This paper is based on a chapter of my MA thesis submitted at the University of Munich in April 2002. I would like to thank my supervisors then, Theo Vennemann and Peter Schrijver, for their help and support. I now offer a revised and extended English translation of the original text, and I gratefully acknowledge the useful comments on it which I have received from Rolf Bremmer Jr, Robert Mailhammer, Karling Rottschäfer, Michiel de Vaan, David L. White and two anonymous referees. I am also grateful to Andreas Dufter and William Gillies for answering my e-mail enquiries about Old French and Scots Gaelic respectively.
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The English negative comparative particle†
Article first published online: 6 FEB 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-968X.2007.00191.x
© The author 2008
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How to Cite
Laker, S. (2008), The English negative comparative particle. Transactions of the Philological Society, 106: 1–28. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-968X.2007.00191.x
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 6 FEB 2008
- Article first published online: 6 FEB 2008
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Abstract
The most common dialectal alternative to the Modern English comparative particle than is a negative form with variants such as ne, na, and nor, e.g. You’re my son – more to me nor any son (Dickens, Great Expectationsii. xx). This paper presents a detailed historical survey of this dialectal usage in varieties of British and Irish English, and offers an assessment of its regional distribution since the medieval period. The paper also investigates the possible origins of the form, first highlighting some problems of previous analyses, before comparing and contrasting the use of negation in comparative constructions in French and Insular Celtic. The evidence strongly suggests that the negative comparative particle in English should be seen as an areal feature of the British Isles, and that language contact with Celtic lies at the root of it.