The hosts of this podcast discuss negation in language, exploring how different languages indicate absence or lack. They delve into the concept of double negation and negative concord in French and English, highlighting the stigmatization of double negation in English. They also discuss the use of multiple negative elements in sentences and explore the concept of positive anymore in English. The podcast concludes by exploring positive polarity items in relation to negation.
Negative concord is a linguistic phenomenon observed in about 10% of the world's languages, where multiple negative elements are used to reinforce negation.
Negative polarity items are words or phrases that carry a negative sense without necessarily having negation in their structure, and they contribute to a deeper understanding of language and how meaning is conveyed.
Deep dives
Negative concord and negation in different languages
Negative concord is a linguistic phenomenon observed in about 10% of the world's languages. It involves the use of multiple negative elements in a sentence to reinforce negation. French is a language that exhibits negative concord, where additional negative words or elements are used to emphasize negation. However, in English, negative concord is stigmatized and considered non-standard. Different languages have different strategies for expressing negation. For example, English uses separate words like 'no' or 'not' to make a sentence negative, while some languages have affixes or word formations. The presence of negative elements in a sentence is often marked and requires additional grammatical elements to indicate negation. Overall, negation and negative concord provide fascinating insights into the diversity and complexity of language structures.
Negative polarity items and their usage
Negative polarity items are words or phrases that carry a negative sense without necessarily having negation in their structure. Examples of negative polarity items include 'any,' 'at all,' 'no one,' 'nothing,' 'without,' 'doubt,' etc. These items are commonly used in questions, conditional clauses, or phrases that convey regret, surprise, or specific context. Negative polarity items work in specific linguistic environments and can vary in their usage across languages and dialects. The presence of negative polarity items in a sentence can reinforce the negative sense and add emphasis to the absence or lack of something. The study of negative polarity items contributes to a deeper understanding of language and how meaning is conveyed.
Positive polarity items and their characteristics
Positive polarity items are words or phrases that mark positive sense or affirmation. While not as prevalent as negative polarity items, positive polarity items exist in languages as well. Examples include 'somewhat,' which adds a sense of affirmation to a positive statement. Positive polarity items can modify statements to indicate a level of affirmation, but their usage may be more limited compared to negative polarity items. Positive polarity items highlight the complexity of language and how various linguistic elements contribute to the overall meaning and expression.
Diverse strategies in expressing negation
Languages employ diverse strategies for expressing negation. While some languages use negative concord, where multiple negative elements reinforce negation, others utilize separate words or affixes to indicate negation. English employs both separate words like 'no' or 'not' and affixes to create negative expressions. This diversity in expressing negation reflects the richness of language structures and the cultural and historical influences on language development. Exploring different strategies of negation in various languages provides valuable insights into how language represents concepts and ideas.
“I don’t have a pet dinosaur.” This sentence is, we assume, true for everyone listening to this episode (if it isn’t, uh, tell us your ways?). And yet it has a different feel to it than a more ordinary sentence like “I don’t have a cat”, the type of negated sentence that’s true for some people and not others.
In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about negation! We talk about how languages make sentences negative, how negation fits into the social side of conversation, and two ways you can make things super extra negative: negative concord (aka “French toast negation”) and negative polarity items (aka “Mean Girls negation”). Plus, a few sneak peeks from the upcoming book Highly Irregular by Arika Okrent, which is coming out on July 1, 2021 and which we are delighted to recommend.
Announcements:
This month’s bonus episode is a recording of our live show! When someone else is telling a story, you might encourage them to keep talking or to elaborate on a particular point by making various words, sounds, phrases, or gestures, such as "oh really?" and "mhm-hm" and nodding. This linguistic behaviour is known as backchannelling. Join us on Patreon to learn more, and to get access to 50 other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to our Discord server to chat with other lingthusiasts! www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm
For links to everything mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/651742548840398848/lingthusiasm-episode-56-not-not-a-negation
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