Negative Concord as an English 'Vernacular Universal': Social History and Linguistic Typology

Author / Editor
Nevalainen, Terttu.

Title
Negative Concord as an English 'Vernacular Universal': Social History and Linguistic Typology

Published
Journal of English Linguistics 34 (2006): 257-78.

Description
Addresses historical sociolinguistic trends between 1400 and 1800, tracing the disappearance of multiple negative (negative concord) usage to the latter half of the eighteenth century. However, data also suggest that Late Middle English initiated the shift from negative concord to negative forms in conjunction with nonassertives (e.g., "not . . . anything"). Nevalainen draws data from Bo.

Chaucer Subjects
Language and Word Studies.
Boece