is typically ended with a period.



I wonder why that is.



However, when "I wonder" is moved to the end of the sentence, does the same rule apply?



Why is that, I wonder?



It seems harder to deny the writer a question mark in this case if one is felt.



Answer



Both are correct English.


The first sentence has an embedded question object complement of a mental perception verb, and, as described here, sentences like these are often intoned as questions, because they're intended as requests for information. When a writer wishes their sentence to sound like a question in the mind's ear of the reader, they use a question mark; otherwise, not. This is very ordinary.


The second sentence has undergone a Dislocation, wherein the embedded question is moved to the front of the sentence, presenting a question form and signalling a bald request for information. And therefore, it is almost always punctuated with a question mark in writing; this is also very ordinary.


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