Abstract
Well-known instances of this so-called Zero Negative construction are found in some Dravidian languages in which negation can be signaled by the mere absence of tense marking without an overt marker of negation. In this paper, I take a look at this rare type of negative construction from a typological perspective. Section 2 briefly introduces the Dravidian Zero Negative construction. Section 3 discusses the phenomenon in a cross-linguistic perspective, suggesting possible typological parallels to the absence of tense and negation markers. Section 4 addresses the possibility of ellipsis of negators in languages in which these are usually present in the negative construction. Section 5 first discusses whether and how the absence of tense and negation markers is functionally motivated and examines then the implications of negatives without negators to the markedness of negation vis-a-vis affirmation. Section 6 offers a brief conclusion.
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