Another case of negative = positive?

[Laurence Horn]

At 10:33 AM -0500 1/24/08, Mark Mandel wrote:
>Since "whether" implies "or not", I don't see this as neg=pos at all, more
>of choosing to preserve the other pole.
>
>m a m

Right; that was Jespersen's basic idea, although I'm not sure I'd put
it in terms of implication as much as neutralization or
compatibility.  In the "whether" context, as in questions and
question-based exclamatives, the contrast between "p" and "not-p" is
essentially neutralized, since there's no entailment/assertion of the
positive (or negative) clause.

LH

>
>On Jan 24, 2008 9:08 AM, Scot LaFaive <scotlafaive at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  >In the Great White North, I've heard both variants.
>>
>>  In the Lesser White North of WI I've also heard (and said) both, quite
>>  regularly I would say.
>>
>>  Scot
>>
>>
>>
>>  On Jan 23, 2008 9:22 PM, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
>>  > Subject:      Re: Another case of negative = positive?
>>  >
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > >I was chatting with a Texas relative and mentioned to him that he
>>  > >might want to read a particular book. He replied:
>>  > >
>>  > >a) "I'll see whether I _can't_ [keint] find it down here."
>>  > >
>>  > >Of course, he meant:
>>  > >
>>  > >b) "I'll see whether I _can_ [kin] find it down here."
>>  > >
>>  > >Except that that's not how people say it Down Home.
>>  > >
>>  > >-Wilson
>>  >
>>  > In the Great White North, I've heard both variants. Only with the
>>  > Canadian [ae], of course.
>>  >
>>  > James Harbeck.
>>
>
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