Historical aspects of standard negation in Semitic / / by Ambjörn Sjörs.

• Superior document: Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, Volume 91
• VerfasserIn: Sjörs, Ambjörn,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2018.; ©2018
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics ; Volume 91.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (478 pages) :; illustrations, tables.

In Historical Aspects of Standard Negation in Semitic Ambjörn Sjörs investigates the grammar of standard negation in a wide selection of Semitic languages. The bulk of the investigation consists of a detailed analysis of negative constructions and is based on a first-hand examination of the examples in context. The main issues that are investigated in the book relate to the historical change of the expression of verbal negation in Semitic and the reconstruction of the genealogical relationship of negative constructions. It shows how negation is constantly renewed from the reanalysis of emphatic negative constructions, and how structural asymmetries between negative constructions and the corresponding affirmative constructions arise from the linguistically conservative nature of negative vis-à-vis affirmative clauses.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright page -- Preface -- List of Tables and Diagrams -- Abbreviations, Terminology, and Symbols -- Introduction -- Preliminaries -- On the Grammar of Negation -- Presentation and Analysis of the Material -- Old Assyrian and East Semitic -- Ugaritic -- Standard Biblical Hebrew -- Phoenician -- Aramaic, Deir Alla, and Sam’alian -- Quran Arabic -- Minaic, Sabaic, and Ancient South Arabian -- Jibbali and Modern South Arabian -- Tigre and Tigrinya -- Amharic and Harari -- Gafat, Kistane, and Peripheral Western Gurage -- Concluding Discussion -- Innovative Expressions of Negation -- Other Negators and Negative Asymmetries -- Reconstruction.