 \(\mathbf{O}&gt;\mathbf{E}\) drift is attested cross-linguistically in the meaning shift of lexical items like Old English nealles (lit. “NEG all”) = “not at all”, Dutch nimmer (lit., “NEG always”) = “never”, or Russian nel’zja (lit. “NEG must”) = “mustn’t”, and in words like unlikely, inadvisable, or disbelieve, whose prefixal negations yield only contrary, not contradictory, interpretations. The reverse shift, in which apparent E forms develop O meanings, appears to be unattested (cf. Horn 2012, 2015).