Negation
In Toaq, negation is expressed with bu, which can come before tenses, aspects, or verbs.
Scope
Quantifiers
The scope interactions with quantifiers can be surprising. Remember that quantifiers "float up" to the top of the clause, above bu.
If we want to say "not all those who wander are lost", we might accidentally say:
Bu tıeqbıao tú neqkoı.
= Tú neqkoı nä, bu tıeqbıao néqkoı.
Each wanderer is non-lost. 😱
To get the right meaning, we have to instead say
Bu tıeqbıao sá neqkoı.
Some wanderers are non-lost.
Or we can use the verb sahu "to be false":
Sahu, ꝡä tıeqbıao tú neqkoı.
It's false that each wanderer is lost.
Tenses
Here is how bu interacts with quantifiers and tenses:
Mala bu chuq tú raı báq nam.
For each X: X has ever not-eaten bread.
Bu mala chuq tú raı báq nam.
For each X: X hasn't ever eaten bread.
Adverbs
bu scopes over adverbs, so you can't say Bu guaı nháo dûo sá joa to mean "he hasn't worked all week." Instead, this sentence means "it's false that he works for a week." See Adverbs are low.
Connectives
Officially, rú is described as joining TPs, so Bu kıa máq rú lue máq means "It's false that [it's red and it's yellow]", i.e. it's neither red nor yellow.
Kuna currently has rú joining ΣPs, so that Bu kıa máq rú lue máq means "It's not red, and it is yellow."
(TODO: resolve this? My intuition is lined up with pómı Kuna, and I'd repeat bu to say the other thing. But another option is to say that rú joins the smallest constituent on the right that's bigger than a verb, so bu kıa máq rú lue máq is vP-rú-vP and bu kıa máq rú jeo lue máq is how you achieve ΣP-rú-ΣP. Lynn (talk) 11:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC))