1443. (1.) The negative oftenest used in declaration or interrogation is
#nōn#, _not_: as,
#nōn metuō mihi#, Pl. _B._ 225, _I fear not for myself_. #nōn semper
imbrēs nūbibus hīspidōs mānant in agrōs#, H. 2, 9, 1, _not always from
the clouds do showers on stubbly fields come dripping dropping down_.
#nōn dīcēs hodiē?# H. _S._ 2, 7, 21, _will you not say without delay?_
1444. #nōn# is a modification of #noenum# or #noenu#, compounded of
#ne#, _no_, and the accusative #oinom# or #oenum#, the older form of
#ūnum#, _one thing_. #noenum# occurs in Plautus twice, in Ennius,
Lucilius, Afranius, and Varro, once each, and #noenu# occurs twice in
Lucretius (99).
1445. Negation is often expressed by other compounds of #ne#. In such
cases the Latin idiom frequently differs from the English, and a
transfer of the negative is required in translation.
Such compounds are: (_a._) Verbs, such as #negō#, #nequeō#, #nesciō#,
#nōlō#: as, #negat vērum esse#, _Mur._ 74, _he maintains it is not
true_. (_b._) Nouns, such as #nēmō#, #neuter#, #nūllus#, #nihil#: as,
#nēminī meus adventus labōrī fuit#, _V._ 1, 16, _my visit did not
trouble anybody_. (_c._) Adverbs, such as #numquam#, #nusquam#. (_d._)
Similarly, the conjunction #neque# is used for _and not_, _but not_,
unless a single word is to be emphasized or contrasted: as, #nec
frūstrā#, 8, 5, 3, _and not in vain_.
1446. A form #nec# is used rarely in old Latin in the sense of #nōn#:
as, #tū dīs nec rēctē dīcis#, Pl. _B._ 119, _thou dost abuse the gods_,
i.e. #nōn rēctē# or #male dīcis#. After Plautus’s time, #nec# for #nōn#
occurs in a few set combinations, such as #nec opīnāns#, _not
expecting_, and, from Livy on, #necdum#, _not yet_, i.e. #nōndum#.
1447. The form #nē# usually introduces an imperative or a subjunctive,
as will be explained further on. But #nē# is also used in the
combination #nē . . . quidem#, _not even_, _not . . . either_, with the
emphatic word between #nē# and #quidem#: as, #nē tum quidem#, 1, 50, 2,
_not even then_. #nē Vorēnus quidem sēsē vāllō continet#, 5, 44, 6,
_Vorenus did not keep inside the palisade either_.
1448. The adjective #nūllus# is sometimes used, chiefly in colloquial
language, for #nōn# or #nē# (1051): as, #Philotīmus nūllus vēnit#,
_Att._ 11, 24, 4, _no Philotimus has shown himself_. #nūllus crēduās#,
Pl. _Tri._ 606, _you needn’t believe it at all_.
1449. (2.) The negative #haut# or #haud#, _not_, is used principally
with adjectives and adverbs, less frequently with verbs: as,
(_a._) #haud mediocris vir#, _RP._ 2, 55, _no ordinary man_. #rem haud
sānē difficilem#, _CM._ 4, _a thing not particularly hard_. #haud
procul#, _CM._ 15, _not far_. In all periods of the language often
combined with #quisquam#, #ūllus#, #umquam#, #usquam#. (_b._) In old
Latin #haud# is freely used with all sorts of verbs, especially with
#possum#. In Cicero, it occurs here and there with a few verbs, such as
#adsentior#, #errō#, #īgnōrō#, #nītor#, #amō#, but is principally
confined to #sciō#, in the combination #haud sciō an#, _I don’t know
but_ (1782). Caesar uses #haud# once only, and then in this combination.
1450. A shorter form, #hau#, occurs often in old Latin, and a few times
in the classical period: as, #heic est sepulcrum hau pulcrum pulcrai
fēminae#, CIL. I, 1007, 2, on the burial site of a woman, _here is the
site not sightly of a sightly dame_. In Plautus it is juxtaposed with
#sciō#, making #hausciō#, i.e. #nesciō#.
1451. (3.) Negation may also be intimated by such words as #vix#,
_hardly_, #parum#, _not . . . enough_, _not quite_, #minus#, _less_,
_not_, #minimē#, _least of all_, #male#, &c.
1452. Two negatives in the same sentence are usually equivalent to an
affirmative.
Thus, with #nōn# first, an indefinite affirmative: as, #nōn nēmō#,
_somebody_, _a certain gentleman_, _one or another_. #nōn nūllus#,
_some_. #nōn nihil#, _something_, _somewhat_. #nōn numquam#,
_sometimes_. With #nōn# second, a universal affirmative: as, #nēmō nōn#,
_everybody_, _every human being_. #nūllus nōn#, _every_. #nihil nōn#,
_every thing_. #numquam nōn#, _always_. #nōn possum nōn cōnfitērī#,
_Fam._ 9, 14, 1, _I must confess_. #nēmō īgnōrat#, _V._ 2, 111,
_everybody knows_.
1453. Sometimes, however, in old Latin, a second negation is used merely
to emphasize the negative idea: as, #lapideō sunt corde multī, quōs nōn
miseret nēminis#, E. in Fest. p. 162, _there’s many a man with heart of
stone, that feels for nobody_. For doubled negatives in compound
sentences, see 1660.
[Erratum:
1445 ... (_d._)
(_d_)]