Negative Events and Compositional Semantics

Abstract

Abstract Motivated by intuitive parallels between event descriptions with and without linguistic negation, we develop a formalization of negative events. We propose that verbal negation denotes a function ${\textit{Neg}}$, which sends any set of events $P$ to a set ${\textit{Neg}}(P)$ constrained by a principle ensuring that any event in ${\textit{Neg}}(P)$ occurs if and only if no event in $P$ does. This allows us to construe the events in ${\textit{Neg}}(P)$ as negative, “anti-$P$”, events. Our formalization of ${\textit{Neg}}$ is conceptually related to truthmaker semantics but only requires standard logical tools, and it is compatible with standard versions of event semantics. We develop an explicit syntax-semantics interface and compositional analyses of the interaction of negation with disjunction, conjunction, quantifiers, and nonfinite perception reports.