I apologize if this is a silly question but can ければ be used to simply link two verbs (as in, "and")? It doesn't make much sense (or does it?) in the following sentence for "to scream angrily" making the person to "follow/cling to" to the narrator, that is: "(he) was in the state as if he wanted to say something (but) Shinji didn't shout and didn't follow" as opposed to "didn't shout, so didn't follow me"?
何か言いたげな口調のまま、慎二は怒鳴る事もなければ追いすがってくる事もない。
Couldn't it simply be replaced here by ...怒鳴る事もなくて追いすがってくる事...?
Have I completely misunderstood the sentence?
Thank you.
Answer
Double Negatives:
The structure that you need to be looking at is:
「～～もなければ～～もない」 = "neither ~~ nor ~~"
This has nothing to do with causation. It can link two verb/adjective/noun phrases, not just verbs.
As you mentioned "causation", I think you are thinking of another usage of 「（な）ければ」 as in 「チーズがなければピザは[作]{つく}れない。」 = "If you have no cheese, you cannot make pizza."
「[慎二]{しんじ}は[怒鳴]{どな}る[事]{こと}もなければ[追]{お}いすがってくる事もない」,
therefore, means: "Shinji would neither yell at me nor follow me about"
Example with adjectives:
「このピザはうまくもなければ、まずくもない。」 = "This pizza is neither good nor bad."
Example with nouns:
「あの[人]{ひと}は[男]{おとこ}でもなければ、[女]{おんな}でもない。」 = "That person is neither a man nor a woman."
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