General characteristics of Tariana negation

Tariana has a number of strategies for negating the predicate and clausal constituents. These are as follows:

1. General clause and predicate negator used for negating affirmative and interrogative predicates. Non-future negation is ma-…-kade for prefixed verbs and -kade for prefixless verbs and other predicates. This negation is used for the present tense and for the two past tenses. Future negation is ma-…-kasu. Clausal negation and its scope are discussed in §17.2.

2. Negative imperative mhaĩda discussed in § 17.3.

3. Negative prefix ma- used for derivational and nominal negation – see § 17.4.

4. Inherently negative verb stems – e.g. the negative existential/possessive sede (the negative counterpart of alia; see also Chapter 12), kuɾipua ‘there is nothing’, hãida ‘I don't know’, hyukade ‘no; not appear’, makwa ‘without talking, quietly’, makuya ‘shut up’, masakade ‘not be enough’, pukasu ‘not at all’ – see § 17.5.

5. Negative ne used in various contexts – see § 17.6.

Negation can be marked twice in a clause to make it stronger. In rare cases double negation results in a positive statement – see §17.7.

Clausal negation in non-prohibitive clauses

Negation in Tariana is marked once in a clause (with the exception of cases discussed in §17.7) on its predicate. In non-future active clauses, if negation is marked on a prefixed verb, then the negative prefix ma- replaces other prefixes, and a suffix -kade is added.