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Re: I've'nt (was: Re: Quick Intro)

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Monday, February 24, 2003, 7:16
On Monday 24 February 2003 12:34 am, David Barrow wrote:
> Joe wrote: > > 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. > > I could lack the opinion one way or the other as to whether something is > true or not, which would be the logical interpretation of I don't think > > My point is that we use I don't think not to indicate the absence of an > opinion but the presence of one.
In Old English, 'I don't think not' would indicate the absence of an opinion/belief.