ABSTRACT
Negation is not necessarily the simple equivalent of the opposite of positive or affirmative. Negation in discourse expresses juxtaposition, contrast, denial, exclusion, contradiction, and reversal. Negation exists in grammar at the clause and sentence level, whereby it is the verb that is negated. And negation exists at the word level, whereby individual lexical items are negated. Negation in discourse reveals underlying assumptions that are not necessarily expressed on the surface.
