Typology of Negation in Ob-Ugric
and Samoyedic Languages (NOS)

Nenets

Standard Negation 

• negative auxiliary (ńii-) + main verb in connegative form [ńii-dam-ś śerta-ʔ ‘I did not do’]
• the negative auxiliary is marked for mode
• future tense: the main verb still contains the -ŋku suffix
  • word order: Neg.Aux + V
  • inverse word order: emphatic statement
• emphasized negative auxiliary (wuńii-) + main verb in connegative form [wuńii t'eńewʔ ‘(S)he doesn't know’]

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Emphatic:

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Existential Negation 

Type B ~ C: negative existential verb

	Negation of Existential		Negation of Locational
	Element	Word Order	Element	Word Order
Tundra Dialect	jaŋku-	L T Cop	jaŋku-	T L Cop
Forest Dialect	ďako-, jiiku-	L T Cop	ďako-, jiiku-	T L Cop

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Negative Imperative 

Tundra Nenets: special prohibitive verb (ńo-) with normal suffixes + main verb in connegative form [watomt ńo-n ťaxbta-ʔ ‘Don’t forget your promise!’]

Forest Nenets: common negative auxiliary (nii-) in imperative form + main verb in connegative form [ńij ńi-ńu-n mœ-štu-ʔ, taj mœ-ťaʔ. ‘Don’t bother my children, let them play’]

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Other Types of Non-Standard Negation 

1. Semantically not empty negative auxiliaries

   	Tundra Nenets		Forest Nenets
   	verb	word order	verb	word order
   nearly	xańa-	Neg.Aux + VerbCn
   almost	xac'a-	Neg.Aux + VerbCn
   not able to	jaʔma-	VerbInf + Neg.Aux	d’aʔma-	VerbInf + Neg.Aux
   not able to			d’imu-	no data

2. Lexically negative verbs in Nenets:

   	Tundra Nenets		Forest Nenets
   	verb	Complement	verb	Complement
   to not know something about	jexara-	NounAcc/Abl	dʼexeɬa-	NounAcc/Elat
   to not know	jarme-	NounDat	dʼaɬʼme-	no data

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Negation of Predicate Possession 

Type A3: Nenets has at least two negating elements. The negation of predicative possession uses the existential verb. The neg.ex verb is also used in the standard negation.

Type		Tundra Dialects	Forest Dialects
Nom. Poss.	affirm.	PoRNom + PoMPx + tańa PoRNom + PoMPx	PoRNom + PoMPx + taďa- PoRNom + PoMPx
	negative	PoRNom + PoMPx + jaŋgo-	PoRNom + PoMPx + jikuu
Genitive Poss.	affirm.	no data	PoRGen + PoMPx + ŋä-
	negative	no data	no data
Locative Poss.	affirm.	PoRLoc + PoM(Px) + tańa	no data
	negative	PoRLoc + PoM(Px) + jaŋgo-	no data
Adjectivization	affirm.	PoM(Px) + predicate PoMPoss in nominal conjugation	no data
	negative	no data PoMCar in nominal conjugation	no data

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Non-Verbal Predicate Negation 

	First Way		Second Way
	Standard	Non-Verbal	Existential	Locational	Possessive
Present	ńiś + Lexical Verb	ńiś + N-V.Pred.	Subject/Theme + jaŋkoś	Location + jaŋkoś	Possessum + jaŋkoś
Past	ńiś + Lexical Verb	ńiś + N-V.Pred.	Subject/Theme + jaŋkoś	Location + jaŋkoś	Possessum + jaŋkoś

Tundra Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Forest Nenets example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.