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<p>Dear Joe, <br>
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<div>Personally, I do not regard these uses of lexical negation as expletive but rather as contributing a construction with a high-degree value that can be paraphrased as follows: 'this object is (valuable) to a degree that I (speaker) cannot (even) express',
or '<span><b>no</b> matter how hard I try to estimate how much X is P, I<b> can't</b> express it'
<span>(P for predicate)</span>.</span></div>
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Note that in the examples I can analyse (Germanic, English and also French '<i>in-estim-able</i>'), this lexical negation is combined with a suffix (cf. Germ. -<i>bar</i>, Eng. < Fr. -<i>able</i>) which contributes to the meaning of the construction because
it expresses evaluation about capacity ‘which can be P’ .<br>
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<div>Best<br>
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<font size="2">Stéphane ROBERT</font>
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<p><font size="2"><a href="https://llacan.cnrs.fr" class="OWAAutoLink" id="LPlnk617633">https://llacan.cnrs.fr</a><br>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>De :</b> Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org> de la part de Hannu Tommola via Lingtyp <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org><br>
<b>Envoyé :</b> vendredi 16 août 2024 11:03<br>
<b>À :</b> <LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>; Pun Ho Lui<br>
<b>Objet :</b> Re: [Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation</font>
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Hi,</div>
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<br>
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there seems to be a tendency to lexicalize 'invaluable' in an intensifying non-negative meaning (cf. Russian
<i>bes-cennyj</i> 'invaluable, priceless', which has an obsolete meaning 'valueless' =
<i>ne-cennyj</i>). This tendency goes back to the verb 'value' that has, in various languages, both the meanings 1) 'estimate', 2) 'regard/estimate highly'. Cf. also German
<i>un-schätzbar</i> 'invaluable' < <i>schätzen</i> 1. 'to regard highly, respect', 2. 'value, estimate'; the same applies to Swedish
<i>o-skattbar</i> < <i>(upp)skatta</i>.</div>
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<br>
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Best wishes,</div>
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Hannu Tommola</div>
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>Lähettäjä:</b> Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces@listserv.linguistlist.org> käyttäjän Pun Ho Lui via Lingtyp <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org> puolesta<br>
<b>Lähetetty:</b> perjantai 16. elokuuta 2024 3.22<br>
<b>Vastaanottaja:</b> <LINGTYP@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> <lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org><br>
<b>Aihe:</b> [Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation</font>
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<div style="line-break:after-white-space">Dear linguists,
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<div>I am recently interested in lexical items that consist of a derivational negative affix which may not contribute a negative meaning (i.e. being expletive). </div>
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<div>For instance, <i>in-valuable</i> ~ <i>valuable</i>. Other possible examples would be 無價 ‘invaluable [lit. NEG value’ in Mandarin, and
<i>sewashi-nai</i> ‘restless’ ~ <i>sewashii</i> ‘busy’ in Japanese.</div>
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<div>I have looked into a number of (decent) grammar descriptions but have no luck.</div>
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<div>I am wondering if you know of any language with similar items.</div>
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<div>Thank you.</div>
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<div>Warmest,</div>
<div>Pun Ho Lui Joe</div>
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