Diachronic Developments in the Domain of Negation

Bibliographic Data

ID4775212
AuthorsHedde Zeijlstra (U Göttingen SEP, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume10
Issue6
Pages284-295
Publication date2016-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage and Linguistics Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1749-818X • E-ISSN: 1749-818X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lnc3.12194
OpenAlexW2555776999
LanguageEN
Citations received46
References cited29

This overview article discusses several important diachronic developments in the domain of negation. Every natural language has some device at its disposal to express that the truth-value of the propositional contents of a sentence is reversed. Languages vary not only synchronically with respect to the way they express negation but also diachronically. However, languages do not undergo arbitrary changes in the domain of negation but rather follow particular diachronic pathways that leave little room for language-specific variation. Consequently, the study of these diachronic developments may shed more light on the nature of negation in natural language than synchronic studies already do. Why is it that negation may only change along particular pathways and what does this tell us about the (special) status of negation as a functional category? This article aims to pave the way for everybody interested in the answers to these questions. I provide a brief overview of the major diachronic developments in the domain of negation that have been discovered thus far and the explanations that have been provided for these patterns. I also discuss some of the consequences of the existence of these attested patterns

Linguistics · Natural language · Negation · Physics · Sentence · Truth value · Computer Science · History · Language and cultural evolution · Mathematics · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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