[Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation

[Bastian Persohn]

I’m not sure that Untiefe is synonymous with Tiefe, or Unmenge with Menge. In my intuition Un-menge has an evaluative ring to it (‚an undesirably large or over-the-top amount‘), and DWDS translates it as ’sehr große, übergroße Menge’ [very big, unnecessary big amount]’. Similarly, Un-tiefe usually refers to an extreme depth (cf. DWDS: ‚abgrundartige, sehr große Tiefe in einem Gewässer [abysm-like, very large depth in a body of water]‘.

Their closest relatives are probably found in instances like Un-fall ‚accident‘ < Fall ‚case‘, i.e. ‚the undesirable case‘ or Un-tier ‚monster‘, lit ‚un-animal‘. What all these have in common is a negative element, albeit in the subjective rather than the material domain.

Best,
Bastian 




> Am 16.08.2024 um 13:10 schrieb Zingler, Tim via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>:
> 
> German has Un-tiefe, which essentially means the same as Tiefe 'depth'. Or Un-menge, largely synonymous with Menge 'mass, crowd, great amount.' These seem perfectly analogous to valuable-invaluable.
> 
> I'm sure there's more, but I don't know if that prefix is cognate with the negator found in, for instance, Un-freiheit 'unfreedom.' So, there are probably complications involved if one were to analyze that more seriously.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Tim
> Von: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> im Auftrag von ROBERT Stephane via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> Gesendet: Freitag, 16. August 2024 11:48
> An: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
> Betreff: Re: [Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation
>  
> Dear Joe, 
> 
> 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 'no matter how hard I try to estimate how much X is P, I can't express it'(P for predicate).
> 
> Note that in the examples I can analyse (Germanic, English and also French 'in-estim-able'), this lexical negation is combined with a suffix (cf. Germ. -bar, Eng. < Fr. -able) which contributes to the meaning of the construction because it expresses evaluation about capacity ‘which can be P’ .
> 
> Best
> 
> Stéphane ROBERT
> https://llacan.cnrs.fr <https://llacan.cnrs.fr/>
> 
> De : Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> de la part de Hannu Tommola via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> Envoyé : vendredi 16 août 2024 11:03
> À : <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>; Pun Ho Lui
> Objet : Re: [Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation
>  
> Hi,
> 
> there seems to be a tendency to lexicalize 'invaluable' in an intensifying non-negative meaning (cf. Russian bes-cennyj 'invaluable, priceless', which has an obsolete meaning 'valueless' = ne-cennyj). 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 un-schätzbar 'invaluable' < schätzen 1. 'to regard highly, respect', 2. 'value, estimate'; the same applies to  Swedisho-skattbar < (upp)skatta.
> 
> Best wishes,
> Hannu Tommola
> Lähettäjä: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> käyttäjän Pun Ho Lui via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> puolesta
> Lähetetty: perjantai 16. elokuuta 2024 3.22
> Vastaanottaja: <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org>
> Aihe: [Lingtyp] Expletive derivational negation
>  
> 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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