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Linglib.Fragments.Japanese.Negation

Japanese Negation Fragment #

@cite{miestamo-2005} @cite{haspelmath-2013} @cite{dryer-haspelmath-2013}

Japanese expresses standard negation with the suffix -nai on the verb stem. This is asymmetric negation of type A/Fin+A/Cat: the negative form differs from the affirmative both in finiteness properties and in category marking.

Key asymmetries #

  1. A/Fin: The negative suffix -nai conjugates as an i-adjective, not as a verb. The lexical verb loses its finite inflection and appears as a stem (continuative/mizenkei form).

  2. A/Cat: Past tense in the negative is formed differently:

    • Affirmative past: stem + -ta (e.g., tabe-ta 'ate')
    • Negative past: stem + -naka-tta (e.g., tabe-naka-tta 'didn't eat')

    The negative past uses the -nai-nakatta i-adjective past, NOT the verbal past -ta directly on the stem.

Paradigm (taberu 'eat') #

FormAffirmativeNegative
Nonpasttabe-rutabe-nai
Pasttabe-tatabe-naka-tta
Gerundtabe-tetabe-naku-te
Conditionaltabe-rebatabe-nake-reba

-nai — Japanese's negative verbal suffix. Attaches to the verb stem (mizenkei/continuative form) and itself inflects as an i-adjective: tabe-nai (NPST), tabe-naka-tta (PST), tabe-naku-te (GER). The shift of TAM marking from the stem to the -nai suffix is the A/Fin+A/Cat asymmetry captured by japaneseNegDistribution below.

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    The Japanese negation system: a single verbal affix with rich morphological redistribution (see japaneseNegDistribution). The Fragment-side joint consumed by Phenomena/Negation/Studies/Dryer2013.lean.

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      A Japanese negation paradigm entry.

      • formLabel : String
      • affirmative : String
      • negative : String
      • glossAff : String
      • glossNeg : String
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              Paradigm for taberu 'eat' (ichidan/vowel-stem verb).

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                Paradigm for yomu 'read' (godan/consonant-stem verb). Shows the stem-final consonant alternation.

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                  Which morphological categories are affected by negation. In the affirmative, tense is marked directly on the verb stem. In the negative, tense is marked on the -nai suffix (i-adjective inflection), not on the verb stem.

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                          Verification #

                          theorem Fragments.Japanese.Negation.neg_past_differs_from_aff_past :
                          have affPast := (List.filter (fun (x : NegParadigmEntry) => x.formLabel == "past") taberuParadigm).head!; have negPast := affPast.negative; negPast = "tabenakatta" Fragments.Japanese.Negation.hasSubstr✝ negPast "nakatta" = true

                          The verb stem in negative forms differs from affirmative — asymmetry is visible: negative past tabenakatta does not contain the affirmative past suffix -ta directly on the stem.

                          All negative forms contain the negative morpheme na.

                          Japanese negation profile (WALS Ch 112-115 + Greco/JinKoenig fields).

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