160 The Loom of Language
(p 162) the lule for Bible English is the same as for Scandinavian
languages If the verb is single and has no pronoun object, the negative
particles not., never (or then Scandinavian equivalents) come imme-
diately after it If the verb is compound, they come immediately after
the helper For compound verbs with helpers othei than let) the rule is
the same m modern English, and the same rule applies to the helpers
be and have when they stand alone Otherwise we now use the pecu-
liarly Anglo-American construction with do or did Thus a modern
translation of the Bible would not say / came not to call the righteous^
hit sinnus to repentance It would s«iy / did not come to call ,
When inversion of subject and verb occurs, as in the negative form
of question, the English negative particle comes immediately after the
subject, like that of Scandinavian dialects. The negative particle of a
Scandinavian statement always comes after the object when the latter
is a personal pronoun This again is the woxd-order of Mayflower
English Compare for instance the following
(a) He came unto hib own and his own received him not
(= did not receive him)
(6) 1 he world was made by him and the woild knew (urn not
(-- did not know him)
This rule does not apply to a noun object, c g ye receive not our witness
In a negative question, the Scandinavian like the English negative
particle comes after the subject and before the noun object Its position
with reference to the subject m Anglo-American is not obligatory. We
sometimes say do you not? and we sometimes say dorftyouf The rule of
word-order m Bible English and in Scandinavian languages is the
same, (a) for a negative command or request, (i) for a negative state-
ment The Bible English or Scandinavian form is: lead us not into
temptation The roundabout Anglo-American equivalent is; do not lead
us into temptation We use this roundabout form of the negative request
or command only with not. If the negative particle is never we stick to
Mayflower idiom,
The position of the negative particle rn a Dutch or a German sen-
tence is not the same as in Bible English or in Scandinavian languages
When it qualifies the statement as a whole, it comes after the object
whetier the latter i& a pronoun or a noun. In a question it comes
at the end of a sentence unless the verb is compound. Then it comes
immediately before the participle or infinitive* In the Romance languages
the negative particle stands before the verb if the latter is simple, and