SYNTACTIC IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEGATIVE CLITIC NICHT IN THE MODERN GERMAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article focuses on the main approaches to the analysis of sentence negation in the modern German language. Thephenomenon of full and partial sentence negation has been presented. The special attention is focused on the grammaticalmeaning of negation. In traditional studies negation is characterized as an expression of non-existing relationships withinlingual elements, or when an affirmative sentence is denied by a speaker as an incorrect one. In Germanic grammarstudies there is no consensus as to the concept of negation as well as means for its implementation. Theoretical syntaxdeals with an absolute and double negation. The typology of neg-elements in the German language is not sufficientlyhighlighted due to their heterogeneity in classification. It causes opacity in the treatment of negative constructions, resultingin ambiguous outcome, and complicates the assignment of the lingual units to the appropriate category. In theoreticalgrammar the grammatical negation is classified according to word classes. In German a general pattern of sentencenegation is represented by the clitic “nicht” in the pre-position and the post-position in relation to the verb. Traditionallynegation is regarded in terms of volume of negation and the focus of negation, when the semantic function of negation hasbeen implemented. Also grammatical studies of the German language distinguish between full negation, when the wholesentence is denied, and partial negation, which refers to certain parts of the sentence. Thereby for the grammatical negation in the German sentence the regulated order of subject and verb plays an important role. Regarding the above mentionedthe article outlines the criteria for distinguishing the full and the partial negation depending on position of sentence elementsin the frame construction. The position of constituents in the negative sentence and its influence on the scopus of negationhas been analyzed. The analysis of syntactic distribution of clitic “nicht” in relation to full and partial negation in the modelsof verbal representation has been outlined.