Negative Indefinites and Negative Concord

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Doris Penka
Keyword(s):  
Negative Concord ◽  
Negative Indefinites

Negation in Old High German

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Jäger
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Old High German ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Specific Question ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Negative Indefinites

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to give a syntactic analysis of sentential negation in the history of German with special emphasis on Old High German. This analysis attributes the main changes in the syntax of negation not to a change in syntactic structure but to changes in the lexical filling of the head and specifier of NegP. In addition, the more specific question of negative indefinites and negative concord (NC) in Old High German is discussed. It is argued that negative indefinites should be analysed as semantically non-negative but simply formally neg-marked. It is assumed that there is no obligatory movement of n-indefinites to SpecNegP, neither overtly nor covertly.

scholarly journals Neg-phrases in Eton (Bantu): An HPSG-analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Form
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Lexical Resource ◽  
Negative Indefinites ◽  
Resource Semantics

This paper presents a study of so-called neg-phrases in Eton, a negative concord language spoken in Cameroon. These phrases strongly resemble negated noun phrases that consist of a negative determiner and a noun, however, I will show that Eton neg-phrases are built differently. Reconciling the non-negative approach to negative indefinites by Penka & Zeijlstra (2005) and the negative approach by Richter & Sailer (2004a,b, 2006), I will argue that Eton neg-phrases consist of an inherently negative modifier and a non-negative indefinite derived from a noun. Embedding the analysis in Lexical Resource Semantics, I will reveal the inherent negativity of Eton neg-phrases and account for their composition by using a lexical rule based on the semantic approach to noun phrases by Beavers (2003).

On negative indefinites in Gallo

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Samantha Becerra-Zita ◽  
Hamida Demirdache
Keyword(s):  
Negative Concord ◽  
Negative Indefinites

Abstract This paper brings to bear primary fieldwork data from Gallo on negation and polarity related issues. We defend two correlated proposals. (i) The negative markers pas/pouint in Gallo are not inherently negative, but rather merely signal the presence of abstract semantic negation in their clause. (ii) In (at least) the Morbihan dialect of Gallo, the negative markers pas/pouint come in two variants: a plain and a scalar variant, both of which enter into a Negative Concord relation with abstract semantic negation. The scalar NPI variant corresponding to aoqhun across other Gallo dialects, or to aucun in Standard French, is pas/pouint aoqhun and it is the negator (minimizer) pas/pouint that provides the necessary scalarity component characteristic of N(P)Is (formally the scalar feature [+σ]) to the plain indefinite aoqhun. As a corollary, adapting Labelle & Espinal (2014), the shift from indefinite to (N)PI involves transfer of a scalar feature from a minimizer to an indefinite.

Indefinites and negation in the history of Latin

2018 ◽  
pp. 137-201
Author(s):  
Chiara Gianollo
Keyword(s):  
Major Change ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Double Negation ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Extreme Dependence ◽  
History Of ◽  
Negative Indefinites

This chapter is a study of Latin indefinites in direct-negation contexts. These indefinites are interesting from a theoretical point of view because of their extreme dependence on the surrounding structural conditions, and because of the variety of their instantiations in different linguistic systems. Two phenomena of Latin grammar with wide-ranging implications for the development of Romance indefinites are discussed: the syntax of negation and the diachronic pathways followed by indefinites interacting with it. Latin is a Double Negation language, whereas Early Romance exhibits Negative Concord. The study proposes that this typological shift is linked to another major change from Latin to Romance, namely the change from OV to VO. Late Latin is analyzed as a ‘concealed’ nonstrict Negative Concord language, in which restrictions in the use of the ‘old’ negative indefinites emerge, as well as new patterns with (new) negative-polarity items.

scholarly journals A typology of negation in a constraint-based framework of syntax and semantics

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriette De Swart
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Double Negation ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Polarity Items ◽  
Storage Mechanism ◽  
Scope Ambiguities ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Negative Indefinites ◽  
Polyadic Quantifier

