THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPRESSION OF NEGATION IN FRENCH

This research paper studies the evolution of the syntactic realization of negation in French. In the introduction part, it is defined the objective of the research as tracing the development of using words aucun, personne and rien in French negative structures presenting their different practical applications. One of the tasks is to find out if these constructions could be used with the negative marker pas, without inducing a double negation interpretation. The novelty of the research paper is the evolution of the expression of French negation proved by the given examples taken mostly from literary, legal or epistolary texts. The stages of evolution in French negation part shows a detailed analysis of negative markers ne and pas through different stages of their developments presented by various scientists. The evolution of negation in French is generally analyzed by using three main stages, but the investigation proves that there are other approaches for characterizing it, the so-called four stages evolution or even five stages; nevertheless, the final stage is identified by negation expressed by using only marker pas. The next part of this paper The expression of negation in Old and modern French studies the evolution of the undefined aucun, personne and rien, which are presented in the negative constructions in modern French. It is proved that the negation was strengthened by adding an undefined non-negative post verbal element or representing a small amount, such as pas, point, mie, brin, goutte, aucun, personne, rien, etc. It is concluded that in the course of historical development, these words being initially of positive value have taken on a negative coloration and value in modern French.


INTRODUCTION.
In the process of learning foreign languages, grammarians distinguish such a linguistic component, without assimilation and perfect understanding of which, it is impossible to master and fully comprehend the whole structure of the language. Such component is known to be negation which expression and emphatic constructions have been changing since the development of almost every European language.
At the historical progress many European languages elaborated negation that accompanied the verb, but in French this tendency has been developed to one of the highest levels. At the end of the XVII century, pas and point appeared. The latest, favourably used in the XVII century, lost its value in favour of pas. Isolated ne is no longer used in more than a few phrases, particularly specific to cultivated society: je ne sais que dire, je ne sais où.... [1].
For a long time, the concept of negation continues to be the object of investigation of such sciences as logic, linguistics, and even philosophy, because "there is no system of logic, mathematics, science, philosophy or theology in which negation does not play a fundamental role" [10]. In linguistics, negation is presented as one of the main categories. Today, despite a great amount of scientific works, the category of negation remains the object of the investigations of eminent and leading linguists and grammarians, among them J. Pinchon, D. Willis, Ch. Lukas, R.L. Wagner, A. Breutbarth, A. Dauzat, N. Fournier, P. Larrivée [6; 7; 12].
This article studies the evolution of the syntactic realization of negation in French. Our research objective is to trace the development of using words aucun, personne and rien in French negative structures presenting their different practical applications. One of our tasks is to find out if these constructions could be used with the negative marker pas, without inducing a double negation interpretation, as it is in the case of non-standard Quebec French. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the historical influence on contemporary state of using negative constructions in French is also of a scientific merit.
The novelty of the research paper is the evolution of the expression of French negation proved by the given examples taken mostly from literary, legal or epistolary texts. We are also interested in presenting the French negation that the grammarians and lexicographers used at that time. For this reason, we focus on the grammars and dictionaries published between the XVI and XIX centuries.

