Effects of Context and Individual Cognitive Differences on Negator Use

This study examines the two most common negators in Mandarin, bu and mei, whose usage is associated with the linguistic features of temporal boundedness and the protagonist's volition. We hypothesize that native speakers’ negator choice depends on which feature more directly addresses the negation-related Question Under Discussion (QUD) in context. In addition, individual differences in socio-cognitive ability may affect context sensitivity in negator use. The findings highlight the dynamic interaction between linguistic context and individual cognitive variability in language use.