Implied Negation In English

This thesis aims at making quantitative and qualitative analysis on the application of implied negation in English. With the help of some scientific research methods such as SNOBL4 and SPSS software, a quantitative computerized analysis on the frequency and distribution of implied negatives is made among different written English corpora: Browna, BrownB, Loba, T4 and Nec etc. Moreover, a qualitative analysis on implied negation in discourse proceeds by virtue of some linguistic theories related to this topic.The result shows that implied negation is widely applied in written English, with its frequency determined by the specific style of the article; while the ubiquity of implied negation in discourse is owing to the speaker's need of politeness on account of face-saving theory. Therefore, if implied negatives are employed properly according to the style of the article, the sentence pattern will be greatly varied with it language more vivid as well; if it is used appropriately in conversation, it can make the conversation interesting and humorous and thus achieve a harmonious atmosphere by avoiding embarrassment caused by direct negation.