Thursday, January 3, 2013

Detail #21: Implicit negation vs. Double negation

Certain verbs tend to have a sort of negative component to their meaning:

  • lack
  • forget
  • miss (both main meanings)
  • ...
In a language where double negation does not cancel out, how about having negation not affect these at all (since the negation doesn't cancel an implicit negation assumed to be part of the verb), and require other verbs instead to mark the genuine negation of them.

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