On the Analysis of Negation in English Teaching

eyxd@overseaen.comISSN 1009- -5039htp://ww.overseaen.comOverseas English海外英语Tel:+86- -551-65690811 65690812On the Analysis of Negation in English Teaching朱虹(辽宁师范大学外国语学院，辽宁大连116029)Abstract: The negation in English is very complicated. It cannot be separated from the other parts of the whole sentence. Wehave to take all the factors of the whole sentence into account to understand the negation in English. This paper probes into theclassification and the construction of the negation. It aims at providing a detailed analysis of negation in English teaching.中图分类号:H314文献标识码:A文 章编号:1009- -5039(2014)07-0029- 02Sentences in all languages can be divided into two kinds ac- 1.4 The double or multiple negationcording to the speaker’s semantic meaning: positive and negativeOccasionally two negatives occur in the same sentence, eg. Isentence. English, as many other languages,also has negation.can't not obey the rules(1 have to obey the rules.) Here the doubleHowever, in English negation is not simple addition of negativenegation is a strong form of positive. It has an implication of the ob-word. It involves many factors. So it is significant to make a surveyof negation in English.of multiple negation, where more than two negative forms are used.1 The Classification of Negation in EnglishBut the meaning is that of a single negative. e.g. No one never saidConcerning the classification of negation in English, many lin-nothing(in standard English: No one ever said anything.)guists have made the dfferent citera of the lasication. Howev- 2 The Construction of Negation in Englisher, these criteria are open to revise. Recently some linguists set an-other criterion: the degree of the negative semantic meaning from2.1 The construction of negation with negative wordthe point of view of the functional grammar. According to the de-2.1.1 The negation with negative word in the declarative sen-gree of the negative semantie meaning, we can classify the negationin English into four kinds: the strong form, the weak form, the im-tencesplied form and the double or muliple negation.1.1 The strong form of negationAs we have seen, a sentence can be made negative by“not”,which we may call a negative word.“Not”is often inserted betweenThe strong form of negation refers to a negative sentence withthe operator and the predication. e.g. We may not win the game. Ina negative word. The strong form of negation expresses the absolutenegation. In English there are mainly ten negative words: no, not,serve as operator. When there is nol, the auxiliary do, does or did isnor, never, none, no one, nobody, nothing, nowhere and neither. Theintroduced. The abbreviated form “n’ t”is often used in the oralstrong form of negation often occurs in the declarative sentences.English and inform style of written English.1.2 The weak form of negation2) The assertive forms and the non assertive formsThe assertive forms of words seldom occur in the negative sen-The weak form of negation in English refers to a negative sen-tence without a negative word but with a negative adverb or a nega-tences, such as some, somewhere, somelhing, somebody, someone, al-tive affixed word. The most common negative adverbs used in theready, also, ever. In negation we often use the non- assertive forms,weak form are hrls, sldom, sarcely, barely, rarely, elc. The such as any, anyone, anychere; ansbods, ywe change a sentence from positive to negative, we should changeweak form of negation expresses the approximate negation.the assertive forms to the non- assertive forms. In some negative1.3 The implied form of negationsentences, the negative particle and the non- assertive form canany negative word, negative adverb or negative affixed word which3) The negation of modal auxiliarieshas negative meaning in some degree. This form is often used inThe negation of modal auxiliaries requires some attention. Inthe subjunctive moods, questions, imperatives and idioms. e.g. I that the scope of the negation may or may not include the meaningwish I could fly. (I cannot fly.)of the auxiliary itself. We therefore distinguish auxiliary negation中国煤化工MYHCNMHG收稿日期:2013-12-28修回日期:2014-01-10.作者简介:朱虹( 1979-),女,黑龙江木兰县人,讲师,硕士,主要研究方向为英语语言学,英语教学法。本栏目责任编辑:唐-东Overseas English海外英语2014年04月and main verb negation. Certain auxiliaries (can and need) follow 2.2 The construction of negation with negative prefixes.the pattern of auxiliary negation, while others (will,Some negation is constructed by negative prefixes. The mostfollow that of main verb negation. May belongs to the former groupfrequently used negative afixes are un-, non-, dis-, in-, mal-,in its“permission” sense, but to the latter group in the sense ofmis-, anti-, counter- , -less, etc. Non- can normally be regarded as“possibility" . Must not is not used at all in the“necessity" sense.corresponding to clause negation: non -smoher means one who doesWe often use cannot in the sense of“ impossibility". A commonnot smoke. It frequently contrasts with un- in expressing binaryauxiliary negation of must is needn' l which has two meanings ofcontrast, rather than the opposite end of a scale.non- obligation and non- necessity. On the whole, the past tensenegative auxiliaries such as mightn' 1, couldn ' I, twouldn' t and2.3 The construction of negation with prepositionsshouldn' t follow the same pattern as their present tense equiva-Sometimes the negation can be realized by the preposition or .lents.prepositional phrase. It often occurs in some fixed idiomns. e.g This2.1.2 The negation with negative word in the interrogative sen- apple is beyond my reach. (I cannot reach this apple.)tences3 ConclusionThe most commonly used way of negation in questions is to in-Although negation is also applied in other languages, the nega-sert a negative word after the first auxiliary verb. Negative orienta- tion constructions seem to be very different in English from thosetion is found in questions which contain a negative form of one in other languages. Accordingly, English learners in China oftenkind or another. Negative orientation is complicated, however, by make various mistakes in negation in English. Therefore it is veryan element of surprise or disbelief which adds implications of posi- significant to analyze the negation in English teaching.tive meaning.参考文献:2.1.3 The negation with negative word in the imperative sen-[1]张道真.实用英语语法[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2004:178-180.In the first person impenatives the negation has two pssbili [2] 李曙英英汉否定表达比较及翻译[]海外英语,2013(3):150-ties: to insert“nol”after “let' s”or to put“don't ”before“let's”.152,165.To negate the second and the third person imperatives, one simply[5]张晓霞.英汉形态层面上的显性否定对比[].海外英语,2013adds an, an initial “Don' t”and replace assertive items by non- asser-(18):274- -275.tive forms where necessary.[4]夸克英语语法大全[M]..上海:华东师范大学出版社,2008:194-195.中国煤化工MYHCNMHG本栏目责任编辑:唐-东