Negation of existential predications in Swedish : A corpus study

Abstract: The aim of this corpus study is to provide an adequate description of negation strategies in existential predications in Swedish. In Swedish, existential predications may be negated by a standard negative marker. Another possibility to negate existence is by using a negative indefinite pronoun. In negation of existential predications in Swedish, the choice between standard negation and indefinite pronouns, whether negative or not, has not been previously described in any descriptive or theoretical work. It is therefore the purpose of the current study to describe what factors determine the choice of negative marker in existential predications. The results of this study show that there is a strong preference to negate existential predications with a negative indefinite pronoun. Further, it is shown that the negative indefinite pronoun is frequently used as a modifier to the pivot, and thus states an unconditional absence.