Clausal negation in Pahari-Pothwari

This thesis investigates the syntactic mechanisms of negation in Pahari-Pothwari within the framework of generative grammar. Pahari-Pothwari refers to a group of language varieties spoken predominantly in village areas of Jammu and the north-western Punjab, in present-day Azad Jammu and Kashmir, northern Pakistan, and India. Although there has been some research on negation in related languages and varieties, such as Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Hindko, and Saraiki, sentential negation in Pahari-Pothwari has hitherto not been addressed in any significant detail. This study primarily uses data from the Chakswari dialect, referring to the variety spoken in the town of Chakswari and its environs, as well as by its migrant community.

The thesis begins by providing an overview of the relevant theoretical background, including a summarised typology of forms of negation in languages around the world as well as mentions of negation in the existing literature on Pahari-Pothwari and related Indo-Aryan languages. Secondly, it examines the tense and aspect systems of affirmative sentences in Pahari-Pothwari, so as to provide the necessary groundwork for understanding the syntax of negation. It then describes the different types of negative markers in Pahari-Pothwari in terms of their distribution, position in the sentence, and interaction with other clausal components. There are at least three types of markers: na, ni, and koi ni, the latter potentially being a compound of koi and ni. The fourth chapter explores the functional structure of clauses in Pahari-Pothwari and examine the syntactic position of negation, before concluding with suggestions for further research.

Overall, this thesis aims to outline how negation works in the Chakswari dialect of Pahari-Pothwari so as to contribute to broader theoretical and empirical questions raised by negation in human language through a case-study of an understudied language variety.