Brief characterization of the types of negation in Mehinaku (Arawak)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21165/el.v48i3.2136Keywords:
Arawak languages, Mehinaku language, standard negation, typology of negationAbstract
Negation manifests itself in languages in two ways: (i) as morphological construction or synthetic negation, and (ii) as syntactic construction or analytic negation. Typically, a language uses several strategies to derive a negative sentence, such as: (i) the occurrence of negative verbs; (ii) the use of negative particles; (iii) the use of affixes; (iv) and the occurrence of negative morphemes with nominal properties. In this paper, we present a brief analysis of the ways to express negation in the Mehinaku language, a language of the Arawak family. In addition to the standard negation, a description of the prohibitive construction, existential negation, and the use of the prefix {ma-}, a derivational suffix that has its origin in the proto-form * ma-, and the ‘attributive’ {ka-}. The analysis is based on primary data collected in some fieldwork with speakers of the Mehinaku language, from the Utawana and Kaupüna villages, in the Xingu National Park, Mato Grosso.
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