Negation

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 10 contrasts the different ways in which Japanese and Korean negate sentences. Japanese uses a morphological method; i.e., a morphologically bound negator is attached to a verb. To negate adjectival or nominal predicates, a negative form of the copula is used. Korean utilizes two different ways of sentential negation: long form of negation (LFN) with a negative verb, and short form of negation (SFN) with a negative particle. The type of sentential negation employed, i.e., LFN or SFN, or both, also varies depending on the syntactic category of the predicate in Korean. For example, verbs and adjectives can be negated with LFN, whereas the copula (a nominal predicate) cannot. Japanese and Korean have similar sets of Negative Polarity Items (NPIs) but differ from each other in some respects, e.g., Japanese disallows a certain type of Multiple NPI Constructions.