ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the decline of multiple negations, the fixing of a new sentence structure, and generally the various changes that brought English negation to become very much like it is today. The period covered in the chapter includes most of Middle English and Early Modern English, which means it goes from ca. 1200 to ca. 1700. The chapter attempts a general discussion of the developments undergone by negation, but will at the same time be like a series of case-studies, in which specific texts or authors will be considered and analysed. The timespan is rich in significant developments in the history of English, both political and cultural changes and strictly linguistic changes. The chapter partly concerns chronological phases, and partly refers to individual samples. It briefly looks at inversion with negatives, a marked construction that is still found regularly in Modern English.
