Double Negative - Baltic Languages

Baltic Languages

As with most synthetic satem languages double negative is mandatory in Latvian and Lithuanian. Furthermore, all of the verbs and indefinite pronouns in a given statement must be negated, thus it could be said that multiple negative is mandatory in Latvian. For instance, a statement "I haven't ever owed anything to anyone" would be rendered as es nekad nevienam neko neesmu bijis parādā. The only alternative would be using a negating subordinate clause and subjunctive in the main clause, which could be approximated in English as "there hasn't ever been an instance that I would have owed anything to anyone" — nav bijis tā, ka es kādreiz būtu kādam bijis kaut ko parādā — where negative pronouns (nekad, neviens, nekas) are swapped for indefinite pronouns (kādreiz, kāds, kaut kas) more in line with the English "ever, any" indefinite pronoun structures.