Date:  Sat, 15 Nov 1997 16:29:50 -0500
From:  Beverly Flanigan <FLANIGAN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OUVAXA.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Double negatives (was one as a pronoun?)

  Using computational linguistics logic to translate Spanish or any other
  language is to apply a secondary system to a primary (nonlogical, in
  the syllogistic sense) one--perhaps a worthwhile endeavor. But we
  can't make the primary system over to fit our computer "logic"; the
  language is what it is--no one can't never turn no natural language
  into no artificial one nohow. (BTW, that's six negatives; by
  mathematical logic I guess the meaning is therefore positive: 2 neg. =
  pos., 3 neg.=neg., 4 neg.=pos.,... Labov demonstrated 30 years ago
  that Black English speakers' triple and quadruple negatives still meant
  negative, and so do my six.)