Negotiation In English

679 Words3 Pages
Negation in English The scope of negation is the domain in which the polarity item any gets negative interpretation. It is usually a simple clause in English and the scope is not enlarged to other clause in a complex or compound sentences. (1) Main-Subord. Peter cannot hear anything [ when anything covers his ears. =free choice / * negative (2) Subord.-Main Although I did not invite anybody [ any students can come. =free choice / * negative (3) Main-Main I did not eat anything but [ you can eat any of those. =free choice / * negative The scope of negation is signalled by the interpretation of the negative polarity any-. Given that in the examples above any is interpreted as free choice and not as negative in a clause, which does not contain the particle not, they signal that the negative operator has a scope only over one simple clause. In English we can distinguish two scopes: (a) shortening the scope of negation (b) enlarging the scope of negation. In the first case, though the negation takes scope over the whole simple clause, sometimes it must be restricted in order to get general, non-negative interpretation of any- element. (4) He will not marry just anybody. (5) Lucas will not eat just anything. In the second case, the negation can be transported/transferred to the initial main clause in complex sentences, which contains Verbs of ‘think’ type in the main clause. (6) I think she will not drink. (7) I do not think she will drink. The particle not (the negation) moves from the embedded clause to the main clause. The interpretation does not change in (6) and (7), but formally, the scope of the negation covers both main and subordinate clauses in (7), while the main clause in (6) is positive and the subordinate clause is negative. Clausal negation negates the whole proposition (the clause). In English it is done by a

More about Negotiation In English

Open Document