Partitives and negation : A cross-linguistic survey

The partitive of negation, i.e. partitive marking of NPs under the scope of negation, is known to be found in some European languages, namely Finnic, Baltic, Slavic and Basque. Based on an extensive and representative language sample, this typological study surveys the cross-linguistic distribution of the partitive of negation and other asymmetries between affirmatives and negatives in the marking of noun phrases. Instances of the partitive of negation realized as part of a case marking system are not found outside the European languages mentioned. Nonetheless, negation is found to affect the use of articles and other determiners, e.g., in Polynesian languages and in French, as well as the use of class markers, e.g., in some Bantu languages, in which the class markers in question actually function as determiners. Effects on focus marking and alignment are also observed in some languages. There is a pragmatically motivated tendency for an indefinite noun phrase to have a non-referential reading under the scope of negation. The grammatical effects of negation on the use of articles and determiners, including class markers, result in marking the noun phrases as non-referential and are thus motivated by the connection between negation and non-referentiality. It is further argued that partitives, too, contribute to marking noun phrases as non-referential, and the partitive of negation can thus be seen as arising from similar motivations.