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Natural Syntax is a developing deductive theory, a branch of Naturalness Theory. The naturalness judgements are couched in naturalness scales, which follow from the basic parameters (or 'axioms') listed at the beginning of the paper. The predictions of the theory are calculated in 'deductions', whose chief components are a pair of naturalness scales and the rules governing the alignment of corresponding naturalness values. Parallel and chiastic alignments are distinguished, in complementary distribution. Here almost only chiastic alignment is utilized, the latter being mandatory in derivations limited to unnatural environments. (This paper deals with negation, a phenomenon of low naturalness in Natural Syntax.) The exemplification is taken from English. The following pairs of variants are dealt with in deductions: (1) 'Is there somebody else? vs. 'Is there nobody else?' (2) 'Nobody' vs. 'nothing'. (3) 'She is not lazy' vs. 'She does not like ice cream'. (4) Absence vs. presence of 'not' with 'no' and 'any'. (5) The adverb 'nowhere' clause-initially and clause-internally. (6) 'Nowhere' expressing rest and movement. (7) Pronouns with 'no-' used as subject or object vs. pronouns with 'any-' used as object. (8) 'Not' with finite and non-finite verbs. (9) 'He hadn't' vs. 'he didn't have'. (10) The adverb 'never in situ' and 'ex situ'. (11) 'No money' vs. 'not any money' in conversation. (12) The determiner 'no' vs. the pronoun 'none'.
VERSITA Central European Science Publishers, Warsaw; http://versita.com, in cooperation with journal's owner - School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan.
VERSITA Central European Science Publishers, Warsaw; http://versita.com, in cooperation with journal's owner - School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan.