> On Sunday 23 February 2003 9:48 pm, David Barrow wrote:
> > Muke Tever wrote:
> > > From: "David Barrow" <davidab@...>
> > >
> > > > However, if people think about it, there is something illogical about
> > > > the construction "i don't think........" rather than "I
> > > > think......not..."; after
> > >
> > > all if
> > >
> > > > we have an opinion or belief about a negative we still have an opinion
> > > > or
> > >
> > > belief,
> > >
> > > > don't we?
> > > >
> > > > Spanish also has both the logical "creo que no..." and the illogical
> > > > "no creo que..."
> > >
> > > I dont think it's *illogical* to say "I dont think [X]" ... taking this
> > > sentence as an example, I'm trying to say that while you may think it's
> > > illogical, that's not what I think.
> > >
> > > If the more common use of "I don't think [X]" is in contradiction to what
> > > someone _does_ think, it's likely that the use of the phrase'll just
> > > carry over to different kinds of sentences (if there are any... I cant
> > > atm.. just woke up).
> > >
> > > *Muke!
> > > --
> > >
http://www.frath.net/
> >
> > I don't think she knows
> > I think she doesn´t know
> >
> > or your example
> >
> > I don't think it's illogical
> > I think it's not illogical
> >
> > They're illogical because "not" is negating the wrong verb
> >
> > compare
> > I don't insist you do that
> > I insist you don't do that
>
> But 'insist' has more than two possibilities. a) insist - positive b)don't
> insist - negative c)insist you don't - oppositional(I'm making up terms on
> the spot here, I'd be grateful if someone could help me out)
>
> However, with 'think', you only have two possibilities. Because if you don't
> think one is true, you obviously think it's not true. Therefore, the
> Negative and Oppositional have merged, and we just have picked the negative
> as the default.
>
> It's perfectly logical.
>