Photo by Rickard Kilström

William Croft, an American linguist and a leading figure within the field of linguistic typology, proposed in 1991 that negative expressions meaning 'not exist, not have' could be the source for negation markers. He referred to this as the Negative Existential Cycle (NEC).

Over the past ten years, Ljuba Veselinova has been working on testing Croft's model from a historical-comparative perspective. Her work is further expanded in "The Negative Existential Cycle," a volume she has co-edited with Arja Hamari from the University of Turku.

The recently published book presents detailed studies of language families such as Bantu, Chadic, and Indo-European. It discusses micro-variation and historical developments within larger and smaller language groups, as well as within specific languages. The book also highlights concepts such as affirmative and negative existential constructions, as well as the development of negation markers into more general expressions with broader areas of use.

The book provides an overview of the evolution of negation, of cyclical processes in language change, and it showcases the historical-comparative method in a modern context.

Ljuba Veselinova says:

“The book is intended for anyone interested in negation and its emergence in human languages, in the modeling of language change, as well as lexicalization and grammaticalization processes. It also offers an in-depth introduction to some unexplored, endangered, or extinct languages.”

For more information, please visit the publisher's website (Language Science Press)

Ljuba Veselinova’s profile