Datapoint Diu Indo-Portuguese/Negative morpheme types

The Diu Indo-Portuguese negator admits two forms, namely nã (often reduced to nə) and the emphatic form nãw. The former is highly dominant in clausal negation, while the latter is almost entirely reserved for propositional negation (i.e. as an interjection negating entire propositions, used for instance to answer polar questions). The crucial difference between the two is one of clausal embedding. Whereas the emphatic form is a stand-alone form, the reduced form integrates the structure of a clause. Consider the distribution of nãw and nə in Example 169 (which is the reply to a question demanding whether or not the interlocutor was scared of cockroaches).

Values

Negative particle

Example 39-167:
Yo nã kɛ fala mem, nã pɔd fala.
Yo
1sg
nã
neg
kɛ
want.npst
fal-a
speak-inf
mem,
emph
nã
neg
pɔd
can.npst
fal-a.
speak-inf
I really don't want to speak, [I] cannot speak.

Source: Cardoso 2009: 209

Example 39-168:
Də Go nã mãdo Purtəgal, ot lad mem dixo.
Də
of
Go
Goa
nã
neg
mãd-o
send-pst
Purtəgal,
Portugal
ot
other
lad
side
mem
emph
dix-o.
leave-pst
[They] didn't send [it] from Goa to Portugal, [they] left it some other place.

Source: Cardoso 2009: 210

Example 39-169:
Nãw, yo nə tə fika.
Nãw,
neg
yo
1sg
nə
neg
tə
ipfv.npst
fik-a.
become-inf
No, I'm not [scared of cockroaches].

Source: Cardoso 2009: 210

Confidence:
Very certain