Exploring the syntax/diachrony of a recent type of negation in BP

In this squib, I describe a novel type of negation in Brazilian Portuguese that has been found in oral/informal speech, whereby the negative marker não appears between an auxiliary and a lexical verb. I advance an analysis based on the nanosyntax approach to syntax in order to explain this low posit...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Cyrino, Sonia
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade de Brasília (UnB)
Repositorio:Caderno de Squibs
Idioma:portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/57182
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.unb.br/index.php/cs/article/view/57182
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:negation
nanosyntax
Brazilian Portuguese
diachronic syntax
Descripción
Sumario:In this squib, I describe a novel type of negation in Brazilian Portuguese that has been found in oral/informal speech, whereby the negative marker não appears between an auxiliary and a lexical verb. I advance an analysis based on the nanosyntax approach to syntax in order to explain this low position of negation, uncommon in other Romance languages. Given its properties, I propose that this new kind of negation is best analyzed as Focus Negation, merged in the low left periphery of the clause. Additionally, I present my hypothesis on why this type of focus negation may have evolved and became possible in the language.