Existential and standard negation in Northern Dene
Date
2020
Authors
Lovick, Olga
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Abstract
This paper is a comparative analysis of existential and standard negation across Northern
Dene. There are two strategies for existential negation: some languages use a negative
verb, while others use a negative morpheme reconstructed as *də-weˑ. Standard negation
involves negative inflection in some languages; most of them require additional preverbal
or postverbal negative particles. The languages without negative inflection also fall into
two groups. Some use a preverbal morpheme reconstructed as *də-weˑ, while the others
use a postverbal negative auxiliary related to the negative verb used in existential negation.
The data surveyed here demonstrates that standard negation with *də-weˑ is widespread in
the Northern Dene languages, suggesting that it is an older negation strategy than has been
assumed in the literature. The author also shows that the postverbal auxiliary is the result of
the negative existential cycle and demonstrates that Dene languages share typological tendencies
for the placement of negative particles.
Description
Keywords
Northern Dene languages, negation, comparative morphosyntax, inflection, particles
Citation
Lovick, Olga. 2020. “Existential and standard negation in Northern Dene.” International Journal of American Linguistics 86(4):485–525.
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Citation
Lovick, Olga. 2020. “Existential and standard negation in Northern Dene.” International Journal of American Linguistics 86(4):485–525.
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DOI
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/710008