THE STAGES OF EVOLUTION IN FRENCH NEGATION.
The system of negation in French includes two dimensions: a semantic dimension and a syntactic dimension. On the one hand, it is possible to express an idea of negation using semantic negation particles, such prefixes as (in, dé -...) or lexical items (faux, erroné, nier....), while maintaining a positive sentence form [4]: Ce décor est d'une inimaginable beauté. Il faudra démonter ce meuble afin de bien le réparer. Il est faux de dire que ce film est mal réalisé. Cette affirmation est erronée. Le suspect a nié tout ce dont l'accusait.
On the other hand, the elements that were part of the syntactic system of negation make it possible to form a negative sentence. They are the following elements as: ne... pas/point, jamais, plus, guère, aucunement, nulle part; the indefinite pronouns aucun, nul, personne, rien; the undefined determinants aucun, nul [3].
To study and analyse the evolution of negation in French in more details, we have to go back to Indo-European language, which expressed a negative statement with a single negation ne. This Indo-European negation has almost disappeared in classical Latin in favour of an amalgam, non [13], from neoenum, which means "not a thing". In this expression, oenum is a neutral numeral that acts as a positive strengthen of the negation. Subsequently, non has lost its final consonant before consonant, becoming no or ne [1]. It was used in the XX century in the form of ne, as presented below: "Il ne s' affligeait pas tant de leur salut" from "Et ne doleiet tant de lur salut" (fragments of Valenciennes on Jonas, 950, in TLFi).
In certain varieties of French, like Quebec French, there are constructions with both negative indefinites (aucun, personne and rien) and the negative marker pas, without inducing a double negation. Examples of these constructions in Quebec French are: J'en ai pas vu aucun. Je connais pas personne. Je vois pas rien [1]. At the same time, N. Fournier suggests that this type of construction is quite common among classical authors [7]. Several examples from texts of the XVII and the beginning of the XVIII centuries are given here: Il n'y resta pas aucun vestige que cette ville eût jamais été. Je ne veux point ôter à personne l'espérence de les vaincre.
It is worth mentioning that in the course of historical development, the negative constructions containing the words aucun, personne and rien have changed significantly. They were firstly conveyed with an affirmative value and then shifted to a negative one.
In the section on the history of negation in French, it is presented the theory of the cycle of negation. Jespersen supposes that the negation evolves in a cycle that can be found in many languages. The evolution of negation in French is generally analyzed by using three main stages [11]. First, the negation is expressed using the preverbal marker ne. To illustrate this step, Larrivée and Rowlett use the example from Old French: Jeo ne dis. Then, in the days of classical French, according to Larrivée and Rowlett, negation is expressed using the preverbal marker ne and a postverbal element (je ne dis pas). Finally, in modern oral French, we observe the loss of the preverbal marker ne, and the negation is expressed using the postverbal element (je dis pas). In fact, we have observed this loss of the ne since the XVII century. Indeed, although it was rather rare at this time, the loss of ne was developing more widely in the following centuries [9].
According to van der Auwera, this evolution can also be represented by using four or five stages [11]. The four-stage evolution can be presented in two ways, according to the authors. For some authors cited by van der Auwera, it is detailed as follows: at the first stage, the negation is expressed by the accented ancestor of ne, that means non. At the second stage, the negation is expressed with the help of ne alone. At the third stage, the negation is expressed by using the two negative markers ne and pas. Finally, at the last stage, we observe the loss of ne when negation is expressed by using pas only.
For other authors cited by van der Auwera, the evolution of negation looks more like this: at the first stage, negation is expressed through ne alone [11]. At the second stage, the negation is expressed using ne and pas, which was not yet negative. At the third stage, the negation is expressed using ne and pas, now negative. Finally, at the last stage, we observe the loss of ne, and the negation is expressed with the help of pas only.
In accordance with the five-stage evolution by van der Auwera, it is presented sensitively in the same way as the three-stage evolution, but includes distinct stages where the transitional passages between ne and ne…pas are explicitly presented, where pas is optional to express the negation, and between ne ....pas and pas, where ne is optional to express the negation. This evolution is thus presented as follows: at the first stage, the negation is expressed by means of ne alone. The second stage is negation expressed by using ne and, optionally, pas. At the third stage, negation is expressed with the help of two negative markers ne and pas. At the fourth stage, the negation is expressed by using pas and, optionally, ne. The final stage is negation expressed by using only pas [12].
At the same time, it should be noted that Ashby also includes certain elements of dating his description of the evolution of French negation and presents it through five stages [3]. During the first stage, in classical Latin, negation is expressed by non. At the second stage, in Ancient French, negation is expressed by using ne and, optionally, pas or other positive words expressing small quantities that help to reinforce the negation. At the third stage, in classical French, negation is expressed by means of two negative markers ne and pas. The fourth stage is defined by negation expressed by pas and, optionally, ne. Finally, at the last stage, Ashby presents as "future French", negation expressed by using pas only, as it was also mentioned by van der Auwera.

THE EXPRESSION OF NEGATION IN OLD AND MODERN FRENCH.
In Old Classical French (1150-1300), there is a coexistence of non, full form, and ne, toneless form [15]. The non form is used in sentences where there is an ellipse of the verb, as can be seen in the following examples: "Ne set nus hauz hom Qui foi li porte ne qui non" (La chaste/aine de Vergi, milieu du XIII siècle. "Nul puissant ne sait qui lui est fidèle et qui ne l'est pas" [15]. The non form is also used before the verbs estre, avoir, valoir, pooir, and before the verbs in non personal modes. However, from the XI century (1050), the simple ne [...] was felt to be too weak to express negation. Indeed, it is a clitic, which elides before verbs that start with a vowel. Moreover, it has no prosodic or syntactic autonomy [12].
So, to give more strength to the negation, some elements have been added to ne. These elements are either nouns having no specific negative value and expressing a minimal quantity or even "picturesque words [names], suggesting the idea of a very low value" [15] or undefined. We denote by the term "undefined" the quantifiers which designate a zero quantity [2] like aucun, nul, personne, rien. From Ancient French, the negation ne was strengthened by the addition of indefinites, also called semi-negations [14].
According to the Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, the negation particle pas appeared in French in the XI century and came from the substantive pas [7]. Initially, pas is used to reinforce negation in the context of walking, as in Je ne marche pas ("je ne fais même pas un pas"). Subsequently, this use of pas extended to verbs expressing the movement in general. From the XVI century, pas replaced its "competitors" and became the most common particle of negation [7].
In accordance with Brunot, who admits that the rule of negation proposed by Maupas wanting the particle ne to be omitted before a term already expressing the negation, is imposed fairly quickly in the 17th century with clearly negative words as jamais [12]. We therefore find many examples where these negative words are used in constructions with ne ... pas. « Ces mots [ ... ] ne font pas double emploi avec pas, parce que ou bien ils sont seulement en train de devenir négatifs, ou bien ils ne le sont plus qu'à moitié. De toute façon, la valeur négative n'y est pas assez nette pour empêcher d'employer la négation complète.» [12].
Thus, for better understanding of the expression of negation, we analysed in more detail the evolution of the undefined aucun, personne and rien, as they are presented in the negative constructions in modern French.

