What is negation?

Definition
	Negation is a morphosyntactic operation in which a lexical item denies or inverts the meaning of another lexical item or construction.
	A negator is a lexical item that expresses negation.

Examples: Lexical items (English)
	not non- un-

Concept module: negation
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): N
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004