Chapter 129Indefinite Expressions and Negation
Affirmative and negative readings, interrogative and indefinite bases, variable ka meanings, free choice, and the placement of negation.
129.1 Indefinite expressions in positive and negative sentences
Nep ka and nen ka can refer to something or someone in affirmative sentences. Nakagawa gives an explanation involving nep ka moto ‘some cause’ and a sentence about giving someone to nen ka ‘someone’. Their occurrence is therefore not confined to negative contexts Nakagawa (2024: 323, examples 526–528).
With a negative predicate, these expressions can receive ‘nothing’ or ‘nobody’ readings. The interpretation involves the surrounding construction as well as the indefinite expression.
‘There were no dogs or anything, but …’
Nakagawa 2024: 323; Saru, Example 529
The source presents an unfinished adversative clause. PFV is the conventional gloss used in chapter 111; Nakagawa describes earlier background contrasted with what follows (pp. 305–306). The two occurrences of ka associate the named category ‘dog’ with the broader indefinite expression.
An indefinite need not have the same form as the corresponding interrogative. Several dialects use forms beginning in h for questions alongside n-initial indefinite bases. Nakagawa also records crossovers between the two sets Nakagawa (2024: 420, table 79 and example 903). See Chapter 51 (Interrogative and Indefinite Expressions) for the regional paradigms.
129.2 Ka with lexical and grammatical negation
Ka occurs with ordinary somo negation and with lexical negatives such as isam, sak, and eaykap. It can follow a noun or a predicate. Nakagawa's examples include a person without a necklace and a narrator unable even to lift a hand Nakagawa (2024: 323, examples 530–533).
Its contribution varies. Nakagawa describes a possible connection between additive meaning and emphatic absence, while expressly allowing negative sentences without ka. In his account of (ka) somo ki, its presence need not add the usual unexpectedness or additive meaning Nakagawa (2024: 323, 407). Satō tentatively calls these uses a negative particle, but says that they cannot be strictly separated from additive ka Satō (2008: 124, §15.2).
Sentence type also matters. A Shizunai example with nep ka and henne asks whether the hearer saw any sign of a woman passing. Its negative-question form does not assert that no such sign existed Nakagawa (2024: 408, example 837, after Okuda ed. 1999:2030997).
129.3 Free choice
Indefinite bases also combine with ne yakka. Nakagawa illustrates nen ne yakka ‘whoever they are’ in a suggestion to let visitors enter, and Satō gives ney ta ne yakka ‘wherever’ in a description of mushrooms growing throughout the mountains Nakagawa (2024: 420, example 902)Satō (2008: 119). These readings belong to a different construction from negative nep ka.
129.4 Where the negation falls
Here somo ki negates losing something, and ruwe ne follows that negative predicate. Nakagawa contrasts this with ruwe somo ne, which his next example uses for rhetorical confirmation Nakagawa (2024: 393, examples 779–780). These examples show distinct placements and interpretations of negation. They do not by themselves establish a complete rule for which indefinites can occur under every kind of higher or embedded negation. Further uses of copular negation appear in Chapter 126 (Clausal Negation with Somo).