Ans van Kemenade presented a talk on negation in Old and Middle English seeking to address problems in the syntax of negative clauses discussed by previous researchers including Haeberli and Ingham. van Kemenade's basic idea is that there are two positions in the clause which secondary negators may adopt. In root clauses they stand in a high position to the immediate right of Sigma P, and above TP. In nonroot clauses they stand in a lower position below T. Her findings thus complement the analyses adopted by Haeberli and Ingham on the basis of subject and object positions in Middle English, but extend the analysis back into the Old English period.
Paul Rowlett raised a number of questions including the status of ne in Old English, of whether it was moving towards head status, and of whether nominal and pronominal subjects retain their distinctiveness into the Middle English period.
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