NOT    不不

BE CONTRARY to what is SAID in the WORDS that FOLLOW.
NEGATION
Old Chinese Criteria
1. The general all-purpose pre-verbal negation is 不 which generally has the whole predicate it precedes as its scope. 不 can be inchoative "not get to begin", continuative "not continuously", discontinuative "stop doing" or resultative "not get to complete doing". By the rhetorical device of litotes 不 can create antonymic opposites as in 不少 “quite a lot". 2. Fēi 非 negates categorising subsumptive judgments when it precedes predicative nominals; when preceding verbs 非 "it is not as if" negates not the verbal verbal proposition but metalinguistically the making of a statement that can usefully be paraphrased as "the claim is not that".3. Wú 無 "in no way; in no way i.e. regarding no object", when used as a straight negation (contrast SHOULD NOT) is descriptively generalising and not straightforwardly narrative or descriptive.4. Fú 弗 "would not; could not" prototypically refers to a refusal or inability to do something which in principle one might intend to do.5. Wèi 未 "not yet; not quite" refers to either temporal or logical incompleteness in verbal predication.6. Fǒu 否 "It is not the case" is a negative pro-form, and there remains a suspicion that the graph 不 is to be read as fǒu 否 when it is used as a pro-form.7. Mò 莫 "none" is protoypically resumptive of an explicit or implicit subject.8. Wú 毋 "don't" and wù 勿 don't the object" when not used injunctively, are negations restricted to the position after such causative verbs as 使.
Modern Chinese Criteria
不 非 匪 無 未 弗 勿 莫 別 休 毋 免 沒有 不曾 未曾 rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／ LU JIANMING
Hyponym
  • NONE　ALL NOT. (anc: 8/0, child: 0)
  • HARDLY　PROBABLY NOT. (anc: 8/0, child: 0)
Antonym
  • ALREADYNOW AND NOT ONLY LATER IN-RELATION-TO. 
  • ALSOADDING SOMETHING to what has ALREADY been SAID OR been REFERRED TO. 
  • COPULARELATION between a CATEGORY AND THINGS of that CATEGORY.
Hypernym
  • CONTRARY　INTENSELY DIFFERENT so as to INTERFERE. (anc: 6/0, child: 1)
  • DIFFERENT　RELATION of NOT MUTUALLY RESEMBLING. (anc: 5/0, child: 5)
  • RELATION　FEATURE of TWO OR MORE THINGS TOGETHER. (anc: 4/0, child: 15)
  • Novyj objasnitel'nyj Slovar' Sinonimov Russkogo Jazyka ( APRESJAN 2004) p. 115

  • Vocabulaire européen des philosophies. Dictionnaire des intraduisibles ( CASSIN 2004) p. 1364

  • Historisches Woerterbuch der Philosophie ( RITTER 1971-2007) p. 6.667

    NEGATION

  • The Encyclopedia of Philosophy ( BORCHERT 2005) p.

    NEGATION

  • Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Second Edition ( BROWN 2005) p.

  • Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Second Edition ( BROWN 2005) p.

  • Quiddities. An Intermittently Philosophical Dictionary ( QUINE 1987) p. 142

  • 古漢語常用詞同義詞詞典 ( HONG CHENGYU 2009) p. 568/571

    • Words (32 items)

    不  bù OC: pɯʔ MC: pi̯ut 672 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Epithet: 休/REST Xiū 休 (ant. láo 勞 "work hard") refers to brief break in a working process.
    • Epithet: 輟/STOP Chuò 輟 (ant.* láo 勞 "put in a continued honest effort") is temporary discontinuation of human action.
    • Epithet: 辜/CRIME Gū 辜 (ant. xún 勛 "significant contribution") is an archaising word referring to serious crimes at an early stage, but later commonly used (mostly in negated form) to refer to any crime.
    • Epithet: 顧/ATTENTION Gù 顧 is inchoative and refers to the turning of one's attention to something one has not focussed on before.
    • Synon: 弗/NOT

      Syntactic words
    • padVoppositelitotes: e.g. 不仁"be cruel and violent": do or be the opposite of V"
    • padVt.postadVablein verbal complement constructions (e.g. 道不得 'not be able to say', 行不得 'not be able to practice', 看不見 'not be able to see')
    • vi(0)it is not so
    • vi(0)questionor is this not so? probably to be read fǒu 否
    • vt(+V(0))not do the contextually determinate V-ing
    • vt+V[0]not
    • vt+V[0]do not naturally VCH
    • vt{NEG}+S不然而已 "not only so, not only did they do that": not (negating not only a verb but a clause)LZ
    • vt{NEG}+V.adN"un-"??un-VERB-ed, un-VERBing. 不教民
    • vt{NEG}+V{NUM}less than (不十年 "within the period of less than ten years"）
    非  fēi OC: pɯl MC: pɨi 196 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Ant: 即/COPULA
    • Epithet: 常/COMMON Cháng 常 (ant. guài 怪 "extraordinary") refers to what is regularly met and not unexpected.
    • Epithet: 徒/ONLY
    • Epithet: 獨/ONLY
    • Assoc: 禮/RITUAL The current general term for everything relating to the system of ritual propriety is lǐ 禮. However the term can also be used to refer to individual prescribed rituals.
    • Assoc: 法/LAW The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法.

