The acquisition of negation in three mayan languages

Abstract

We present data on the early forms of negation in three Mayan languages (K’iche’, Yucatec and Q’anjob’al). These languages mark different contrasts between discourse, clausal and existential contexts of negation. Negation in these languages also interacts with aspect and modality. Children acquiring K’iche’ use an internal form of clausal negation while children acquiring Yucatec and Q’anjob’al use an external form of clausal negation. The K’iche’ and Yucatec children successfully mark the contrast between the discourse and clausal forms of negation. The data show that children in each language create their own forms of negation. .