Negatives between Chamic and Bahnaric

Abstract

The paper deals with the verb embracing double negation found in both Chamic and
\nBahnaric languages and with the question how it developed. We propose both an internal
\nand external explanation. The former relates to what is called a ‘Jespersen Cycle’, a
\nhypothesis about the renewal of single negation out of double negation, itself developing
\nout of another single negation. The latter is language interference from Chamic to
\nBahnaric. We argue that the Jespersen Cycle hypothesis is more plausible for Chamic,
\nthus revisiting Lee (1996), and that the language contact hypothesis makes more sense
\nfor Bahnaric, thus supporting a more general hypothesis about the direction of
\ninterference between the two families (Sidwell 2008: 261, 265).