Editing Double negative (section)

{{short description|Grammatical construction such as 'not nothing'}}
{{about|the linguistic concept|the logical concept|double negation||Double Negative (disambiguation)}}
{{English grammar}}
A '''double negative''' is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical [[Negation (linguistics)|negation]] are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence ("You're not unattractive" vs "You're attractive"). '''Multiple negation''' is the more general term referring to the occurrence of more than one negative in a [[clause]]. In some languages, double negatives cancel one another and produce an affirmative; in other languages, doubled negatives intensify the negation. Languages where multiple negatives affirm each other are said to have '''negative concord''' or '''emphatic negation'''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wouden|first1=Ton van der|title=Negative Contexts: Collocation, Polarity and Multiple Negation|date=November 2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134773336|page=243|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d72GAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA243|language=en}}</ref> [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[French language|French]], [[Russian language|Russian]],
[[Polish language|Polish]],
[[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]],
[[Greek language|Greek]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]],  [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Old English]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Afrikaans]], and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] are examples of negative-concord languages. This is also true of many vernacular dialects of [[English language|modern English]].<ref>[https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-double-negatives.html Examples of Double Negatives: From Sentences to Lyrics]</ref><ref>[https://www.grammarly.com/blog/3-things-you-must-know-about-double-negatives/ '''Grammarly blog''' (June, 2021), "Double Negatives: 3 Rules You Must Know"]</ref> [[Chinese language|Chinese]],<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.decodemandarinchinese.com/use-of-double-negative-in-chinese/ |title= The use of double negative in Chinese|website=Decode Mandarin Chinese|date=4 December 2016}}</ref> [[Latin]], [[German language|German]] (with some exceptions in various [[High German languages|High German dialects]]), [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]] and modern [[Standard English]]<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.niu.edu/writingtutorial/grammar/double-negatives.shtml |title= Double Negatives|website=NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY }}</ref> are examples of languages that do not have negative concord. [[Linguistic typology|Typologically]], negative concord occurs in a minority of languages.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van der Auwera |first1=Johan |last2=Van Alsenoy |first2=Lauren |date=2016-10-14 |title=On the typology of negative concord |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sl.40.3.01van |journal=Studies in Language |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=473–512 |doi=10.1075/sl.40.3.01van |hdl=10067/1361340151162165141 |issn=0378-4177|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=More Ado about Nothing: On the Typology of Negative Indefinites |date=2018-06-06 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004365445_005 |work=Pragmatics, Truth and Underspecification |pages=107–146 |publisher=BRILL |doi=10.1163/9789004365445_005 |isbn=9789004341999 |s2cid=201437288 |access-date=2022-06-02|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Languages without negative concord typically have [[negative polarity]] items that are used in place of additional negatives when another negating word already occurs.  Examples are "ever", "anything" and "anyone" in the sentence "I haven't ever owed anything to anyone" (cf. "I have<u>n't</u> <u>never</u> owed <u>nothing</u> to <u>no one</u>" in negative-concord dialects of English, and "{{lang|pt|<u>Nunca</u> devi <u>nada</u> a <u>ninguém</u>}}" in Portuguese, lit. "Never have I owed nothing to no one", "{{lang|it|<u>Non</u> ho <u>mai</u> dovuto <u>nulla</u> a <u>nessuno</u>}}" in Italian, or "{{lang|pl|<u>Nigdy</u> <u>nikomu</u> <u>niczego</u> <u>nie</u> zawdzięczałem}}" in Polish).  Negative polarity can be triggered not only by direct negatives such as "not" or "never", but also by words such as "doubt" or "hardly" ("I doubt he has ever owed anything to anyone" or "He has hardly ever owed anything to anyone").

Because standard English does not have negative concord but many [[list of dialects of English|varieties]] and [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] of English do, and because most English speakers can speak or comprehend across varieties and registers, double negatives as [[collocation]]s are functionally [[auto-antonym|auto-antonymic (contranymic)]] in English; for example, a collocation such as "ain't nothin" or "not nothing" can mean either "something" or "nothing", and its [[word-sense disambiguation|disambiguation]] is resolved via the [[context (language use)|contexts]] of register, variety, location, and content of ideas.

Stylistically, in English, double negatives can sometimes be used for affirmation (e.g. "I'm not feeling unwell"), an  [[understatement]] of the positive ("I'm feeling well").  The rhetorical term for this is [[litotes]].