Negation in Musgum

Abstract

This paper studies the negation construction in musgum language.We collect the musgum data on negation from native users and analyse them in terms of Kayne’s (1994) antisymmetry and Rizzi’s (1997) split CP approaches. We identify the free negation element (á:à) and several negation markers (kài, kirkài, kài tiŋ and kirkài tiŋ) that close independent and complex clauses. In complex structures with completive and relative clauses, the main clause cannot contain a negation marker. In complex structure with adverbial clause, negation marker can be present in main and adverbial clauses. We discover that Negation Phrase is the highest projection, higher than Force Phrase, rejecting the split‐CP projections order of Rizzi (1997). When the negation head is generated, Inflexion Phrase is subject to heavy pied‐piping. It occupies the specifier of Negation Phrase.