Negatives

It is really important to express whether a statement or command is affirmative or negative. Most languages lack an affirmative marker, whereas all languages have negative markers. Unlike questions, which can be marked by changing word order or special intonation, negation is always marked by an independent word or affix. Although the expression of negation is universal, how languages express negation is pretty varied. Linguists look at questions such as if the negative is an affix, a separate word, an adverb, or a verb; if it is expressed differently in a declarative or imperative; and if it is expressed differently in sentences with copulas. This chapter explores some patterns that negatives in languages and language families of North America (NA) display. It examines five questions: (a) is it more typical for (NA) languages to have an affix or a particle, (b) where is the negative placed in the sentence, (c) are there negative verbs or auxiliaries, (d) is the negative different depending on the tense, aspect, mood (TAM), or subordinated nature of the clause, and (e) what do the negative indefinites look like? The main finding is that earlier negatives consist of two clauses that are condensed into one, with the negative now represented as auxiliary but originally a full verb inflected for TMA. This pattern is found frequently across the families/languages.