LessonsAl-Taqdim wa al-Ta’khir: Word Order and Rhetorical PurposesQuiz

A major consequence of advancing and delaying expressions can be a change in the scope of negation. The traditional distinction is between ‘umum al-salb (negation of every member) and salb al-‘umum (negation of totality).

كُلُّ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَكُنْ
None of those things happened.

لَمْ يَكُنْ كُلُّ ذَلِكَ
Not all of those things happened; some may still have happened.

The first distributes negation over every item. The second denies that the entire set occurred and does not necessarily deny each member. The relationship between kull and the negative predicate is decisive.

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Purpose 6: Distinguishing the scope of negation

Al-Taqdim wa al-Ta’khir: Word Order and Rhetorical Purposes

A major consequence of advancing and delaying expressions can be a change in the scope of negation. The traditional distinction is between ‘umum al-salb (negation of every member) and salb al-‘umum (negation of totality).

كُلُّ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يَكُنْ
None of those things happened.

لَمْ يَكُنْ كُلُّ ذَلِكَ
Not all of those things happened; some may still have happened.

The first distributes negation over every item. The second denies that the entire set occurred and does not necessarily deny each member. The relationship between kull and the negative predicate is decisive.