Some observations on metalinguistic negation

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon labelled 'metalinguistic negation' (MN) by Horn (1985). The interaction of MN with negative polarity items, lexically incorporated negation, and accentuation, is considered in order to establish its exact scope and range of applicability. The relationships between MN and various types of implicature are advanced in support of the use of MN as a diagnostic for aspects of an utterance which are properties of the linguistic expression used. The implications of this for the status of accent are assessed. Finally, the particularly stylistic effects of MN are considered, in relation to the topics discussed.