notphrase

Notphrase is a term used in linguistics and information retrieval to denote a phrase that conveys negation or is used to exclude content. It is not a widely standardized term, but appears in discussions of negation analysis, annotation schemes, and query-language design.

In linguistic and natural language processing contexts, a notphrase refers to the portion of text that carries negation, including the negation cue (such as not, never, no) and the scope of that negation—the words it affects. Examples include phrases like not happy, not enough, or no evidence. Notphrases are analyzed to determine sentiment, stance, or factual negation, and they are important for tasks such as negation detection and discourse analysis.

In search, data filtering, and information retrieval, notphrases are used to exclude terms from results. Query languages may express notphrase with a minus sign, a NOT operator, or explicit exclusion syntax. Examples include recipes -peanuts or research NOT conspiracy. The notphrase concept helps describe how queries and filters suppress unwanted content.

Annotation and machine learning use notphrase labeling to train models on negation cues and their scopes. This supports more accurate sentiment analysis, information extraction, and question-answering systems, particularly when negation changes the meaning of a statement.

See also: negation, negation scope, sentiment analysis, information retrieval. Notphrase remains a descriptive term used in specialized discussions rather than a universally defined linguistic category.