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

Selkup

Standard Negation 

• particle ašša + main verb
• the main verb is marked for tempus
  • word order: Neg V
• Taz Dialect in past tense: main verb in nominalized form + negative existential verb (čääŋka)
  • word order: VNom + Neg.Ex

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Tym example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Existential Negation 

	Negation of Existential		Negation of Locational
	element	word order	element	word order
Northern Dialect	čääŋkɨ-	L T Cop	čääŋkɨ-	T L Cop
Southern Dialect	ťaŋgu-	L T Cop	ťaŋgu-	T L Cop

In non-northern dialects, there is also the existential negation particle nʼeetua.

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Tym example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Negative Imperative 

negative imperative particle (ɨkɨ) + main verb in imperative form

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Tym example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Other Types of Non-Standard Negation 

tačalqo ‘not able’ main verb in infinitive or supine form + negative auxiliary: [mat kural-qo-noqo tačal-n-a-k ‘I am not able to run’]

word order: main verb + Neg.Aux

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

Negation of Predicate Possession 

Non-Northern Selkup Dialects

Type A2: Selkup has several negating elements. The possessive construction is negated through the negative existential verb (ťanga-). The negative existential verb is not used in the standard negation.

Type		Construction
Nominative Poss.	affirm.	(PoRNom) + PoMPx + e-
	negative	(PoRNom) + PoMPx + ťanga
Locative Poss.	affirm.	PoRLoc + PoMPx + e-
	negative	PoRLoc + PoMPx + ťanga PoRLoc + ńetuwa + PoMPx

Northern Selkup (Taz) Dialects

Type A3: These dialects have at least two negating elements. The negation of predicate possession uses the negative existential verb. The negative existential verb is also used in the standard negation.

	Type		Construction
intransitive	Nominative Poss.	affirm.	(PoRNom) + PoMPx + ɛ-
		negative	(PoRNom) + PoMPx + čääŋka
	Locative Poss.	affirm.	PoRLoc + ɛ- + PoMPx
		negative	PoRLoc + PoMPx + čääŋka

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf fomrat.

Non-Verbal Predicate Negation 

	first way		second way
	standard	non-verbal	existential	locational	possessive
present	ašša + lexical verb	ašša + nonv. pred.	subject/theme + čääkɨqo	location + čääkɨqo	possessum + čääkɨqo
past	ašša + lexical verb	ašša + nonv. pred.	subject/theme + čääkɨqo	location + čääkɨqo	possessum + čääkɨqo

Taz example sentences are available both in html and in pdf format.

A list of abbreviations used can be found here.