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    Negation

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    aneta
    negating in english

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    Negation

    Uploaded by

    aneta
    79 views2 pages
    negating in english

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    © © All Rights Reserved

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    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    negating in english

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    79 views2 pages

    Negation

    Uploaded by

    aneta
    negating in english

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    HOW IS NEGATIVE MEANING EXPRESSED?

    The negative particle NOT is attached to the OPERATOR:


    She may NOT have got married
    *She may have NOT got married
    Negative forms are used: no, none, no one, nobody, nothing, nowhere, never
    Negation is implied in the meaning of the word: deny, doubt, without, dislike,
    etc.
    Words negative in meaning, not in form, are used: seldom, rarely, barely,
    scarcely, hardly, little, etc.
    When initial in the sentence, these words trigger INVERSION:
    Never have we seen such a difficult test

    EFFECTS OF NEGATION:

    Negation invites the use of indefinite NON-ASSERTIVE forms: any, anyone,


    anybody, anything, anywhere, ever, yet;
    A negative sentence receives a positive tag question;
    Initial negative elements trigger inversion
    Negation may cause AMBIGUITY

    SCOPE OF NEGATION

    Scope of negation is the stretch of language over which the negative


    meaning operates
    Indefinite non-asertive forms must be used under the scope of negation
    Scope of negation includes the FOCUS of negation: the element on which
    main negation is located

    SCOPE OF NEGATION AND AMBIGUITY

    Scope of negation starts with the negative form and ends at the end of the
    clause BUT it can include the final adverbial or not:
    o I did not leave Neo because of his character
    I stayed with him because of his character
    o I did not leave Neo because of his character
    I left him but for some other reasons

    ALTERNATIVE NEGATION IN ENGLISH VS MULTIPLE NEGATION IN POLISH

    In English, it is possible to negate either the verb or some other element of the
    sentence = alternative negation: I dont have any money = I have no money
    In Polish negating the verb nevertheless requires negating other sentence
    elements = multiple negation (forbidden in English): Nie mam nic do dodania;
    Nie widziaam nikogo; Nikt mi nic nie powiedzia;
    Translate into English in several different ways:
    NIKT NIGDY NIGDZIE NIC TAKIEGO NIE WIDZIA
    WHEN IS MULTIPLE NEGATION ACCEPTED AS STANDARD?

    Nobody did nothing = Everybody did something


    He is not nobody!
    We cant just not go to the meeting
    Not many people have no family at all

    Negating quantifiers:

    If a quantifying expression is negated, the meaning is slightly different from the


    alternative negative version of the sentence:
    o Many students did not come
    o Not many students came
    o All cats dont like water
    o Not all cats like water

    NEGATION AND THE MODAL VERBS: AUXILIARY NEGATION

    Some modal verbs take the negative particle NOT, and their modality is
    negated:
    o I can swim I cannot swim; (ability no ability)
    o I will help him I will not help him (willingness unwillingness)
    o She may go She may not go (permission lack of permission)

    NEGATION AND THE MODAL VERBS: MAIN VERB NEGATION

    Other modals do not accept NOT, which is attached to the MAIN VERB, and
    the modality is not negated:
    o She may be at home She may not be at home (probably she is
    probably she is not)
    o I must go I must not go (obligation to go obligation to stay)

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