Negative Events and Compositional Semantics

Abstract

Motivated by intuitive parallels between event descriptions with and without linguistic negation, we develop a formalization of negative events. We propose that verbal negation denotes a function, which sends any set of events to a set constrained by a principle ensuring that any event in occurs if and only if no event in does. This allows us to construe the events in as negative, "anti-", events. Our formalization of is conceptually related to truthmaker semantics but only requires standard logical tools, and it is compatible with standard versions of event semantics. We develop an explicit syntax-semantics interface and compositional analyses of the interaction of negation with disjunction, conjunction, quantifiers, and nonfinite perception reports.