HOW IS NEGATIVE MEANING EXPRESSED?

The negative particle NOT is attached to the OPERATOR:

She may NOT have got married
*She may have NOT got married
Negative forms are used: no, none, no one, nobody, nothing, nowhere, never
Negation is implied in the meaning of the word: deny, doubt, without, dislike,
etc.
Words negative in meaning, not in form, are used: seldom, rarely, barely,
scarcely, hardly, little, etc.
When initial in the sentence, these words trigger INVERSION:
Never have we seen such a difficult test

EFFECTS OF NEGATION:

Negation invites the use of indefinite NON-ASSERTIVE forms: any, anyone,

anybody, anything, anywhere, ever, yet;
A negative sentence receives a positive tag question;
Initial negative elements trigger inversion
Negation may cause AMBIGUITY

SCOPE OF NEGATION

Scope of negation is the stretch of language over which the negative

meaning operates
Indefinite non-asertive forms must be used under the scope of negation
Scope of negation includes the FOCUS of negation: the element on which
main negation is located

SCOPE OF NEGATION AND AMBIGUITY

Scope of negation starts with the negative form and ends at the end of the
clause BUT it can include the final adverbial or not:
o I did not leave Neo because of his character
I stayed with him because of his character
o I did not leave Neo because of his character
I left him but for some other reasons

ALTERNATIVE NEGATION IN ENGLISH VS MULTIPLE NEGATION IN POLISH

In English, it is possible to negate either the verb or some other element of the
sentence = alternative negation: I dont have any money = I have no money
In Polish negating the verb nevertheless requires negating other sentence
elements = multiple negation (forbidden in English): Nie mam nic do dodania;
Nie widziaam nikogo; Nikt mi nic nie powiedzia;
Translate into English in several different ways:
NIKT NIGDY NIGDZIE NIC TAKIEGO NIE WIDZIA
WHEN IS MULTIPLE NEGATION ACCEPTED AS STANDARD?

Nobody did nothing = Everybody did something

He is not nobody!
We cant just not go to the meeting
Not many people have no family at all

Negating quantifiers:

If a quantifying expression is negated, the meaning is slightly different from the

alternative negative version of the sentence:
o Many students did not come
o Not many students came
o All cats dont like water
o Not all cats like water

NEGATION AND THE MODAL VERBS: AUXILIARY NEGATION

Some modal verbs take the negative particle NOT, and their modality is
negated:
o I can swim I cannot swim; (ability no ability)
o I will help him I will not help him (willingness unwillingness)
o She may go She may not go (permission lack of permission)

NEGATION AND THE MODAL VERBS: MAIN VERB NEGATION

Other modals do not accept NOT, which is attached to the MAIN VERB, and
the modality is not negated:
o She may be at home She may not be at home (probably she is
probably she is not)
o I must go I must not go (obligation to go obligation to stay)