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In linguistics, negative inversion is one of many types of subject–auxiliary inversion in English.A negation (e.g. not, no, never, nothing, etc.) or a word that implies negation (only, hardly, scarcely) or a phrase containing one of these words precedes the finite auxiliary verb necessitating that the subject and finite verb undergo inversion. [1]
Subject–auxiliary inversion is used after the anaphoric particle so, mainly in elliptical sentences. The same frequently occurs in elliptical clauses beginning with as. a. Fred fell asleep, and Jim did too. b. Fred fell asleep, and so did Jim. c. Fred fell asleep, as did Jim. Inversion also occurs following an expression beginning with so or ...
Contrary to the subject-auxiliary inversion, the verb in cases of subject–verb inversion in English is not required to be an auxiliary verb; it is, rather, a full verb or a form of the copula be. If the sentence has an auxiliary verb, the subject is placed after the auxiliary and the main verb. For example: a. A unicorn will come into the ...
However, V2 verb-subject inversion occurred without exception after a question word or the negative ne, ... negative or restrictive adverbial first. c.
In elliptical sentences (see below), inversion takes place after so (meaning "also") as well as after the negative neither: so do I, neither does she. Inversion can also be used to form conditional clauses, beginning with should, were (subjunctive), or had, in the following ways: should I win the race (equivalent to if I win the race);
Like most types of inversion, subject–verb inversion is a phenomenon that challenges theories of sentence structure. In particular, the traditional subject – predicate division of the clause (S → NP VP) is difficult to maintain in light of instances of subject–verb inversion such as Into the room will come a unicorn .
For details see subject–auxiliary inversion and negative inversion. A somewhat different type of inversion may involve a wider set of verbs (as in After the sun comes the rain); see subject–verb inversion. In certain types of clause an object or other complement becomes zero or is brought to the front of the clause: see § Fronting and zeroing.
Horn clauses, named after the linguist Laurence R. Horn, who discovered the constructions, are clauses which feature a that clause complement containing an extracted NPI, triggering negative inversion, and further undergoing subject-auxiliary inversion. [8] [13] Take, for example, the following clause where the NPI is highlighted: