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Abstract:As an indirect way to convey negative information, implied negation plays different pragmatic functions in our daily life. In terms of expressive means, implied negation can be realized in several different ways. This paper will make a list of those ways, and demonstrate them with examples. Words and phrases with implied negative meaning, peculiar sentence structure, etc. will be given to prove the diversity and complexity of implied negation. People present their opinion, standpoint and attitude through those indirect ways, which are normally employed for certain purpose. In the third part, the paper will analyze the pragmatic functions of implied negation, such as for politeness, etc.
Key words: negation, implied negation, indirect ways, pragmatics
Introduction
Negation is one of the most universal linguistic phenomenons in the world. Asher and Simpson (1994) point out that negation is a linguistic universal for “every language must have the possibility of asserting that the state of affairs expressed by a sentence is not true.”(p. 2769). Negation is widely used in logics, philosophy, etc. to express nonexistence, refusal and denial.
In linguistics, negative sentences normally contain two factors: grammatical negative meanings and grammatical negative forms (Fan & Cui, 2007). However, there are exceptions. Some sentences, which have no common marks or indicators of their negative meanings, are affirmative in form, but their meanings or implications are negative. Quirk (1985) defines it as implied negation, which is negative in meaning but not in form.
Implied negative sentences express negative meanings in indirect or implied ways, which are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Many Chinese students, especially the beginners, have difficulty grasping the real meaning of implied negation. This paper will introduce the ways to achieve implied negation and analyze its pragmatic functions in our daily life, to make the readers gain a better understanding of implied negation.
Ways to Achieve Implied Negation
Implied negation can be realized by means of words with implied negative meaning, phrases with implied negative meaning, special sentence structures, certain sentence types, rhetorical devices, etc.
Words with Implied Negative Meaning
In light of word-classes, words with negative meaning can be grouped into: verbs (avoid, deny, doubt, escape, exclude, fail, hate, hesitate, ignore, miss, overlook, refuse, reject, etc.), nouns (absence, failure, ignorance, lack, loss, objection, shortage, want, etc.), adjectives (absent, blind, empty, foreign, last, poor, reluctant, short, rare, weak, etc.), adverbs (ill, off, out, vainly, etc.), prepositions (above, beneath, beside, beyond, without, etc.), conjunctions (before, but, till, unless, until, etc.). For example: (1) At that time his name escaped me. (=At that time I didn’t remember his name.)
(2) She was kept in ignorance of her husband’s activities. (=She didn’t know her husband’s activities.)
(3) She is blind to her child’s faults. (=She doesn’t notice her child’s faults.)
(4) I’m wasting valuable time, time we can ill afford. (=I’m wasting valuable time, time we can not afford.)
(5) The medicine should be kept beyond the reach of children.
(=The medicine should be kept in a place children can not reach.)
(6) We will go for picnic unless it rains tomorrow. (=We will go for picnic if it doesn’t rain tomorrow.)
Phrases with Implied Negative Meaning
Like the classification in the previous part, phrases with implied negative meaning can also be grouped according to the word-classes of the central word of the phrase. They are verb phrase, adjective phrase and prepositional phrase.
1) Verb phrase: forbid from, give up, keep from, let alone, lose sight of, prevent from, protect from, run out, refrain from, save from, stop from, turn a deaf ear, etc.
(7) She kept the matter from everybody’s knowledge. (=She didn’t tell the matter to anyone.)
(8) The heavy rain stopped him from coming. (=He didn’t come because of the heavy rain.)
2) Adjective phrase: far from, free from/of, immune from, safe from, short of, etc.
(9) They were safe from their enemies. (=They were not attacked by their enemies.)
3) Preposition phrase: at a loss, at sea, in the dark, instead of, in vain, out of, rather than, etc.
(10) We are out of water. (=We don’t have water.)
Special Sentence Structures
In English, some special sentence structures are often used to express negative meaning although the sentence is affirmative in form. There are some examples for demonstrating the complexity of implied negation.
1) would rather…than…
In English, there are some similar structures to “would rather…than…”, such as would sooner…than, had sooner…than, had rather…than. These structures present the choice of one from two items.
(11) I would rather work on a farm than in the city. (=I’d like to work on a farm, and I’d not like to work in the city.)
(12) The soldiers would sooner die than surrender. (=The soldiers determine to fight to the death and never to surrender.)
2) other than…
“other than…” or “other…than” is normally used to express negative meaning, and the item following “than” is negated. (13) The truth is quite other than what I think. (=The truth is not the same as what I think.)
3) more than…
This structure sometimes means “not” when it’s used in sentences in affirmative form.
(14) Her charm is more than words can describe. (=Words can not describe her charm.)
4) more A than B
In this structure, A is confirmed while B is negated.
(15) He is more brave than wise. (=He is brave but not wise.)
5) too…to(for)
This structure is very popular to express negative meaning.
(16) I was too angry to say a word. (=I was so angry that I could not say a word.)
6) subjunctive mood
Subjunctive mood indicates a hypothetical state or a state contrary to reality, such as a wish, a desire, a condition, or an imaginary situation (Wheeler, 2011). Therefore, subjunctive mood suggests that the described things are not true, and the affirmative forms of subjunctive mood convey implied negative meaning. Subjunctive mood can be achieved with modal auxiliaries, verbs, phrases, etc.
The use of the subjunctive after “if” clauses that state or describe a hypothetical situation is quite common in English. For example:
(17) If I had been there, I would have asked her.
Fact: I wasn’t there, and I didn’t ask her.
In subjunctive sentences, auxiliaries followed by en form of the verbs can indicate negative meaning while the sentences are in affirmative form. For example:
(18) He should have finished his report.
Fact: He didn’t finish his report.
In fact, besides the structures mentioned above, there are a lot of other special structures which are affirmative in form but negative in meaning, such as “as…as”, “it is… that (who)”, “the last…”, etc.
Sentence type
In light of syntax, there are four sentence types in English: declaratives, imperatives, interrogatives and exclamatives. Besides declarative sentences, any other sentence type can be applied to indicate implied negative meaning in affirmative form. Here are some examples.
(19) Imperative: Please be more careful. (=You are not very careful.)
(20) Interrogative: Am I your housekeeper? (=I am not your housekeeper.)
(21) Exclamative: God knows what she is saying! (=No one knows what she is saying.)
In interrogative sentences, rhetorical question is the most common one to convey implied negative meaning. For example:
(22)Who can rewrite history? (=No one can rewrite history.)
Rhetorical devices Implied negation can be realized by different means. Besides the previous devices, rhetorical devices like irony are commonly used to convey implied negative meaning. Implied negation can not only achieve the aim of negation, but also make the language more or less interesting.
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Sixth edition), irony is explained as “the use of words that say the opposite of what you really mean” (Hornby, 2000), which indicates that the meaning of the ironic sentence is contradicted by the presentation of the idea. Irony is usually used for emphasis, satire, etc. For example:
(23)Much I care!
Beneath the appearance of generosity, the meaning of the sentence is denial. The implied meaning of sentence is that “I don’t care at all”. In this way of expression, it reaches the effect of vividness and strong sarcasm.
Pragmatic Functions of Implied Negation
As the branch of semiotics, pragmatics studies the relation of signs to interpreters (Morris, 1938), that is, pragmatics studies how people comprehend and perform a communicative act or speech act in a specific situation which is usually a conversation. So human is a key factor in the study of pragmatics, which analyzes people’s intended meaning, purpose or goal when they speak. From the previous part, we are aware of the diversity of indirect ways to convey negative information. And people are fond of those indirect ways to indicate denial, rejection, etc. So what’s the communicative intention of indirect ways? The paper will analyze the pragmatic functions of implied negation as follows:
For politeness
Lakoff (1990) states that politeness “facilitate(s) interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange” (p. 34). Politeness is a sign of human civilization, and an important criterion of human social activities. It’s a constraint of human interaction. People need consider the hearers’ feelings, to maintain their face. Leech (1983) formulates “Politeness Principle” (PP), which contains six maxims: Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim and Sympathy Maxim. From the above six maxims, we have no difficulty finding that the speaker should provide maximum praise and benefit to the hearer in the discourse in order to maintain a harmonious relationship. Implied negation is one of the most effective strategies to avoid conflict as well as conveying negative information. To express denial or rejection indirectly and euphemistically can manifest the speaker’s respect and friendliness to the hearer. Politeness can be used as a strategy for getting cooperation. The following sentence is a sentence normally adopted in business. (24)It seems to me that we are giving up too much in this case.
In fact, the sentence suggests that if the party doesn’t make some concessions it will make the business difficult to proceed. The speaker expresses discontent in an indirect way, which only refers to the speaker self. In this way, conflict is avoided and face is saved, so that the harmonious atmosphere will be kept on, which will be beneficial to the negotiation.
For easing the atmosphere
In the process of communication, people need state their opinions, attitudes or standpoint. Disagreement is a very common phenomenon. In order to avoid conflict and avoid getting the atmosphere nervous, implied negation is normally conducted. Implied negation can reduce the strength of negation, leaving much room for the hearers as well as lessening the responsibility of the speakers. Jiang and Li (2006) present the following example in their study:
(25) (After dating for some months, the girl wants the boy to make a proposal for marriage. But the boy does not want to marry at present.)
GIRL: Honey, I want to dance like this forever.
BOY: Don’t you ever want to improve?
In the conversation, the girl expressed her desire in an indirect way, leaving a room for the boy to infer. In order to avoid hurting the girl’s feeling and ease the atmosphere, the boy employed humorous strategy to reject without harming their relationship.
In the following example, the speaker lessened the responsibility by criticizing the hearer mildly and indirectly when the speaker realized his mistake in arrest.
(26) You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you.
On one hand, the speaker passed the buck for self-protect; on the other hand, criticism in a comfortable way eased the tension between the two people.
For strengthening the force of message
Li (2002) points out that implied negation can not only reach the effect of euphemism but also strengthen the force of message. Rhetorical question and exclamative sentence expressing implied negative meaning with strong force are frequently employed for emphasis.
Rhetorical question is a question asked merely for effect other than to seek an answer. For example:
(27) Was ever such nonsense written?
It is likely to be a statement regarding one’s opinion of the person addressed rather than a genuine request to know. This example implies that no one has ever written such nonsense. The use of rhetorical question strengthens the force of the message, impressing the hearer deeply. Exclamative sentences can reach the similar effect. For example:
(28) Catch me saying that!
The implied meaning is that I won’t say that. The sentence employs the rhetorical device, irony, to emphasize the speaker’s attitude.
Conclusion
From the above parts, we get clear about the means to achieve implied negation, and its communicative intention in our daily life. People prefer indirect ways to convey negative information, because those indirect expressions act as a lubricant in our social communication. People employ implied negation to avoid conflict and embarrassment, which is beneficial to maintain a harmonious relationship. Implied negation makes communication much more polite and appropriate. It helps reach the effect of vividness, humor and richness of language. With the globalization of economy, international communication increases rapidly. Polite and proper expression of negation becomes more and more important, so it’s necessary for us to make clear of implied negation to avoid mistakes and misunderstanding in the communication.
References
Asher, R. E. & Simpson, J. M. Y. (1994). The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Fan, X. M. & Cui, F. J. (2007). A discussion on the category of implied negation in English. Journal of Liaoning Institute of Science and Technology. 9(1), 52-54.
Hornby, A. S. (2000). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English (Sixth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jiang, S. Y. & Li, D. L. (2006). Pragmatics in the study of implied negative. China Education & Teaching. 3(1), 69-71.
Lakoff, R. (1990). Talking power: The politics of language in our lives. New York:Basic Books.
Leech, G. N. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman Group Ltd.
Li, B. G. (2002). Pragmatic analysis on the implied negation. Journal of Liaoning Normal University. 25(1), 76-79.
Morris, C. (1938). Foundations of the theory of signs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Quirk, R. et al. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman Group Ltd.
