TYPOLOGY OF NEGATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS IN WEST GERMANIC LANGUAGES

 Tetiana Mykolayivna Horodilova, t.horodilova@kubg.edu.ua

 PhD student, Lecturer

Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/StudLing2024.24.28-41

PDF (UKRAINIAN)

ABSTRACT

The article displays a typological analysis of negation in West Germanic languages. The attention is focused on the structural characteristics of negative sentences in the languages under consideration. Present-day West Germanic languages exhibit singular negation pattern, which is different from the Old Germanic one. There have been highlighted the changes that took place in the system of sentence negation in the history of West Germanic languages. At the early stages of their development the languages in question demonstrated double negation, that is, the phenomenon of negative concord. It is characterized by two or more negative markers resulted in a single semantic core of negation. On the evolutionary path preverbal negative particles were eliminated from the negation pattern both due to their weakening and the rise of a new negative element. The last one was grammaticalized from the structurally full-content lexical unit wiht ‘thing’ into a relatively independent particle. The rise of the additional reinforcing element is considered to be a part of the common Germanic negation pattern. The English language with its AUX VERB NOT pattern, different from the other West Germanic languages, occupies a special place in the picture of West Germanic negation. The gradual changes, which occurred as a result of the general restructuring of language systems, led to the elimination of redundant elements. Despite individual character and systemic differences, German, Dutch, English, and Frisian went through a common path of eliminating redundant elements and established grammaticalized negation patterns in their present-day form. The given discussion makes it possible to justify the assumption about common shifts in formation of the Old Germanic negation pattern, namely, the linguistic constant.

Key words: negation pattern, grammatical means, Germanic languages, negative concord, structural redundancy, grammaticalization, linguistic constant

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