Grammatical polarity
Encyclopedia
Grammatical polarity is the distinction of affirmative and negative. In English
, grammatical polarity is generally indicated by the presence or absence of the modifier not, which negates the statement. Many other languages contain similar modifiers: Italian
and Interlingua
have non, Spanish
has no, French
has ne ... pas, Esperanto has ne, German
has nicht, and Swedish
has inte. Special negative and affirmative items are often found in answers to questions. In English, these are no and yes
respectively, in French non and oui, and Swedish nej and ja. In addition to this, some languages have a distinct form for a positive answer to a negative question, such as French si and Swedish jo.
:
Standard English
adds the word not after the auxiliary verb
and before the main verb; if no auxiliary verb is present, the dummy auxiliary do (so named because of its zero semantic content) is inserted. For example, "I must go" is negated as "I must not go", and "I go" is negated as "I do not go". In the third person singular, do is inflected as does: "He does not go."
In Indo-European languages, it is not customary to speak of a negative mood, since in these languages negation is originally a grammatical particle
that can be applied to a verb in any of these moods. Nevertheless, in some, like Welsh
, verbs have special inflections to be used in negative clauses.
In other language families, the negative may count as a separate mood. An example is Japanese
, which conjugates verbs in the negative after adding the suffix -nai (indicating negation), e.g. tabeta ("ate") and tabenakatta ("did not eat"). It could be argued that Modern English
has joined the ranks of these languages, since negation in the indicative mood requires the use of an auxiliary verb
and a distinct syntax
in most cases. Zwicky
and Pullum
have shown that n't is an inflectional suffix, not a clitic
or a derivational suffix. Contrast, for instance, "He sings" → "He doesn't sing" (where the dummy auxiliary do has to be supplied and inflected to doesn't) with Il chante → Il ne chante pas; French
adds the (discontinuous) negative particle ne ... pas, without changing the form of the verb.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, grammatical polarity is generally indicated by the presence or absence of the modifier not, which negates the statement. Many other languages contain similar modifiers: Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Interlingua
Interlingua grammar
This article is an informal outline of the grammar of Interlingua, an international auxiliary language first publicized by IALA. It follows the usage of the original grammar text , which is accepted today but regarded as conservative....
have non, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
has no, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
has ne ... pas, Esperanto has ne, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
has nicht, and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
has inte. Special negative and affirmative items are often found in answers to questions. In English, these are no and yes
Yes and no
Yes and no are two words for expressing affirmatives and negatives respectively in English . Early Middle English had a four-form system, but Modern English has reduced this to a two-form system consisting of 'yes' and 'no'. Some languages do not answer yes-no questions with single words meaning...
respectively, in French non and oui, and Swedish nej and ja. In addition to this, some languages have a distinct form for a positive answer to a negative question, such as French si and Swedish jo.
Negative
In many languages, rather than inflecting the verb, negation is expressed by adding a particleGrammatical particle
In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition...
:
- before the verb phrase, as in SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
"No está en casa"; - or after it, as in archaic and dialectal EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
"you remember not" or DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
"Ik zie hem niet" or GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
"Ich verstehe nicht" or SwedishSwedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
"han hoppade inte; - or both, as in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
"Je ne sais pas" or AfrikaansAfrikaansAfrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
"Hy kan nie Afrikaans praat nie".
Standard English
Standard English
Standard English refers to whatever form of the English language is accepted as a national norm in an Anglophone country...
adds the word not after the auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
and before the main verb; if no auxiliary verb is present, the dummy auxiliary do (so named because of its zero semantic content) is inserted. For example, "I must go" is negated as "I must not go", and "I go" is negated as "I do not go". In the third person singular, do is inflected as does: "He does not go."
In Indo-European languages, it is not customary to speak of a negative mood, since in these languages negation is originally a grammatical particle
Grammatical particle
In grammar, a particle is a function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes . It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition...
that can be applied to a verb in any of these moods. Nevertheless, in some, like Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
, verbs have special inflections to be used in negative clauses.
In other language families, the negative may count as a separate mood. An example is Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, which conjugates verbs in the negative after adding the suffix -nai (indicating negation), e.g. tabeta ("ate") and tabenakatta ("did not eat"). It could be argued that Modern English
Modern English
Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern...
has joined the ranks of these languages, since negation in the indicative mood requires the use of an auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
and a distinct syntax
Syntax
In linguistics, syntax is the study of the principles and rules for constructing phrases and sentences in natural languages....
in most cases. Zwicky
Arnold Zwicky
Arnold M. Zwicky is a perennial Visiting Professor of linguistics at Stanford University, and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of linguistics at the Ohio State University....
and Pullum
Geoffrey Pullum
Geoffrey Keith "Geoff" Pullum is a British-American linguist specialising in the study of English. , he is Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh....
have shown that n't is an inflectional suffix, not a clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
or a derivational suffix. Contrast, for instance, "He sings" → "He doesn't sing" (where the dummy auxiliary do has to be supplied and inflected to doesn't) with Il chante → Il ne chante pas; French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
adds the (discontinuous) negative particle ne ... pas, without changing the form of the verb.
See also
- Affirmation
- AssertionAssertionThe term assertion has several meanings:* Assertion , a computer programming technique* Logical assertion, logical assertion of a statement* Proof by assertion, an assertion as opposed to an argument...
- Grammatical categoryGrammatical categoryA grammatical category is a semantic distinction which is reflected in a morphological paradigm. Grammatical categories can have one or more exponents. For instance, the feature [number] has the exponents [singular] and [plural] in English and many other languages...
- Grammatical moodGrammatical moodIn linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
- Negation (linguistics)
- Polarity itemPolarity itemIn linguistics, a polarity item is a lexical element that can appear only in the environment of a certain "licensing context." Polarity items are defined as Negative Polarity Items or Positive Polarity items...
- Sentence (linguistics)Sentence (linguistics)In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
- StatementStatementStatement may refer to:* A kind of expression in language *Statement , declarative sentence that is either true or false*Statement , the smallest standalone element of an imperative programming language...