      Syntactic words
    • vadV.postN{SUBJ}emphatic contrastiveit is not as if N V-s; N by no means/in no way V-sCH
    • vadVP非以V “not for them thus to V": not be so as thus to VCH
    • vt(0)+N.post-Vgrammaticalisedor is that not the case? n'est-ce pas?CH
    • vt(oN)copulait is not (without explicit object) NB: perhaps this should be taken as vt-neg. But we want to separate out these examples for attention.)
    • vt+Nnot be identical with NCH
    • vt+Nnot be a matter/case of Nab; not be a case of NabCH
    • vt+N1[.adN2]those who are not N1 非賢 "non-worthies"CH
    • vt+Nappropriateis not the proper way of N
    • vt+Ncopulanot because of NP
    • vt+Npart ofnot be an integral part ofCH
    • vt+npro.adN非己之民 "a people other than one's own"
    • vt+N{PRED}copulais not N
    • vt+N{SUBJ}.+V{PRED}it is/was not the SUBJECT N that PREDICATED V
    • vt+V[0]politely dismissing a possibility as unthinkable: would of course neverCH
    • vt+V[0]negativeby no means; absolutely not; the fact is that not (contrary to appearances)
    • vt0+S1.+S2It wasn't that S1, but S2
    • vt0+Sbecauseit is not that S (but...); it is not because of S; it is not as if S (but...)
    • vtoNabis not a case of Nab-ing, is not part of NabCH
    • vtoNpartitivenot be part ofCH
    • vtoV[0]contrastive with what followsit is not as if ... butCH
    未  wèi OC: mɯds MC: mɨi 97 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Epithet: 嘗 / 常/PAST Cháng 嘗 places an action or experience in the past, typically in so far as this past is experienced or witnessed by someone, remarkably often by the speaker himself.
    • Assoc: 始/BEGIN The general word for something occurring for the crucial and influential first time or initiating anything, in particular any development, is shǐ 始 (ant. zhōng 終"bring to an end; come to an end" and chéng 成 "bring to a successful end, complete").

      Syntactic words
    • p[adV]does not [V] (exocentric verbal construction, compare "I did not" which is also exocentric)
    • padScompletenessit was not quite the case that S
    • padVlogicalnot quite; not really
    • padVlogicalbe not quite right, be not quite sufficient to express the truth; not yet
    • padVnecessitynot necessarilyCH
    • padVtime: so farnot yet (at that time)
    • vinever come (as of a day)
    • vi(0)Not yet.
    • vpostVor not?
    • vt(+V[0])not yet do something
    • vtoNfail to do as yet
    無  wú OC: ma MC: mi̯o 69 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • padPexpected answer: no!not ? (modifying an adverbial particle)
    • vadV1.postV2so that not
    • vadVfutureadverbial negation concerning the future: will not
    • vadVnegativenone of the objects
    • vadVnegativein no case; in no way; at no point, in no respect; not at all
    • vadVV=existentialnegation of 有 (= 沒)LZ
    • vi(0).postSquestion[is this not so?>] functions almost like question particle (compare French n'est-ce pas or German "oder nicht?")
    • vt[0]+V[0].postVnegation after pivotal or, occasionally, modal verbs
    弗  fú OC: pɯd MC: pi̯ut 63 Attributions

      Syntactic words
    • pad.vt+V[0]弗能 "be quite incapable of": not at allCH
    • pad.vt+V[0]{PASS}弗可V也已弗可赦也已。“can absolutely not be pardoned"：emphatically notCH
    • vt{NEG}+.Vt(oN)intensitive, Vt=passiveindeed not
    • vt{NEG}+.Vt(oN)unable, with understood objectcould not, cannot; fail to; be unable to
    • vt{NEG}+.Vt[0]oNwith explicit object弗利其家"will fail to benefit your family": fail to, be unable to Vt the object N
    • vt{NEG}+:Vt1[0]+.Vt2[0](+N)弗能攻"was unable to cure it":not (Vt to V)
    • vt{NEG}+V[0] 弗華"fail to be ornate": fail to V, prove unable to V; be unable to V
    • vt{NEG}+V[0](oN)object understoodtake care not toCH
    非以  fēi yǐ MC: pj+j yiX OC: pɯl k-lɯʔ 62 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPtoScausethis is not becauseCH
    • VPtoV(0)purposenot be in order toV(0)CH
    不復  bù fù OC: pɯʔ buɡs MC: pi̯ut bɨu 38 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVV no more, V no longer Ricci: 1. Ne… plus.
    非徒  fēi tú OC: pɯl daa MC: pɨi duo̝ 27 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPtoV1.adV2not only
    否  fǒu OC: pɯʔ MC: pɨu 21 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Ant: 然/TRUE The most current word for propositional truth is rán 然 "it is so" (ant. fǒu 否 "be untrue").
    • Oppos: 聖/WISE Shèng 聖 (ant. yōng 庸 "mediocre") refers to supreme sagehood and perfection of character.

      Syntactic words
    • vi(0)pro-verb"No!" negation used as independent utterance. [Note that in this case it is unclear whether the implicit element should be taken as lexically or pragmatically retrievable.]
    • vi[0]adSif [this immediately preceding sentence] is not the case, then S [Note that in this case it is unclear whether the implicit element should be taken as lexically or pragmatically retrievable.]
    • vi[0]post | Sor not [Note that in this case it is unclear whether the implicit element should be taken as lexically or pragmatically retrievable.]
    • vt(0)[+V[0]]not perform the contextually determinate action V
    無所  wú suǒ OC: ma sqraʔ MC: mi̯o ʂi̯ɤ 20 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • PPadVin no fashion; at no level; not in any way; in no way
    • VPadVhave no place to VLZ
    • VPadVto have noone to whom VLZ
    • VPadVV=passivebe in no way V-edCH
    不其  bù qí OC: pɯʔ ɡɯ MC: pi̯ut gɨ 16 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • PPadVOBI 5: might NOT (KT); may in fact not (DK) probably not
    • PPadVOBIOBI 4: stative negative applying to Vs referring to prospects of future events (KT)
    • PPadV乎 interrogativewould it not V?CH
    毋  wú OC: ma MC: mi̯o 13 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • vt{NEG}+.Vt(oN)not
    • vt{NEG}+.VtoN:adSnot
    • vt{NEG}+.VtoN:adSirrealisif... had not
    • vt{NEG}+Vinot
    • vt{NEG}+Vt{PASS}not
    • vt{NEG}.+VtoNfail to, not; not to
    莫  mò OC: maaɡ MC: mɑk 9 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • npro.adVnot, be unable; in no way; in no case
    • npro.adVrhetorical questionIs not this..., is it not that... (with a negator or another question particle in sentence final position) 莫...無; 莫...也無; 莫...不; 莫...麼; 莫...否
    未必  wèi bì MC: mj+jH pjit OC: mɯds piɡ 7 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVnot necessarilyDS
    匪  fěi OC: pɯlʔ MC: pɨi 5 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • padSit is not that SLZ
    • padVnot
    無以  wú yǐ MC: mju yiX OC: ma k-lɯʔ 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVin no wayCH
    總不  zǒng bù OC: skooŋʔ pɯʔ MC: tsuŋ pi̯ut 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVintensitivedo not V at all
    將非  jiāng fēi OC: skaŋ pɯl MC: tsi̯ɐŋ pɨi 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPadScouldn't it be that S?
    未可  wèi kě OC: mɯds khlaalʔ MC: mɨi khɑ 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPt+V[0]{PASS}cannot quite/yet be V-ed; SHIJI idiomatic: could not possibly be (VERBED)
    • VPt[0]+V[0]it is not possible to V at allLZ
    勿  wù OC: mɯd MC: mi̯ut 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • padVinsist on not (doing something in the future)
    • vt+.Vt[0]oNnot (verb the explicit object) NB: there are surprisingly many examples of this
    • vt{NEG}+:Vtt(+N.)+VN=pivotdon't
    靡  mǐ OC: mralʔ MC: miɛ 3 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • npro.adN: V{PRED}no NCH
    • npro{SUBJ}+V{PRED}subjectno one
    • padVarchaic/poetic: not; in no way
    不可  bù kě OC: pɯʔ khlaalʔ MC: pi̯ut khɑ 3 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPt+V[0]emphaticemphatic: certainly not, in no way, not by any means
    • vt+VtVt=passiveshould not be Vt-edCH
    不是  bù shì OC: pɯʔ ɡljeʔ MC: pi̯ut dʑiɛ 2 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPtoNcopulais not
    • VPtoSemphaticis not that S
    蔑  miè OC: meed MC: met 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • vt{NEG}+V[0]will under no circumstances
    竟不  jìng bù OC: kraŋs pɯʔ MC: kɣaŋ pi̯ut 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • PPadVin no way
    非是  fēi shì OC: pɯl ɡljeʔ MC: pɨi dʑiɛ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPt+Ncopulanot be (for modern 不是)
    • VPtoSit is not a case of S
    亡  wáng OC: maŋ MC: mi̯ɐŋ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • vt{NEG}(+V)I do not (V); not to V; no!
    • vt{NEG}+Vi[0]not
    不少  bù shǎo OC: pɯʔ hmljewʔ MC: pi̯ut ɕiɛu 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVnot in the least; not the least bit
    未始  wèi shǐ MC: mj+jH syiX OC: mɯds lʰɯʔ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVnot necessarily; not definitely; not beyond all doubtCH
    微  wēi OC: mɯl MC: mɨi 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • vt+SIt is not that S
    未有  wèi yǒu OC: mɯds ɢʷɯʔ MC: mɨi ɦɨu 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPadVnot for the time being; not yet
    俱不  jū bù OC: ko pɯʔ MC: ki̯o pi̯ut 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • PPadVunder no circumstances, in no way