Negation using ‘laysa and ? oyn’ in the light of generative syntax : a comparative case study

الملخص EN

T his paper investigates the syntactic properties of negative markers in Arabic and Hebrew, ?∂yn and laysa.

It has suggested that both markers behave as lexical verbs in the sense that they display an asymmetry of rich and poor agreement (henceforth AGR).

Such asymmetry depends heavily on VSO and SVO word-order variations, operating within TP-system (Temporal Phrase).

However, it has argued that the Arabic NEG-marker laysa differs slightly from the Hebrew negative particle ?∂yn, since it carries an intrinsic AGReement-suffix and also assigns accusative Case to nominal or adjectival predicate.

This leads us to suppose that both negative markers occupy two different positions in the syntactic structure: ?∂yn in NEGP (henceforth, Negative Phrase) and laysa in AGRP (Agreement Phrase).

To shed light on these facts, we have adopted a descriptive and analytical analysis by presenting data of these negative markers in both languages and then lay out different facets of syntactic similarities and distinctions.

However, one suggestion for further research would be to look at a wide variety of negation.

It would be interesting to look at, for instance, other negative markers existing in both languages that share the same syntactic features