Introduction

This chapter deals with one of the best-known features of non-standard English, the use of double (or even multiple) negation, perhaps better called negative concord, as in examples (1) to (3).

(1) I couldn’t do nothing about it. (KCT 7357)

(2) I haven’t hardly had no fags today. (KC5 2549)

(3) You’d never heard nothing. (KCP 1775)

After a look at the history of this phenomenon in the English language, this chapter investigates the extent to which neg concord is still present in British English today, and which combinations it favours. After these structural points, we shall then examine whether there is not a regional differentiation after all, despite the claims in the literature that neg concord is so pervasive geographically. Finally, we shall situate English dialects in a typological context and decide whether English dialects are typologically more marked or less than their standard counterpart.