On order and prohibition

Van Olmen, Daniel (2021) On order and prohibition. Studies in Language, 45 (3). pp. 520-556. ISSN 0378-4177

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Abstract

The present article examines the claim in the literature that the negative first principle, i.e. the preference for the order negation-verb to verb-negation, is stronger in negative imperatives (or prohibitives) than in negative declaratives. To test this hypothesis, we develop – in contrast to earlier research – a systematic, three-way classification of languages, which is also operationalized as a ranking capturing the overall level of strength of the principle. This classification is applied to a genealogically and geographically balanced sample of 179 languages. In addition, we consider the role of several factors known to correlate with the position of negation – like its form, constituent order and areality. However, no cross-linguistic evidence is found for any difference in negation’s position between negative imperatives and negative declaratives. We therefore conclude that the hypothesis should be rejected.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Studies in Language
Additional Information:
This article has been accepted for publication in Studies in language, Volume 45, Issue 3, 2021, pages: 520-556, © 2021 John Benjamins, the publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use the material in any form.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3315
Subjects:
?? standard negationworld’s languagesimperative negationnegative first principlecommunicationlinguistics and languagelanguage and linguistics ??
ID Code:
155568
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
07 Jun 2021 09:00
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
05 Dec 2024 00:47