[Lingtyp] Clauses without any overt predicative content (and negation)

[Adam Singerman]

Dear Bastian,

Your question reminded me of "unmarked" negation, which is rare but
still attested. In several (many? all?) Dravidian languages, negation
is indicated via a lack of mood morphology. So negation looks
unmarked; it is realized as the absence of normal mood marking.
Something similar happens in Karitiana, a Tupían language of Brazil,
as described by Luciana Storto: while Karitiana has an overt negative
particle, it's usually omitted; the negative interpretation arises
because a negated predicate lacks its normal inflectional trappings,
including mood. Luciana's paper on Karitiana negation is available in
the following volume from UBCWPL (I have a PDF copy available):

https://lingpapers.sites.olt.ubc.ca/opl-volumes/wa7-xweysas-i-nqwaluttensa-i-ucwalmicwa-he-loves-the-peoples-languages/

I know this isn't exactly what you asked about, but I hope these facts
prove useful to you anyway.

All the best,
Adam