Jespersen recycled

The Jespersen cycle, the series of changes in which single negation is replaced by double negation, which in turn is reduced to single negation, is fleshed into its component parts: the various changes which conspire to feed the cyclical change. Special attention is given to the process by which a negative polarity item is reinterpreted as the bearer of negation. It is argued that this process only applies when the likelihood of negation, given the presence of the polarity item, is very high. Items such as English ever or any do not fall into this category, since they appear in a wide variety of contexts. Another change, sometimes overlooked in the literature, is the one from DP-like polarity item (such as English naught) to adverbial negation element (English not). Some contexts are identified where the difference between DP and Adverb appears to be neutralized, and it is speculated that the reinterpretation process starts precisely in such contexts.