Is Negation Negative? (And a Discussion of Negative Concord in SOV Languages)
Is negation negative? For some authors, in some languages, it is not. This is the case for so-called strict negative concord languages (e.g., Russian), in which negation is taken to be non-negative, following the cross-linguistic analysis for negative concord systems proposed by Hedde Zeijlstra’s wo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Languages |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2226-471X/10/6/130 |
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| Summary: | Is negation negative? For some authors, in some languages, it is not. This is the case for so-called strict negative concord languages (e.g., Russian), in which negation is taken to be non-negative, following the cross-linguistic analysis for negative concord systems proposed by Hedde Zeijlstra’s work “Sentential negation and negative concord”. However, this analysis is focused on languages with SVO word order. In this paper, I propose to reconsider the typology of negative concord by zooming out of the focus on SVO languages that current literature has relied on. I discuss the case of SOV languages where observing a strict NC pattern leads to weaker conclusions about the nature of negation than for SVO languages with strict negative concord, leaving the negativity status of negation in those languages underdetermined. I then take a look at Turkish, an SOV language with three sentential negation markers: plain sentential negation <i>-mA</i>, copular negation <i>değil</i>, and existential negation <i>yok</i>. Evidence from the interaction of these markers with <i>neither..nor</i> phrases suggests that <i>değil</i> and <i>yok</i>, in contrast with <i>-mA</i>, are non-negative for some speakers. In order to explain the variation, I put forward a hypothesis about the learning process, in which there is sometimes insufficient evidence in the input to determine whether <i>değil</i> and <i>yok</i> are negative, and learners choose between two conflicting heuristics that result in the negativity or non-negativity of these markers. |
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| ISSN: | 2226-471X |