Cover not available

Article published In: Postverbal negation
Edited by Olga Krasnoukhova, Johan van der Auwera and Mily Crevels
[Studies in Language 45:3] 2021
► pp. 520–556

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

On order and prohibition

ORCiD logo with link | Lancaster University
Published online: 6 August 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.19036.van
Abstract
The present article examines the claim in the literature that the negative first principle, i.e. the preference for the order negation-verb to verb-negation, is stronger in negative imperatives (or prohibitives) than in negative declaratives. To test this hypothesis, we develop – in contrast to earlier research – a systematic, three-way classification of languages, which is also operationalized as a ranking capturing the overall level of strength of the principle. This classification is applied to a genealogically and geographically balanced sample of 179 languages. In addition, we consider the role of several factors known to correlate with the position of negation – like its form, constituent order and areality. However, no cross-linguistic evidence is found for any difference in negation’s position between negative imperatives and negative declaratives. We therefore conclude that the hypothesis should be rejected.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Objects of study
    • 2.2Sample
    • 2.3Analytical framework
    • 2.4Statistics
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1In general
    • 3.2Reference point
    • 3.3Macro-area
    • 3.4Constituent order
    • 3.5Form
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (72)
References
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2010. Imperatives and commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Alcázar, Asier & Mario Saltarelli. 2014. The syntax of imperatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baayen, R. Harald. 2008. Analyzing linguistic data: A practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beffa, Marie-Lise & Roberte Hamayon. 1975. Éléments de grammaire mongole. Paris: Association Jean-Favard.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, D. Richard. 1994. Kresh. In Peter Kahrel & René van den Berg (eds.), Typological studies in negation, 163–189. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campbell, Eric. 2017. Commands in Zenzontepec Chatino (Otomanguean). In Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald & Robert M. W. Dixon (eds.), Commands: A cross-linguistic typology, 106–126. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carlson, Robert. 1994. A grammar of Supyire. Berlin: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Suk-Jin. 1996. Korean. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conrad, Robert J. & Kepas Wogiga. 1991. An outline of Bukiyip grammar. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Curnow, Timothy J. 1997. A grammar of Awa Pit (Cuaiquer): An indigenous language of South-western Colombia. Canberra: Australian National University PhD dissertation.
Cutler, Anne, John A. Hawkins & Gary Gilligan. 1985. The suffixing preference: A processing explanation. Linguistics 23(5). 723–758. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dahl, Östen. 1979. Typology of sentence negation. Linguistics 17(1–2). 79–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2010. Typology of negation. In Laurence R. Horn (ed.), The expression of negation, 9–38. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Devos, Maud & Johan van der Auwera. 2013. Jespersen cycles in Bantu: Double and triple negation. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 34(2). 205–274. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Clerck, Bernard. 2006. The imperative in English: A corpus-based, pragmatic analysis. Ghent: Ghent University PhD dissertation.
De Vries, Lourens. 1993. Forms and functions in Kombai, an Awyu language of Irian Jaya. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2004. A short grammar of Inanwatan, an endangered language of the Bird’s Head of Papua, Indonesia. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dryer, Matthew S. 1989. Large linguistic areas and language sampling. Studies in Language 13(2). 257–292. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2009. Verb-object-negative order in Central Africa. In Norbert Cyffer, Erwin Ebermann & Georg Ziegelmeyer (eds.), Negation Patterns in West African Languages and Beyond, 307–362. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
2013a. Order of negative morpheme and verb. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 28 February 2019.)
2013b. Position of negative morpheme with respect to subject, object and verb. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last 11 March 2019.)
2013c. Negative morphemes. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 12 March 2019.)
2013d. Genealogical language list. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 20 March 2019.)
2013e. Order of object and verb. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 18 April 2019.)
Dutton, Tom E. 1996. Koiari. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Eriksen, Pål K. 2005. On the typology and the semantics of non-verbal predication. Oslo: University of Oslo PhD dissertation.
Foley, William A. 1991. The Yimas language of New Guinea. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gruzdeva, Ekaterina. 2001. Imperative sentences in Nivkh. In Viktor S. Xrakovskij (ed.), Typology of imperative constructions, 59–78. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guirardello, Raquel. 1999. A reference grammar of Trumai. Houston: Rice University PhD dissertation.
Güldemann, Tom. 2008. The Macro-Sudan belt: Towards identifying a linguistic area in northern sub-Saharan Africa. In Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds.), A linguistic geography of Africa, 151–185. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hall, Robert A. 1953. Haitian Creole; Grammar, texts, vocabulary. Philadelphia: American Folkore Society.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Horn, Laurence R. 1989. A natural history of negation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Idiatov, Dmitry. 2018. An areal typology of clause-final negation in Africa: Language dynamics in space and time. In Daniël Van Olmen, Tanja Mortelmans & Frank Brisard (eds.), Aspects of linguistic variation, 115–163. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Janhunen, Juha A. 2018. Postverbal negation in the Transeurasian belt. Paper presented at the 20th International Congress of Linguists, Cape Town, July.
