negativeconcord

Negative concord, also known as multiple negation, is a syntactic phenomenon in which two or more negative elements co-occur in a single clause to express negation. The resulting interpretation is a single negative proposition, rather than the combination yielding a positive meaning. In languages with negative concord, the negative markers participate in the same negation event, and their distribution often follows language-specific rules about scope and licensing.

Negative concord is well documented in many Romance languages. Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese routinely use a standalone negative word together with other negative elements, as in No tengo nada (I have nothing) or Non ho niente. Romanian, a Balkan Romance language, likewise employs negation with multiple negative items, as in Nu am nimic (I have nothing). Other languages in the region show similar patterns. In contrast, Standard English typically uses a single negator, though certain regional varieties permit emphatic or stigmatized forms such as I didn’t see nobody.

Linguists debate the underlying analysis of negative concord, debating whether it reflects a single negation whose scope is split across multiple elements or whether it represents distinct negation particles whose combined effect yields negation. The phenomenon intersects with theories of negation scope, polarity licensing, and historical change, and it has implications for how negation is represented in grammars across languages.

See also: double negation, negation, negative polarity items.