grammar - What is the name for the grammatical device of putting "not" after a verb to negate it?


Here's a passage (more or less taken randomly) from the American Standard Version of the Bible from 1901:



1 Peter 3:14 (ASV)
14 But even if ye should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled;



The bolded words are the grammatical form I'm asking about. It's extremely common in the older translations of the Bible, which make them difficult to read. These days, I think most people would say "do not fear their fear" of "don't be afraid of their fear" instead. In fact, a 1995 update reads:



1 Peter 3:14 (NASB)
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,



(There's a footnote on"intimidation" saying "Lit fear", so my first update matches exactly.)


Reading up on Early Modern English I haven't been able to discover a name for this word ordering or any history about the change. Can y'all give me some pointers?



I'm not sure if this part of the question is on-topic, but when I find this form would I be safe in mechanically changing it from:



verb not



to



do not verb



Are there instances that will break the meaning by doing this?



Answer



The syntax of "N V not" ("I know not") in English is called simple negation. It was much more common in Early Modern English.


The negation pattern that is more commonly used now, "N do not V" ("I don't know") is called just plain negation (it is the unmarked (expected) form).


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