Wheeler, L. K. (2011). The subjunctive mood. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/grammar_subjunctive.html.
Key words: negation, implied negation, indirect ways, pragmatics
Introduction
Negation is one of the most universal linguistic phenomenons in the world. Asher and Simpson (1994) point out that negation is a linguistic universal for “every language must have the possibility of asserting that the state of affairs expressed by a sentence is not true.”(p. 2769). Negation is widely used in logics, philosophy, etc. to express nonexistence, refusal and denial.
In linguistics, negative sentences normally contain two factors: grammatical negative meanings and grammatical negative forms (Fan & Cui, 2007). However, there are exceptions. Some sentences, which have no common marks or indicators of their negative meanings, are affirmative in form, but their meanings or implications are negative. Quirk (1985) defines it as implied negation, which is negative in meaning but not in form.
Implied negative sentences express negative meanings in indirect or implied ways, which are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Many Chinese students, especially the beginners, have difficulty grasping the real meaning of implied negation. This paper will introduce the ways to achieve implied negation and analyze its pragmatic functions in our daily life, to make the readers gain a better understanding of implied negation.
Ways to Achieve Implied Negation
Implied negation can be realized by means of words with implied negative meaning, phrases with implied negative meaning, special sentence structures, certain sentence types, rhetorical devices, etc.
Words with Implied Negative Meaning
In light of word-classes, words with negative meaning can be grouped into: verbs (avoid, deny, doubt, escape, exclude, fail, hate, hesitate, ignore, miss, overlook, refuse, reject, etc.), nouns (absence, failure, ignorance, lack, loss, objection, shortage, want, etc.), adjectives (absent, blind, empty, foreign, last, poor, reluctant, short, rare, weak, etc.), adverbs (ill, off, out, vainly, etc.), prepositions (above, beneath, beside, beyond, without, etc.), conjunctions (before, but, till, unless, until, etc.). For example: (1) At that time his name escaped me. (=At that time I didn’t remember his name.)
(2) She was kept in ignorance of her husband’s activities. (=She didn’t know her husband’s activities.)
(3) She is blind to her child’s faults. (=She doesn’t notice her child’s faults.)
(4) I’m wasting valuable time, time we can ill afford. (=I’m wasting valuable time, time we can not afford.)
(5) The medicine should be kept beyond the reach of children.
(=The medicine should be kept in a place children can not reach.)
(6) We will go for picnic unless it rains tomorrow. (=We will go for picnic if it doesn’t rain tomorrow.)
Phrases with Implied Negative Meaning
Like the classification in the previous part, phrases with implied negative meaning can also be grouped according to the word-classes of the central word of the phrase. They are verb phrase, adjective phrase and prepositional phrase.
1) Verb phrase: forbid from, give up, keep from, let alone, lose sight of, prevent from, protect from, run out, refrain from, save from, stop from, turn a deaf ear, etc.
(7) She kept the matter from everybody’s knowledge. (=She didn’t tell the matter to anyone.)
(8) The heavy rain stopped him from coming. (=He didn’t come because of the heavy rain.)
2) Adjective phrase: far from, free from/of, immune from, safe from, short of, etc.
(9) They were safe from their enemies. (=They were not attacked by their enemies.)
3) Preposition phrase: at a loss, at sea, in the dark, instead of, in vain, out of, rather than, etc.
(10) We are out of water. (=We don’t have water.)
Special Sentence Structures
In English, some special sentence structures are often used to express negative meaning although the sentence is affirmative in form. There are some examples for demonstrating the complexity of implied negation.
1) would rather…than…
In English, there are some similar structures to “would rather…than…”, such as would sooner…than, had sooner…than, had rather…than. These structures present the choice of one from two items.
(11) I would rather work on a farm than in the city. (=I’d like to work on a farm, and I’d not like to work in the city.)
(12) The soldiers would sooner die than surrender. (=The soldiers determine to fight to the death and never to surrender.)
2) other than…
“other than…” or “other…than” is normally used to express negative meaning, and the item following “than” is negated. (13) The truth is quite other than what I think. (=The truth is not the same as what I think.)
