Non-standard negation in South America: A literature research on negation in the indigenous languages of South America

Negation has interested many a linguist, there are books and papers on this subject, ranging from world-wide cross-linguistic typologies to small highly specific in-depth case studies. However, some parts of the world are as yet under-explored on the subject of negation. This thesis aims to fill in a few of those blanks and hopes to contribute to our understanding of non-standard negation in the indigenous languages of South America. The main focus lies on non-standard negation, such as negative existentials, prohibitives and privatives, and how these relate to the standard negation as expressed in the respective languages. These types of non-standard negation have not yet been fully investigated in South American languages and this study aims to reveal particular areas in which more research should be done. The study is based on a sample of 26 languages from different language families and geographical areas within South America. The approach to the topic is of a typological nature...Show moreNegation has interested many a linguist, there are books and papers on this subject, ranging from world-wide cross-linguistic typologies to small highly specific in-depth case studies. However, some parts of the world are as yet under-explored on the subject of negation. This thesis aims to fill in a few of those blanks and hopes to contribute to our understanding of non-standard negation in the indigenous languages of South America. The main focus lies on non-standard negation, such as negative existentials, prohibitives and privatives, and how these relate to the standard negation as expressed in the respective languages. These types of non-standard negation have not yet been fully investigated in South American languages and this study aims to reveal particular areas in which more research should be done. The study is based on a sample of 26 languages from different language families and geographical areas within South America. The approach to the topic is of a typological nature and focuses on synchronic data. The different types of negation can be diachronically related, however. Therefore, this study serves as a foundation for follow-up research examining the diachronic processes of negation in these language families.Show less

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Non-standard negation in South America: A literature research on negation in the indigenous languages of South America