不冬

Usage notes

Like Middle and Modern Korean, Old Korean had two forms of verbal negation: a short form, in which the negating adverb 不冬 simply precedes the main verb, and a long form, in which 不冬 negates the verb 爲 (*hoy-, “to do”) similar to English do-support. In Middle and Modern Korean, the short form negates only the verb, while the long form negates the entire clause to which the verb belongs. Currently discovered data is insufficient to say whether this was also true of Old Korean.

The Old Korean long-form negation was different from the Middle Korean form. In Old Korean, it took the following form *-l ANtol ho, as seen in the following hypothetical example with the verb 慕理 (*KUli-, “to long for”):

• 慕理尸不冬爲如 ― *KUli-l ANtol hoy-ta ― to not long for

In Middle Korean, it usually took the form -ti ani ho-.

• 그리디 아니 ᄒᆞ다 ― kuli-ti ani ho-ta ― to not long for

In Modern Korean, 아니 ᄒᆞ다 (Yale: ani hota) has merged into the single auxiliary 않다 (anta):

• 그리지 않다 ― geuriji anta ― to not long for

See also

• 不知 (*ANti) (nominal negator)
• 毛冬 (*mwotol) (marker of inability)
• 不只 (*ANTOk) (marker of inability)