Negation and negative indefinites raise problems for the principle of compositionality of meaning, because we find both double and single negation readings in natural languages. De Swart and Sag (2002) solve the compositionality problem in a polyadic quantifier framework. The syntax-semantics interface exploits an extension of the Cooper storage mechanism that HPSG uses to account for scope ambiguities. In de Swart and Sag (2002), all negative quantifiers are collected into an N-store, and are interpreted by means of iteration (double negation) or resumption (negative concord) upon retrieval. This puts the ambiguity between single and double negation readings in the grammar, rather than in the lexical items. This paper extends the earlier analysis with a typology of negation and negative indefinites using bi-directional optimality theory (OT). The constraints defined are universal, but their ranking varies from one language to the next. In negative concord languages, the functional motivation for the marking of 'negative variables' wins out, so we use n-words. Double negation languages value first-order iteration, so we use plain indefinites or negative polarity items within the scope of negation. The bi-directional set-up is essential, for syntactic and semantic variation go hand in hand.

Variation as a testing ground for grammatical theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Burnett
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Natural Extension ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Syntactic Variation ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Negative Marker ◽  
Negative Indefinites ◽  
Testing Dimension ◽  
Theory Framework

This paper addresses the contribution that corpus-based studies of syntactic variation can make to the construction, elaboration and testing of formal syntactic theories, with a particular focus on the testing dimension. In particular, I present a new empirical study of obligatory and optional asymmetric negative concord phenomena, and I show how an influential analysis for obligatory concord patterns (de Swart, 2010) can be tested using variation data through looking at the predictions that its natural probabilistic extension makes for the forms, interpretations and frequency distributions of expressions in languages in which asymmetric concord is optional. In obligatory negative concord languages like Spanish, negative indefinites, such as nadie ‘no one’, appear bare in preverbal position (i.e. in an expression like Nadie ha venido ‘No one came’), but they co-occur with the negative marker no in postverbal negative concord structures such as No he visto a nadie ‘I did not see anyone.’ (lit. ‘I did not see no one.’). Furthermore, in this language, co-occurrence between a negative marker and an n-word is either prohibited (*Nadie no ha venido), or it is obligatory (*He visto a nadie). Québec French shows a variable version of the Spanish pattern in which the negation marker optionally co-occurs with postverbal negative indefinites (J’ai (pas) vu personne ‘I saw no one’) but is prohibited with preverbal negative indefinites *Personne est pas venu (Ok: Personne est venu. ‘No one came’). I show how the predictions for Montréal French of de Swart’s analysis of Spanish can be tested (and, in this case, mostly verified) using a quantitative study of the distribution of bare and concord structures in the Montréal 84 corpus of spoken Montréal French (Thibault & Vincent, 1990) through looking at its natural extension within Boersma (1998)’s stochastic generalization of the Optimality Theory framework, which is the framework in which de Swart’s proposal is set.

A Quantifier Approach to Negation in Natural Languages

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Weiß
Keyword(s):  
Logical Form ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Negative Particle ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Negative Indefinites ◽  
Event Variable ◽  
Formal Feature

This article attempts to give a uniform and coherent analysis of the semantics and syntax of negation, with special emphasis on negative concord (NC) constructions. It is argued that negation is semantically a tripartite quantifier binding the event variable in its restriction. In syntax, this logical form corresponds to a structure where a NegP is present with Neg ° (normally) hosting the negative particle and a specifier as a checking position in the Minimalist sense. As a consequence, negative indefinites are held to be weak indefinites with a formal feature NEG which has to be checked away (thus obtaining Neg absorption). Additionally, some new data are introduced showing that even English style negative indefinites are analysable as non-negated weak indefinites.

scholarly journals Negative Concord in Russian

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacopo Garzonio
Keyword(s):  
Negative Concord ◽  
General Properties ◽  
Standard Position ◽  
Sentential Negation ◽  
Fragment Answers ◽  
Negative Indefinites

In this article I will describe the general properties of Negative Concord in Russian, which is a strict Negative Concord language, where all negative indefinites must co-occur with sentential negation. However, there are several cases where the negation marker can be absent (like in fragment answers) or can appear in a non-standard position (like at the left of an embedded infinitival). I will take into consideration all these specific cases described by the literature on the negation system of Russian and analyse them according to current approaches to Negative Concord.

scholarly journals Double Negation in a Negative Concord language: An experimental investigation

Lingua ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 75-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viviane Déprez ◽  
Susagna Tubau ◽  
Anne Cheylus ◽  
M. Teresa Espinal
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Double Negation
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