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

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).

Summary and Conclusions

This chapter summarizes the central points from each previous chapter and elaborates on the individual analyses of these PSIs (polarity-sensitive items) and their contributions to the critical issues in syntax and linguistic theory. This book studied the microvariation in the syntax of PSIs (negative and positive polarity, negative concord, and negative indefinites) in Standard Arabic and the major regional dialects represented by Jordanian, Egyptian, Moroccan, and Qatari. Overall, the syntactic licensing of PSIs in Arabic bears on key theoretical issues in the cross-linguistic studies of polarity sensitivity. Such issues include the syntactic licensing configurations for these items, the feature of structure/specifications of these items, and the availability of syntactic agreement in the context of negation. Lastly, the chapter presents residual issues for future research.

A Unified Theory of Polarity Sensitivity

This book examines polarity sensitivity—a ubiquitous phenomenon involving expressions such as anybody, nobody, ever, never, and somebody and their counterparts in other languages, with particular focus on Arabic. These expressions belong to different classes such as negative and positive polarity, negative concord, and negative indefinites, which led to examining their syntax and semantics separately. In this book, Ahmad Alqassas pursues a unified approach that relies on examining the interaction between the various types of polarity sensitivity. Treating this interaction is fundamental for scrutinizing their licensing conditions. Alqassas draws on data from Standard Arabic and the major regional dialects represented by Jordanian, Egyptian, Moroccan, and Qatari. The book provides a new perspective on the syntax–semantic interface and develops a unified syntactic analysis for polarity sensitivity. Through the (micro)comparative approach, Alqassas explains the distributional contrasts with a minimal set of universal syntactic operations such as Merge, Move, and Agree, and a fine-grained inventory of negative formal features for polarity items and their licensors. The features are simple invisibles that paint a complex landscape of polarity. The results suggest that syntactic computation of Arabic polarity (externally merged in the left periphery) is subservient to the conceptual–intentional interface. Alqassas argues for last resort insertion of covert negation operators in the CP layer to interpret non-strict NCIs, which is an extra mechanism that serves the semantic interface but adds to the complexity of syntactic computation. Likewise, head NPIs in the left periphery require licensing by operators higher than the tense phrase, adding more constraints on the syntactic licensing.

Iron Ossetic

Iron Ossetic is an Iranian language spoken in the Caucasus. The present chapter describes the main phonological, morphological, and syntactic properties of Iron Ossetic. A brief overview is given of the geographical and historical background, published sources, and history of research on Ossetic. The chapter proceeds with an overview of phonetics and phonology of the language, after which the morphology of nominals and verbs is addressed. The discussion of syntax touches upon the overall structure of simple clauses, the structure of noun phrases, valency classes, interrogative clauses, and complex clauses. A special emphasis is put on typologically unusual properties of this language. These properties include a rich system of second position pronominal clitics with a complex pattern of placement, the behavior of negation and negative indefinites, the syntax of wh-questions and complementizers, and the formation of finite embedded clauses, including relative clauses. Relative clause functions are always expressed by correlatives.

Form and Meaning of (Indefinite) Pronouns

The relation between the morphological form of a pronoun and its semantic function is not always transparent, and syncretism abounds in natural languages. In a language like English, for instance, three types of indefinite pronouns can be identified, often grouped in series: the some-series, the any-series, and the no-series. However, this does not mean that there are also three semantic functions for indefinite pronouns. Haspelmath (1997), in fact distinguishes nine functions. Closer inspection shows that these nine functions must be reduced to four main functions of indefinites, each with a number of subfunctions: (i) Negative Polarity Items; (ii) Free-Choice Items; (iii) negative indefinites; and (iv) positive or existential indefinites. These functions and subfunctions can be morphologically realized differently across languages, but don’t have to. In English, functions (i) and (ii), unlike (iii) and (iv), may morphologically group together, both expressed by the any-series. Where morphological correspondences between the kinds of functions that indefinites may express call for a classification, such classifications turn out to be semantically well motivated too. Similar observations can be made for definite pronouns, where it turns out that various functions, such as the first person inclusive/exclusive distinction or dual number, are sometimes, but not always morphologically distinguished, showing that these may be subfunctions of higher, more general functions. The question as to how to demarcate the landscape of indefinite and definite pronouns thus does not depend on semantic differences alone: Morphological differences are at least as much telling. The interplay between morphological and semantic properties can provide serious answers to how to define indefinites and the various forms and functions that these may take on.

Negative Quantifiers

This chapter discusses two puzzling phenomena in the domain of negative quantifiers: the so-called nall-problem and the existence of split-scope readings triggered by negative indefinites. The nall-problem concerns the fact that no language in the world lexicalizes negated universal quantifiers (with the meaning ‘not every’) and other negated high-scale elements. Negative Indefinites in languages such as Dutch and German may give rise to so-called split scope readings. Sentences like German Du must keine Krawatte anziehen (‘you must wear no tie’) have a reading where the modal takes scope in between the negation and the indefinite. That suggests that prima facie negative indefinites are not negative quantifiers in a straightforward sense. This chapter briefly discusses and evaluates the main analyses that have been put forward to account for these puzzles.

Negative Concord in Russian

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.

Indefinites and negation in the history of Latin

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.

On negative indefinites in Gallo

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.