On Contracted Negation in Scots

Abstract

Thoms et al. (2023) propose a system of negation involving two base–generated NegPs, one below T and the other above T, claiming that negative inflections do not syntactically attach to T, but merge with T morphophonologically. Their analysis is driven by the distribution of the contracted negative inflection –nae in Scots negative imperatives and assumptions about adverbial positioning. Clitic vs. affix is claimed insufficient to characterize –nae vs. –n’t. However, further considerations of adverb positioning and other phenomena demonstrate that the two–NegP analysis is unnecessary, and that the clitic/affix distinction can characterize –nae and –n’t, respectively.