grammaticalization of negatives/interrogatives

[Tom Givon]

The Semitic data Matthew Anstey brought up are right on. What makes the Semitic data even more interesting, in the apparent etymological connection between the interrogative /'ay-/ and the NEG-existential /'ay-n/ "there
isn't", is the possibility that/-n/ in /'ay-n/ is a reflex of an old copula (as in the Hebrew /hin-(neh)/, Arabic /kan-/ or the Amharic /na-w/, /na-bbara/ etc).  Both "there is" and "there isn't", much like cleft copular
constructions, are notorious graveyards for old morphologies that had disappeared elsewhere (as in the Spanish 'hay', which preserves the old possessive use of 'haber', replaced elsewhere by 'tener'). Finding a reflex of an
old copula in "there isn't" thus parallels the finding of a reflexe of the old NEG-marker there.  TG

==========================

"Anstey, Matthew" wrote:

> Hi Matti,
>
> Many semitic languages show a probable development from an interrogative particle of place "where is ...?" to an negative existential "there is not ...". Similar to English, "Where's Pete?" that implies "Pete is not here".
>
> Unfortunately, the actual grammaticalisation paths are hard to determine. But the examples speak for themselves:
>
> Akkadian: ayyaanum "where?" ; yaanu "there is not"
> Ugaritic: ?iy "where?" ; ?in "there is not"
> Arabic: ?ayna "where?" ; ?in "not"
> Biblical Hebrew: ?eey, ?ayyeeh, ?áyin, ?aan "where?" ; ?eeyn "there is not", ?iiy "not"
> Moabite:  ?n "there is not"
> Punic: ynny "there is not"
> El-Amarna Canaanite: ayakam, ayami "where?"
> Aramaic: ?ayin "where? ; ?ayin "there is not"
> Phoenician: ?y "there is not"
>
> There are many other similar ?y(n) words, meaning either "where?" and/or "there is not".
>
> Sorry I can't be more specific. A specialist in comparative Semitics would be able to shed much more light on this!
>
> Cheers,
> Matthew
>
> Mr Matthew Anstey
> Charles Sturt University, School of Theology, Sessional Lecturer
> http://www.stmarksntc.org.au/html/staff/anstey.html
>
> Vrije Universiteit, PhD candidate
> St Mark's National Theological Centre
> 15 Blackall St
> Barton ACT 2600
> AUSTRALIA
>
> Ph:  +61 (0)2 6273 1572
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> Email: manstey at csu.edu.au
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu
> > [mailto:funknet-bounces at mailman.rice.edu] On Behalf Of Matti Miestamo
> > Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:34 AM
> > To: funknet; lingtyp
> > Subject: [FUNKNET] grammaticalization of negatives/interrogatives
> >
> > Dear List Members,
> >
> > A possible source for polar interrogative markers is the use
> > of negative markers as tag questions, and I'd be interested
> > to hear about any attested cases of such developments; Heine
> > & Kuteva briefly mention this possibility in their World
> > Lexicon of Grammaticalization but do not discuss any attested
> > cases (they do discuss the role of negation in the A-not-A
> > interrogative construction, but this is not what I'm after).
> >
> > I'd also be interested in any other cases of
> > grammaticalization where a negative marker has developed into
> > a question marker or vice versa.
> >
> > Thanks and best wishes,
> > Matti
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Matti Miestamo
> > <http://www.ling.helsinki.fi/~matmies/>
> >