‘Without V-ing’ clauses: clausal negative concomitance in typological perspective

Abstract

Abstract This investigation offers an analysis of crosslinguistic variation in the expression of clausal negative concomitance (e.g. ‘he slept without using a pillow’) in a sample of 65 languages, showing that most languages in the sample tend to use conjunctions and converbs for indicating clausal negative concomitance. The discussion of clause-linkage patterns reveals that most languages have monofunctional devices for signaling clausal negative concomitance. Intriguingly, even when languages employ a clause-linking device for conveying clausal negative concomitance, negative markers may play an important role in that they may be obligatory, optional, or disallowed in the ‘without V-ing’ clause. It is proposed that whether the clause-linking device is semantically monofunctional or polyfunctional is the key to this puzzle. The paper also shows that most languages in the sample tend to signal clausal negative concomitance and nominal negative concomitance (e.g. ‘you took a basket without holes’) in the same way. This indicates a diachronic connection between these constructions.