Divehi to Lithuanian: a negative object can change case without becoming an owner
The target genitive can still identify what is seen
Kushnir’s Lithuanian teaching notes contrast vilką in an affirmative seeing construction with vilko under verbal negation. The wolf remains the thing seen or not seen; the target genitive is licensed by the negative construction. It does not introduce an owner or turn the animal into a possessor of something unstated.
Divehi generally uses an unmarked direct case for direct objects in Gnanadesikan’s description. A negative Divehi report can therefore produce a Lithuanian noun ending different from the affirmative counterpart even though the source noun’s participant role is unchanged. A comparison of endings alone could wrongly suggest that the translation moved from an object to ownership.
This is useful when a message corrects an earlier claim about seeing a particular animal or item. Preserve which observation is denied. The Lithuanian case alternation expresses the target construction; it should not be explained by inventing a new possession relationship or omitting the object altogether.
A recipient does not undergo the same change
Kushnir separately contrasts a direct object with a dative recipient in giving and buying examples. The accusative object changes to genitive under negation, while the dative recipient remains dative. The lesson also illustrates a lexical dative with helping, which retains that case when negated.
Divehi likewise distinguishes participant relationships through constructions rather than one universal object ending. Gnanadesikan illustrates a typical transfer with a dative recipient, but describes an entrusting expression that selects a sociative recipient. The target must preserve the recipient’s role even when its case does not match the particular source form.
For a Divehi statement denying that someone gave a book to a child, keep the book and the child distinct. A Lithuanian change on the book does not require the same change on the recipient. Applying the negative-object rule indiscriminately to every noun would confuse the item transferred with the person intended to receive it.
Negation can reach into an infinitival complement, with variation
Arkadiev’s research distinguishes local Lithuanian genitive under negation from long-distance patterns in which a negated higher verb influences the object of an embedded infinitive. He reports the long-distance pattern as optional in principle, with variation, while distinguishing it from the local standard-language pattern.
A Divehi refusal or statement of unwillingness may place the denied intention above another action. In a Lithuanian counterpart, the object’s genitive need not mean that the lower action itself carries a separately expressed negative. Locate which proposition the source rejects: not wanting to give something and wanting not to give it are not automatically identical intentions.
The construction boundary therefore matters. A genitive object in a negative Lithuanian sentence can reflect local licensing or a relationship with a higher negated predicate. The source message still decides what is denied, who would act and what would be affected. Recognizing the target case pattern helps preserve that meaning without treating one visible ending as a complete account of its scope.
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