Good explanation. I've always thought it interesting that, in at least the 'regular' English grammar, double negatives are perceived as creating a positive, while in other languages and some dialects of English a double negative further emphasizes the negativity of the sentence. I wonder why that happened.
Thanks!! I saw that referenced while I was researching this topic, but the reference didn't go into great detail other than to tell me that double negatives are perceived as creating a positive in other languages. :) It is intriguing, but I stuck with how double negatives work in the broadest sense of English to keep things simple.
I only know Latin and ancient Greek, but basically if you use two types of negatives it just makes it more negative. The more negative words used, the more negative the connotation. Makes sense, I suppose.
But if you live in the South, you hear can't hardly on a regular basis. ;) I know it's wrong and might have use it before myself, but need to refrain from that.
I know! My step-mother (who was from Kentucky) had a favorite saying that she used all the time when dealing with a bunch of fighting kids, "I can't hardly stand it!" Hee! I meant to include that and forgot. And yeah, I still tend to use that phrase a lot too. *blush* But this just goes to show that it would be okay to use it in dialogue when writing a story. My mama said so. :)
I really like that icon too. I keep saying that I'm going to make a new one, but this one works, so I'll keep it. It's snatchable, by the way!
For some reason, I thought it was called "word doubling", but that's just my cruddy memory playing tricks on me. Oh, this is gonna drive me crazy until I find the term!
Reduplication refers to repeating the same word or morpheme in order to emphasize meaning or build a new word. Like saying pianissimo in Italian to refer to low sound volume, then pianississimo to mean really low sound volume.
I wonder if the nullifying effect of two negatives arose after people started to apply quantitative principles to language? It makes sense in mathematical logic, but is nonintuitive in oral usage.
Comments 6
Reply
But you know, I'm still intrigued...
Reply
Reply
But if you live in the South, you hear can't hardly on a regular basis. ;) I know it's wrong and might have use it before myself, but need to refrain from that.
Love the icon, btw.
Reply
I really like that icon too. I keep saying that I'm going to make a new one, but this one works, so I'll keep it. It's snatchable, by the way!
Thanks!!
Reply
For some reason, I thought it was called "word doubling", but that's just my cruddy memory playing tricks on me. Oh, this is gonna drive me crazy until I find the term!
Reduplication refers to repeating the same word or morpheme in order to emphasize meaning or build a new word. Like saying pianissimo in Italian to refer to low sound volume, then pianississimo to mean really low sound volume.
I wonder if the nullifying effect of two negatives arose after people started to apply quantitative principles to language? It makes sense in mathematical logic, but is nonintuitive in oral usage.
Reply
Leave a comment