Evolution of aucun
The word aucun appears in the French language at the end of the 10th century in the form alcun [5]. This word comes from the late Latin alicunus, itself from aliquis "someone" and unus "one". In Ancient French, aucun retains its positive value and means "some, someone". According to Rey and Tomi, aucun is used in negative sentences and then takes a negative meaning from the XI century. However, according to Hasenohr, aucun is never negative in Ancient French. Buridant affirms that "in almost all literary works [in Ancient French], aucun does not appear in negative sentences; it only appears with ne in clearly positive meanings [5].
Evolution of personne First of all, it is important to mention that most of our findings on the evolution of personne are related to the noun and not to the pronoun. Since this study does not focus on the noun personne, we only retained information about the pronoun personne. The indefinite pronoun personne, "is derived by specialization from the substantive personne" [8]. Originally, personne has a positive value and means "any human being". This word retains this value in hypothetical sentences until the XVI century and even in negative sentences until the XV century. At the end of the XIII century, personne, used with ne in negative sentences, acquires the negative value of "no one, nobody" [8].

Evolution of rien
The indefinite rien appears in the French language at the end of the X century in the form ren. It took the form of rien approximately in the XI century. This word is derived from the Latin rem, which means "the thing, the possession, the property". In Ancient French, it originally takes on the vague signification and general meaning of "thing". Rien, which was used as an indefinite pronoun, means "something, anything", and it is used "whenever the context is not fully affirmative" [15].
The pronoun rien has had a positive value (in parallel with the negative value) in the sense of "thing" for a long time. It acquired a negative value along with the negation particle ne. Le Bidois and Le Bidois denote the fact that "this positive value inherent in the word rien is so strong that in order to make it forget, a writer had recourse to the negation ne ... pas. In addition, they add that the particle pas, aiming to redouble the negation in such constructions, was used especially with the pronoun rien, which had retained a part of its positive value. Nyrop agrees with this and suggestes that the particle pas "was used with rien which had kept something of its original value" [5]. In this regard, he also mentions the examples of Plaideurs by Racine, Le Bourgeois gentilhomme by Molière, and works of La Fontaine and La Bruyère where there are similar structures. Wagner and Pinchon are for this opinion but add that the indefinite pronoun personne could also enter into this kind of construction (with a double negation adverb, like ne ... pas) in classical French [15].
Today, spoken French has its own features in the field of phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. Particular attention is drawn to the negative sentences, where we can observe significant changes in modern colloquial language. These changes affect the means of expressing absolute, nominal and restrictive negation. French refers to polynegative languages that use negative particles in common sentences [4].
N. Shigarevskaya describes in details the contradictory sentences and functions of the negative particle ne which has weakened its role and meaning under conditions of constant evolution [4]. This particle became an unstressed word, while the stressed position pas at the end of the accent group or utterance got its own negative meaning, and bilateral syntactic connections pas with the predicate and the adverb changed the meaning in the second component of the negation.
Thus, the interaction of grammatical and phonetic processes of evolution has led to the emergence in colloquial language of a tendency to rearrange the common sentence: double adverbial negation is replaced by one, which is expressed mainly by the negative particle "pas" [3], as it is evidenced by the following examples [5]: 1. Elle est pas jeune, pas belle, mais pas banale. 2.Oh! ça fait rien, je n'aime pas les fêtes.

3.Tu peux pas le dire à ta famille.
It should be noted that the omission of "ne" in most cases is a sign of colloquial speech. In the literary-colloquial variety, there are both forms of expression of verb negation: "ne… pas", "pas" [6]. But the first form is more often used in modern French than the last one.
It is important to specify the fact that modern authors and researches agree that the standard of French has been changing since the era of classical French. Indeed, even if some seventeenth-century grammarians condemn the use of rien, personne, aucun in constructions with ne ... pas, the fairly large number of examples taken from texts of this period illustrates their existence. On this subject, Fournier maintains that "the vitality of the usage of personne, rien, aucun in a foreclosure atmosphere and in particular in correlation with ne ... pas, [...] leads to the conclusion that there is a mismatch between the usage and partial grammatical diagnosis" [7].

CONCLUSION.
Our analysis shows that the verbal negation with two terms as we know it in modern French is a product of a long historical evolution. Indeed, the negation was firstly expressed by using the preverbal marker ne. Then the negation was strengthened by the addition of an undefined non-negative post verbal element or representing a small amount, such as pas, point, mie, brin, goutte, aucun, personne, rien, etc. Over time, these words being initially of positive value have taken on a negative coloration and value. These elements have become truly negative, as we can see it today in modern French.
Our research findings draw attention to the fact that negation in French is expressed not only semantically, but also by syntactic elements, that's why the negation words aucun, rien and personne are used in the sentences when they are required by their syntactic model (nature, meaning). Negative sentences in their grammatical senses can contain only two models: ne and pas, or such negative phrases as aucun, rien and personne.
As the development of negation in French is rather vast subject but the given research paper is restricted in the framework of only certain words which under historical conditions appeared in negative constructions of modern French, we realize that it is necessary to conduct the further scientific investigations concerning French negation.