Existence, negation and negative existentials : The singular/plural distinction in negative existentials in English

Abstract

The English language has a straightforward system for asserting the existence of some entity, either countable or uncountable, be it material entities like people, animals, water, et cetera, or abstract, non-material entities such as reasons, theories, ways and so on. The two variants of countable existential expressions differentiate between the existence of a single entity （there is a thing） versus the existence of plural entities （there are things）. The case of non-existence on the other hand is more complex. To assert negated existence there is, counterintuitively for the value zero, a parallel singular/plural distinction, but in each case, there are several options. For countable referents, singular non-existence can be expressed with either ‘there isn’t a thing’ or ‘there is no thing’, and non-existence of uncountable referents can be expressed with ‘there is no stuff’ or ‘there isn’t any stuff’. Non-existence of plural countable referents can be expressed with either ‘there are no things’ or ‘there aren’t any things’. Although the underlying concept may be that the number or amount of extant entities or substances is zero, the variability in expressing this concept signals subtleties and nuances that may be based in both the cognitive and pragmatic aspects of the constructions.