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English questions and negation with do in syntax

I've always wondered why English insists on pairing not with do, when negating an action. For example, you say:

I do not like that coat.

Instead of:

I not like that coat.

When you're not negating, however, there is no need for do (except that it can optionally be used as an intensifier):

I like that coat.

Dictionary.com describes the word not in this contect as an adverb. Shouldn't it be OK just to add it in to the sentence on its own, so that one of the following should be acceptable?:

I not like that coat.
I like not that coat.

Why must do be added before?

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Jez
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  • I'll leave others to speculate as to why, but "I like not that coat" would be a correct although unusual construction - probably more often used poetically. – neil Oct 06 '11 at 12:49
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    The simple answer is "because it must". That's how English works. There are deeper theoretical explanations, but there is no answer to the question of why English should have this property and other languages not. – Colin Fine Oct 06 '11 at 13:14

1 Answers1

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Technically I like not that coat is correct, and that formation is used occasionally, but it's exceedingly rare and really only used for comedy value [YouTube video] these days.

A more common alternative that doesn't use "do" would be to use a prefix to negate the verb, as in I dislike that coat.

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