Negation (was Re: Sad translation)

Ed Heil wrote:
>
> Really?  Based on mental space mechanics a la Gilles Fauconnier, it
> seems very possible for "nobody" to do something -- the something
> occurs in the mental space of the negation.
Well, every language has its own way of viewing the world.  A lot of
natlangs require double negation, after all, e.g., Spanish _No veo a
nadie_ (I don't see nobody).  Some English dialects require
constructions like "nobody doesn't (or don't) like me".

> Perhaps Charyan verbs
> must be marked with a negation marker to be used in negation-spaces at
> all, unlike English verbs, which don't care.
I s'pose that's one way of viewing mandatory redundant negation,
especially since Charyan seems to use an inflection for negation.

--
"[H]e axed after eggys: And the goode wyf answerde, that she coude not
speke no Frenshe ... And then at last a nother sayd that he woulde haue
hadde eyren: then the goode wyf sayd that she vnderstood hym wel." --
William Caxton
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