Negation not / n't

Gist. Clauses are negated with not (n't), placed after the first auxiliary: I have not seen, She willn't go. If there is no auxiliary, do is added: I do not know. Infinitives and participles take not before them: not to go, not knowing. Not applies to the whole predicate, so in UD it attaches to the main verb (or the predicative), not to the auxiliary.

Conditions and exceptions. Not as the remnant of an elliptical clause (If not, …, Why not?, I hope not) becomes the head or an adverbial. Not only … but also — advmod/cc:preconj; whether or not — not on or. The split to not attempt (split infinitive) is also normal. Other negative words (never, no, nobody) are separate parts of speech with Polarity=Neg.

Examples. Kennedy has not been killed — advmod(killed, not). — Don't go — advmod(go, n't). — If not, is there someone else?

In UD. not/n't: UPOS PART, XPOS RB, Polarity=Neg, relation advmod to the predicate. The validator allows negation to hang on a function word, but English treebanks attach it to the predicate.

Sources. Brown 1851, Part II, Ch. VI, "IV. Form of Negation" (not — "after the first auxiliary", while the infinitive and participles "take the negative first"); Jespersen, MEG V, ch. XXIII "Negation", §23.1x (text-1, p. 438); UD docs/_en/pos/PART.md (predicate negation); UD docs/_en/feat/Polarity.md; UD 2.18 validator, check_functional_leaves (exception for negation).

rule: en.verbal.not-part-neg
what: not as PART — Polarity=Neg and role advmod (or the head of an ellipsis)
match: n[lemma=not, upos=PART]
require: n[feats.Polarity=Neg]; n[rel=advmod|fixed|cc|conj|root|parataxis|reparandum|goeswith|orphan|advcl|ccomp]
severity: warn
source: UD docs/_en/pos/PART.md; Brown 1851 Part II Ch. VI, Form of Negation

rule: en.verbal.negation-on-predicate
what: negation attaches to the predicate, not to an auxiliary or copula
match: f[rel=aux|aux:pass|cop]; n[head=f, upos=PART, feats.Polarity=Neg]
require: not n[rel=advmod]
severity: warn
source: UD docs/_en/pos/PART.md; EWT practice (not → predicate)

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