Janssen, Dirk P., Balthasar Bickel & Fernando Zúñiga. 2006. Randomization tests in language typology. Linguistic Typology 10(3). 419–440. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jary, Mark & Mikhail Kissine. 2014. Imperatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. When terminology matters: The imperative as a comparative concept. Linguistics 54(1). 119–148. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jespersen, Otto. 1917. Negation in English and other languages. Copenhagen: A.F. Høst.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koehn, Edward & Sally Koehn. 1986. Apalaí. In Desmond C. Derbyshire & Geoffrey K. Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian languages 11, 33–127. Berlin: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuipers, Aert H. 1974. The Shuswap language. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kuzmenkov, Evgenij A. 2001. Imperative verb forms in Mongolian. In Viktor S. Xrakovskij (ed.), Typology of imperative constructions, 98–105. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Louwerse, John. 1988. The morphosyntax of Una in relation to discourse structure. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miestamo, Matti. 2005. Standard negation: The negation of declarative verbal main clauses in a typological perspective. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miestamo, Matti, Dik Bakker & Antti Arppe. 2016. Sampling for variety. Linguistic Typology 20(2). 233–296. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murane, Elizabeth. 1974. Daga grammar: From morpheme to discourse. Norman: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nedjalkov, Igor. 1997. Evenki. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nichols, Johanna, Alena Witzlack-Makarevich & Balthasar Bickel. 2013. The AUTOTYP genealogy and geography database: 2013 release. <[URL]> (last access 12 April 2019)
Nikolaeva, Irina. 2007. Constructional economy and nonfinite independent clauses. In Irina Nikolaeva (ed.), Finiteness: Theoretical and empirical foundations, 138–180. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, John R. 1985. Negation. In Timothy Shopen (ed.), Language typology and syntactic description, Vol 1: Clause structure, 197–242. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Payne, Doris L. & Thomas E. Payne. 1990. Yagua. In Desmond C. Derbyshire & Geoffrey K. Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian languages, Vol 21, 249–474. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Popjes, Jack & Jo Popjes. 1986. Canela-Krahô. In Desmond C. Derbyshire & Geoffrey K. Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian languages, Vol 11, 128–199. Berlin: De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Quigley, Susan R. 2002. The Awara verbal system. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota PhD dissertation.
Rasinger, Sebastian M. 2013. Quantitative research in linguistics: An introduction. London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
R Core Team. 2019. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. <[URL]> (last access 8 April 2019)
Roberts, John R. 2016. Amele RRG grammatical sketch. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rumsey, Alan. 1982. An intra-sentence grammar of Ungarinjin, North-Western Australia. Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rupp, James E. 1989. Lealao Chinantec syntax. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Santandrea, Stefano. 1976. The Kresh group, Aja and Baka languages (Sudan): A linguistic contribution. Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schalley, Ewa. 2008. Imperatives: A typological approach. Antwerp: University of Antwerp PhD dissertation.
Schwegler, Armin. 2018. Negation in Palenquero: Syntax, pragmatics, and change in progress. In Viviane Déprez & Fabiola Henri (eds.), Negation and negative concord: The view from Creoles, 257–288. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, Laurence C. 1965. A Vietnamese grammar. Seattle: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van der Auwera, Johan. 2006. Why languages prefer prohibitives. Journal of Foreign Languages 161(1). 2–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van der Auwera, Johan & Ludo Lejeune. 2013. The prohibitive. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 18 March 2019.)
van der Auwera, Johan, Nina Dobrushina & Valentin Goussev. 2013. Imperative-hortative systems. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. [URL] (last access 18 March 2019.)
Van Olmen, Daniël. 2010. Typology meets usage: The case of the prohibitive infinitive in Dutch. Folia Linguistica 44(2). 471–508. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Olmen, Daniël & Johan van der Auwera. 2016. Modality and mood in Standard Average European. In Jan Nuyts & Johan van der Auwera (eds.), The Oxford handbook of modality and mood, 362–384. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Veselinova, Ljuba. 2013. Negative existentials: A cross-linguistic study. Italian Journal of Linguistics 25(1). 107–146.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Voorhoeve, Clemens L. 1965. The Flamingo Bay dialect of the Asmat language. ‘s Gravenhage: Nijhoff.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vossen, Frens. 2016. On the typology of the Jespersen cycles. Antwerp: University of Antwerp PhD dissertation.
Weir, E. M. Helen. 1994. Nadëb. In Peter Kahrel & René van den Berg (eds.), Typological studies in negation, 291–323. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zamponi, Raoul. 2002. Notes on Betoi verb morphology. International Journal of American Linguistics 68(2). 216–241. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Maj-Britt Mosegaard Hansen & Richard Waltereit
2025. Cyclic Change in Grammar and Discourse, DOI logo
Van Olmen, Daniël
2024. Specialization and finiteness (a)symmetry in imperative negation: with a comparison to standard negation. Linguistic Typology 28:2 ► pp. 205 ff. DOI logo
Krasnoukhova, Olga, Johan van der Auwera & Sietze Norder
2023. Standard negation: the curious case of South America. Linguistic Typology 27:3 ► pp. 629 ff. DOI logo
Rosés Labrada, Jorge Emilio
2021. Synchrony and diachrony of postverbal negation in Jodï-Sáliban. Studies in Language 45:3 ► pp. 621 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 2 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue