The treatment of audience expectations applies to negative reports as well as affirmative ones. A speaker must consider whether a listener doubts, denies, or anticipates the rejection of an assertion.
Simple negation: مَا جَاءَ زَيْدٌ — Zayd did not come.
Reinforced negation: إِنَّ زَيْدًا لَمْ يَجِئْ — Zayd certainly did not come.
The issue is not merely polarity. The structure must fit the hearer’s relation to the negated judgment, just as it fits their relation to an affirmative judgment.
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ʿIlm al-Maʿānī: Predication, Emphasis, and Rational Metaphor
The treatment of audience expectations applies to negative reports as well as affirmative ones. A speaker must consider whether a listener doubts, denies, or anticipates the rejection of an assertion.
Simple negation: مَا جَاءَ زَيْدٌ — Zayd did not come.
Reinforced negation: إِنَّ زَيْدًا لَمْ يَجِئْ — Zayd certainly did not come.
The issue is not merely polarity. The structure must fit the hearer’s relation to the negated judgment, just as it fits their relation to an affirmative judgment.