(neither) nor

[Michael H Covarrubias]

I've been writing little bits and pieces about the "nor" recently. Interesting
to note that in addition to deletion of an initial negative there are times when
this coordination jumps categories. Sometimes it's a very awkward union as in:

"I have neither friends nor have enemies."

That sentence sounds very wrong partly because the first "neither" negates the
noun "friends" and the corresponding "nor" applies to the verb "have". But it's
probably _mostly_ because the second "have" sounds repetitive. Consider the
following that has a similar non-parallel structure but avoids the repetition:

"I have neither friends nor do I want any."

Not a great sentence but it's okay.

Correlating an adjective with a verb sounds fine too:

"She was neither present nor did we expect her."

And without the "neither" (which does suggest a parallel structure) A sentence
like this:

"No one called nor did they write"

is just barely noticeable in its non-parallel form. The "nor" coordinates a
negated verb with a negative quantifier, not with another verb. But it sounds
fine to me. All these sentences would sound fine with an initial negative other
than "neither".

"I have no friends nor enemies."
"I have no friends nor do I want any."
"She was not present nor did we expect her."

And of course we have assurance from Shakespeare that decent writers can use it
as well as the double negative.

The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
(Merchant of Venice)

This negative concord business is making a comeback. I wouldn't be surprised if
it doesn't become a clear standard again.

M


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   English Language & Linguistics
   Purdue University
   mcovarru at purdue.edu

   web.ics.purdue.edu/~mcovarru
  <http://wishydig.blogspot.com>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org