3) more than…
This structure sometimes means “not” when it’s used in sentences in affirmative form.
(14) Her charm is more than words can describe. (=Words can not describe her charm.)
4) more A than B
In this structure, A is confirmed while B is negated.
(15) He is more brave than wise. (=He is brave but not wise.)
5) too…to(for)
This structure is very popular to express negative meaning.
(16) I was too angry to say a word. (=I was so angry that I could not say a word.)
6) subjunctive mood
Subjunctive mood indicates a hypothetical state or a state contrary to reality, such as a wish, a desire, a condition, or an imaginary situation (Wheeler, 2011). Therefore, subjunctive mood suggests that the described things are not true, and the affirmative forms of subjunctive mood convey implied negative meaning. Subjunctive mood can be achieved with modal auxiliaries, verbs, phrases, etc.
The use of the subjunctive after “if” clauses that state or describe a hypothetical situation is quite common in English. For example:
(17) If I had been there, I would have asked her.
Fact: I wasn’t there, and I didn’t ask her.
In subjunctive sentences, auxiliaries followed by en form of the verbs can indicate negative meaning while the sentences are in affirmative form. For example:
(18) He should have finished his report.
Fact: He didn’t finish his report.
In fact, besides the structures mentioned above, there are a lot of other special structures which are affirmative in form but negative in meaning, such as “as…as”, “it is… that (who)”, “the last…”, etc.
Sentence type
In light of syntax, there are four sentence types in English: declaratives, imperatives, interrogatives and exclamatives. Besides declarative sentences, any other sentence type can be applied to indicate implied negative meaning in affirmative form. Here are some examples.
(19) Imperative: Please be more careful. (=You are not very careful.)
(20) Interrogative: Am I your housekeeper? (=I am not your housekeeper.)
(21) Exclamative: God knows what she is saying! (=No one knows what she is saying.)
In interrogative sentences, rhetorical question is the most common one to convey implied negative meaning. For example:
(22)Who can rewrite history? (=No one can rewrite history.)
Rhetorical devices Implied negation can be realized by different means. Besides the previous devices, rhetorical devices like irony are commonly used to convey implied negative meaning. Implied negation can not only achieve the aim of negation, but also make the language more or less interesting.
In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (Sixth edition), irony is explained as “the use of words that say the opposite of what you really mean” (Hornby, 2000), which indicates that the meaning of the ironic sentence is contradicted by the presentation of the idea. Irony is usually used for emphasis, satire, etc. For example:
(23)Much I care!
Beneath the appearance of generosity, the meaning of the sentence is denial. The implied meaning of sentence is that “I don’t care at all”. In this way of expression, it reaches the effect of vividness and strong sarcasm.
Pragmatic Functions of Implied Negation
As the branch of semiotics, pragmatics studies the relation of signs to interpreters (Morris, 1938), that is, pragmatics studies how people comprehend and perform a communicative act or speech act in a specific situation which is usually a conversation. So human is a key factor in the study of pragmatics, which analyzes people’s intended meaning, purpose or goal when they speak. From the previous part, we are aware of the diversity of indirect ways to convey negative information. And people are fond of those indirect ways to indicate denial, rejection, etc. So what’s the communicative intention of indirect ways? The paper will analyze the pragmatic functions of implied negation as follows:
For politeness
Lakoff (1990) states that politeness “facilitate(s) interaction by minimizing the potential for conflict and confrontation inherent in all human interchange” (p. 34). Politeness is a sign of human civilization, and an important criterion of human social activities. It’s a constraint of human interaction. People need consider the hearers’ feelings, to maintain their face. Leech (1983) formulates “Politeness Principle” (PP), which contains six maxims: Tact Maxim, Generosity Maxim, Approbation Maxim, Modesty Maxim, Agreement Maxim and Sympathy Maxim. From the above six maxims, we have no difficulty finding that the speaker should provide maximum praise and benefit to the hearer in the discourse in order to maintain a harmonious relationship. Implied negation is one of the most effective strategies to avoid conflict as well as conveying negative information. To express denial or rejection indirectly and euphemistically can manifest the speaker’s respect and friendliness to the hearer. Politeness can be used as a strategy for getting cooperation. The following sentence is a sentence normally adopted in business. (24)It seems to me that we are giving up too much in this case.
