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326.
Two negatives are equivalent to an affirmative:
-
- nemo non audiet, every one
will hear (nobody will not hear).
- non possum non confiteri
(Fam. ix. 14. 1), I must confess.
- ut ... ne nan timere quidem sine aliquo
timore possimus (Mil. 2), so that we cannot even be relieved of
fear without some fear.
a. Many compounds or phrases of which
non is the first part express an indefinite
affirmative: -
- non nullus, some; non nulli ( aliqui), some few.
- non nihil ( aliquid),
something.
- non nemo ( aliquot), sundry
persons.
- non numquam ( aliquotiens),
sometimes.
b. Two negatives of which the second is
non (belonging to the predicate) express a
universal affirmative: -
- nemo non, nullus non, nobody
[does] not, i.e. everybody [does]. [Cf. non nemo, not nobody, i.e.
somebody.]
- nihil non, everything.
[Cf. non nihil, something.]
- numquam non, never not,
i.e. always. [Cf. non numquam,
sometimes.]
c. A statement is often made emphatic by
denying its contrary (Litotes, §641): -
- non semel ( saepissime),
often enough (not once only).
- non haec sine numine divom eveniunt
(Aen. ii. 777), these things do not occur without the will of the
gods.
- haec non nimis exqulro
(Att. vii. 18. 3), not very much, i.e. very little.
NOTE: Compare non nullus, non
nemo, etc., in a above.