Tags · Structure
Negative concord
Several negative-marked elements in a clause expressing a single negation.
Topics with this tag
Pattern
How do languages build the paradigm of someone, anyone, no one, and everyone?
Most often these words share one interrogative base (who?) plus a small particle — “also”, “every”, “some”, “any” — that sets the reading. A few languages, English among them, lexicalise the series instead.
NegationIndefinitenessQuantificationSyncretism +3
Indefinites & Quantifiers →
Pathway
How does negation rebuild itself over time?
A preverbal negator weakens and is reinforced by an extra element, often a minimizer like “step” or “thing”. The reinforcer is reanalysed as the negator itself, then weakens in turn, and the cycle starts again.
NegationNegative concordGrammaticalizationReanalysis +2
Jespersen's Cycle →