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Well, I just guess I'll have to define it my own self:
Negative harmony is the requirement that if a verb is negated in a sentence then either the subject or the object or both must also be negated, Examples
English - I ain't got no money
Spanish - No hay nada 'There isn't nothing.'
Russian - Я не знаю. Я ничего никогда не знаю. 'I don't know. I don't never know nothing.' So the French "ne ... pas" would be another example?
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I can't believe I coined the term Well, apparently you did--congratulations! And you are perfectly entitled to define it yourself, which you did exactly in accordance with what I thought you meant!
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So the French "ne ... pas" would be another example?
I'll let Faldo answer the question as it's his term, but I must address the French constructions: pas < Latin passus 'step'; just like rien < res 'thing'. Basically a positive word becoming a negative one. Good is bad, up is down, etc.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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So the French "ne ... pas" would be another example?
I'll let Faldo answer the question as it's his term, but I must address the French constructions: pas < Latin passus 'step'; just like rien < res 'thing'. Basically a positive word becoming a negative one. Good is bad, up is down, etc. sorry i am a little confused. i was asking not about the etymology of pas but if the French use of two negative elements is similar to the other examples. from the little french I know I believe that both "ne" and "pas" are negatives now, so that would be a 'double negative', no? I think i am getting beyond my ability to understand or express here.
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i was asking not about the etymology of pas but if the French use of two negative elements is similar to the other examples. from the little french I know I believe that both "ne" and "pas" are negatives now, so that would be a 'double negative', no?
Yes, today they are a double negative. I was just rhapsodizing on their etymologies. Pas started out as a non-negative.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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i was asking not about the etymology of pas but if the French use of two negative elements is similar to the other examples. from the little french I know I believe that both "ne" and "pas" are negatives now, so that would be a 'double negative', no?
Yes, today they are a double negative. I was just rhapsodizing on their etymologies. Pas started out as a non-negative. Thank you. I appreciate the clarification.
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Pas started out as a non-negative. Which, of course, is all the peevologist proponents of the etymological fallacy need to claim it's not an example of negative harmony. Speaking of negative harmony. surely there must be a Proper Linguistic Term for it. It's not like it isn't a feature of many languages.
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It's not like it isn't a feature of many languages.
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A) I thought I'd posted this a week ago, but: D'oh! Negative concord! Of course! and 2) It's not like it isn't a feature of many languages. That's not quite the same thing. Yeah, there's two negatives in there but they're not supporting each other. It's like the difference between a) I couldn't fail to disagree with you less. and ii) I don't like to have to kill nobody without they ain't no chance of no gold in it for me.
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