[Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation

Pun Ho Lui luiph001 at gmail.com
Fri Aug 16 00:22:03 UTC 2024


Dear linguists,

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). 

For instance, in-valuable ~ valuable. Other possible examples would be 無價 ‘invaluable [lit. NEG value’ in Mandarin, and sewashi-nai ‘restless’ ~ sewashii ‘busy’ in Japanese.

I have looked into a number of (decent) grammar descriptions but have no luck.

I am wondering if you know of any language with similar items.

Thank you.

Warmest,
Pun Ho Lui Joe
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