In fact, the sentence suggests that if the party doesn’t make some concessions it will make the business difficult to proceed. The speaker expresses discontent in an indirect way, which only refers to the speaker self. In this way, conflict is avoided and face is saved, so that the harmonious atmosphere will be kept on, which will be beneficial to the negotiation.
For easing the atmosphere
In the process of communication, people need state their opinions, attitudes or standpoint. Disagreement is a very common phenomenon. In order to avoid conflict and avoid getting the atmosphere nervous, implied negation is normally conducted. Implied negation can reduce the strength of negation, leaving much room for the hearers as well as lessening the responsibility of the speakers. Jiang and Li (2006) present the following example in their study:
(25) (After dating for some months, the girl wants the boy to make a proposal for marriage. But the boy does not want to marry at present.)
GIRL: Honey, I want to dance like this forever.
BOY: Don’t you ever want to improve?
In the conversation, the girl expressed her desire in an indirect way, leaving a room for the boy to infer. In order to avoid hurting the girl’s feeling and ease the atmosphere, the boy employed humorous strategy to reject without harming their relationship.
In the following example, the speaker lessened the responsibility by criticizing the hearer mildly and indirectly when the speaker realized his mistake in arrest.
(26) You could have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you.
On one hand, the speaker passed the buck for self-protect; on the other hand, criticism in a comfortable way eased the tension between the two people.
For strengthening the force of message
Li (2002) points out that implied negation can not only reach the effect of euphemism but also strengthen the force of message. Rhetorical question and exclamative sentence expressing implied negative meaning with strong force are frequently employed for emphasis.
Rhetorical question is a question asked merely for effect other than to seek an answer. For example:
(27) Was ever such nonsense written?
It is likely to be a statement regarding one’s opinion of the person addressed rather than a genuine request to know. This example implies that no one has ever written such nonsense. The use of rhetorical question strengthens the force of the message, impressing the hearer deeply. Exclamative sentences can reach the similar effect. For example:
(28) Catch me saying that!
The implied meaning is that I won’t say that. The sentence employs the rhetorical device, irony, to emphasize the speaker’s attitude.
Conclusion
From the above parts, we get clear about the means to achieve implied negation, and its communicative intention in our daily life. People prefer indirect ways to convey negative information, because those indirect expressions act as a lubricant in our social communication. People employ implied negation to avoid conflict and embarrassment, which is beneficial to maintain a harmonious relationship. Implied negation makes communication much more polite and appropriate. It helps reach the effect of vividness, humor and richness of language. With the globalization of economy, international communication increases rapidly. Polite and proper expression of negation becomes more and more important, so it’s necessary for us to make clear of implied negation to avoid mistakes and misunderstanding in the communication.
References
Asher, R. E. & Simpson, J. M. Y. (1994). The encyclopedia of language and linguistics. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Fan, X. M. & Cui, F. J. (2007). A discussion on the category of implied negation in English. Journal of Liaoning Institute of Science and Technology. 9(1), 52-54.
Hornby, A. S. (2000). Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English (Sixth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jiang, S. Y. & Li, D. L. (2006). Pragmatics in the study of implied negative. China Education & Teaching. 3(1), 69-71.
Lakoff, R. (1990). Talking power: The politics of language in our lives. New York:Basic Books.
Leech, G. N. (1983). Principles of Pragmatics. London: Longman Group Ltd.
Li, B. G. (2002). Pragmatic analysis on the implied negation. Journal of Liaoning Normal University. 25(1), 76-79.
Morris, C. (1938). Foundations of the theory of signs. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Quirk, R. et al. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. London: Longman Group Ltd.
Wheeler, L. K. (2011). The subjunctive mood. Retrieved September 4, 2011, from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/grammar_subjunctive.html.