A Syntactic And Semantic Study Of Chinese Modal Double Negation

Based on the previous studies on double negation, we think that the double negation satisfies two conditions: 1) one negator negates the other; and 2) the sentence needs to be an affirmative one. On account of the fact that the double negation in Chinese is a complex language phenomena and that it has a variety of representation forms, we choose the most common one, bu + modal + bu, as our object of this study. The derivation, constraints as well as the syntactic and semantic properties within the framework of the Minimalist Program are studied in this paper.In line with the NegP Hypothesis proposed by Pollock, we agree with Cheng & Li and Chiu that the negator bu in Chinese is a head projecting a structure NegP and selecting either a VP or Aux P complement. According to Huang’s analysis on modals, we divide the Chinese modals into raising modals and control modals. Therefore, the Chinese double negation bu +modal + bu can be discussed respectively. In bu + raising modal + bu, the NP subject of the matrix clause is raised from the verb internal subject in the complement clause; while in bu +control modal + bu, the subject NP of the matrix clause is not the same as the case above. To avoid the situation that the NP receives two theta-roles from the modal and the verb simultaneously, we suggest that there is a null subject, PRO, in the complement clause, and that the PRO is co-referential with the NP subject of the modal. Syntactically and semantically, the Chinese double negation bu + modal + bu shares the general properties with others that the positive meaning of the double negation originates from the negation of negation, and also possesses its own properties that the positive meaning conveyed by double negation is either stronger or weaker than that of the corresponding affirmative sentence.Furthermore, we discuss about the typical double negation in English, and explore its properties, attempting to offer a unified explanation for double negation in Chinese and English within the framework of Minimalist Program. The NegP Hypothesis can be applied to the syntactic analysis of negation in both Chinese and English, and in both languages the affirmation in meaning of double negation is realized through negation of negation.