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Part of
Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXIV–XXV: Papers from the annual symposia on Arabic Linguistics. Texas, 2010 and Arizona, 2011
Edited by Samira Farwaneh and Hamid Ouali
[Studies in Arabic Linguistics 1] 2014
► pp. 121–138

Variations on the same theme

Sentential negation and the negative copula 
in Arabic

| University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
| University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
| University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
| University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
| University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

The main aim of this paper is to provide both synchronic and diachronic evidence that Standard Arabic and the spoken dialects pattern the same way with regard to the syntactic mechanisms that govern the relationship between lexical categories and functional categories. The focus is on sentential negation and more specifically the so-called negative copula in verbless sentences – as demonstrated by laysa in Standard Arabic and negative pronouns in the modern dialects. Despite the surface differences between Arabic varieties, the underlying syntax is the same, particularly with regard to clause structure and the interaction between tense, negation and the predicate. This interaction that is governed by the same mechanisms and the options they allow helps explain why the same system keeps getting reproduced over time.

Published online: 29 August 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sal.1.09ben
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Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Benmamoun, Elabbas, Mahmoud Abunasser, Rania Al-Sabbagh, Abdelaadim Bidaoui & Dana Shalash
2014. Variations on the same theme. In Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXIV–XXV [Studies in Arabic Linguistics, 1], ► pp. 121 ff. DOI logo
Benmamoun, Elabbas & Khaled Al-Asbahi
2014. Negation and the subject position 
in San’ani Arabic. In Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics XXVI [Studies in Arabic Linguistics, 2], ► pp. 75 ff. DOI logo
Joukhadar, Charles
2023. The social distribution of non-verbal negation in the Lebanese Arabic of Zgharta. Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics 1:1 ► pp. 26 ff. DOI logo

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