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From: sarima@netcom.com (Stanley Friesen)
Subject: Re: Double Negatives
Message-ID: <sarimaDDFv03.8tq@netcom.com>
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <00994B4F.3BE17BC2@vms.csd.mu.edu> <sarimaDD898A.HJ0@netcom.com> <40o883$kqu@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 1995 04:55:14 GMT
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Sender: sarima@netcom8.netcom.com

In article <40o883$kqu@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>,  <Brian.Kelk@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>In article <sarimaDD898A.HJ0@netcom.com>,
>
>Really? So what does "not empty" mean? What does "not impossible"
>mean?

The first is a case of *simple* negation of a basic vocabulary item.
Just because the word can be viewed as having a "negative" meaining
does not make it a grammatical negation.  The second is probably
parsed similarly - as a simple negation, not a double one.

>  What does "not without good reason" mean?

And the preposition "without" is not a grammatical negative either.
>
>Incidentally, how does one express something like "the authorities
>haven't been doing nothing" in a double negative language?
>
Well, since I understand that phrase to mean "the authorities have
been doing absolutely nothing", your question sounds odd to me :-)

Howver, interpreting it to mean the logical double negation,
one would have to say something like:

"the authorities haven't been idle" or "the authorities have not
failed to act"

Note, both of these involve the use of a vocabulary item that
implies non-action, rather than a negative pronoun.
-- 
NAMES: sarima@netcom.com swf@ElSegundoCA.attgis.com

May the peace of God be with you.

