(A)symmetries in imperative negation in Eastern Bantu

Van Olmen, Daniel and Devos, Maud and Radulescu, Valentin (2023) (A)symmetries in imperative negation in Eastern Bantu. Africana Linguistica, 29. pp. 179-222. ISSN 2033-8732

Text ((A)symmetries in Imperative Negation in Eastern Bantu)
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Abstract

This article applies the analytical framework of (a)symmetry, previously used for standard negation , to imperative negation in Eastern Bantu. It is shown, based on a 106-language sample, to exhibit asymmetries similar to standard negation, sometimes contrary to earlier claims (e.g. finiteness), as well as specific to the negation domain under investigation (e.g. intersubjectivity). Eastern Bantu imperative negation is also revealed to be asymmetric in ways not attested in standard negation (e.g. realis negative with irrealis positive, neutralization from negative to positive). In view of these findings, the article makes a case against general functional motivations of the type proposed for standard negation asymmetries in the literature. Instead, it contends , on the one hand, that more specific explanations may be needed (e.g. the relative insignificance of directional marking in negative imperatives) and, on the other hand, that diachrony accounts for most asymmetry in imperative negation. It is argued that the diachronic instability of negative imperatives, compared to imperatives and due to factors like frequency and politeness , produces a greater variety of constructions, which need not be connected to their positive equivalents and can therefore give rise to asymmetry.