A new approach to Negative Concord : Catalan as a case in point

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABPublished online: 25 August 2023In this paper, we revisit the phenomenon of Negative Concord focusing on the Strict vs. Non-Strict divide. With Catalan as a case in point, we show that Negative Concord Items (NCIs) are not negative quantifiers (NQs) or polarity items (PIs) but inherently negative indefinites by virtue of carrying a negative feature [neg] that contributes a negative semantics to the proposition and is subject to a syntax-phonology constraint that forces it to overtly c-command Tense in compliance with Jespersen's NegFirst principle. We argue that to satisfy such constraint, [neg] can disembody from the NCI via overt Move F(eature) to adjoin at a pre-Infl(ection) position and be Spelled-Out homophonous to the negative marker. The Strict vs. Non-Strict contrast follows from whether [neg] always moves independently from the rest of the NCI via Move F (Strict Negative Concord) or predates, whenever possible, on another movement of the NCI that places [neg] in the required pre-Infl position (Non-Strict Negative Concord) thus not having to disembody

On the status of NCIs : An experimental investigation on so-called Strict NC languages

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABPublished online by Cambridge University Press: 25 August 2023. First ViewThis paper investigates the status of Negative Concord Items (NCIs) in three so-called Strict Negative Concord (NC) languages (namely, Greek, Romanian, and Russian). An experimental study was designed to gather evidence concerning the speakers' acceptability and interpretation of sequences with argumental NCIs in subject, object, and both positions when dhen/nu/ne were not present. Our results show that NCIs are negative indefinites whose presence in a clausal domain is enough to assign a single negation reading to the whole sequence, thus arguing in support of the hypothesis that in NC structures the minimal semantic requirement to convey single negation is that one or more NCIs encoding a negative feature appear within a sentential domain. We argue that in these structures dhen/nu/ne are the instantiations of a negative feature [neg] disembodied from an indefinite negative NCI in order to obey a syntax-phonology interface constraint

L'agenda compartida de la UAB : el projecte ITACA i la implementació institucional de l'aprenentatge basat en reptes

En aquest article es presenta una experiència concreta d'innovació transformadora a la UAB: l'experiència pilot d'implementació de la metodologia de l'aprenentatge basat en reptes (ABR) a dues facultats de la Universitat. A través de la descripció del marc conceptual en el qual s'ha desenvolupat aquest procés de canvi, l'agenda de treball general i l'estudi de cas d'una facultat, s'identifiquen les línies principals d'aquesta experiència innovadora, moltes de les quals es poden aplicar a altres iniciatives de canvi en les universitats, i fins i tot en altres organitzacions públiques.This article will explain a specific experience of transformative innovation in the UAB: the pilot experience of implementing the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) methodology in two of the university's faculties. Through the description of the conceptual framework in which this process of change was developed , the general work agenda and the case study of a faculty the main lines of this innovative experience are identified, many of which can be replicated to other initiatives of change in universities, and even in other public organisations

The asymmetric behavior of English negative quantifiers in negative sentences

In this paper, the unexpected behavior of object negative quantifiers in some diagnostic tests of sentential negation is accounted for within a Minimalist framework assuming that: (i) negative quantifiers decompose into negation and an existential quantifier; (ii) negative quantifiers are multidominant phrase markers, as Parallel Merge allows the verb to c-select their existential part but not their negative part, thus giving negation remerge flexibility; (iii) tag questions involve or-coordination of TPs, and neither/so clauses involve and-coordination of TPs; (iv) two positions for sentential negation are available in English, one below TP (PolP2), and one above TP (PolP1). Activation of either PolP1 or PolP2 in the absence of other scope-taking operators corresponds to two distinct grammars. If PolP1 is active, the negative part of an object negative quantifier remerges in its Specifier valuing the [upol:[ feature of Pol1 as negative ([upol:neg]) while skipping the TP-domain. As no negative formal feature is present in the TP, a negative question tag is required, as well as so-coordination, too-licensing and Yes, I guess so 'expression of agreement'. Conversely, if PolP2 is active, the negative part of the object negative quantifier remerges in the TP-domain (in Spec, PolP2), thus requiring a positive question tag, neither-coordination, either-licensing, and No, I guess not

Neither, (n)or nothing and hardly in negative concord constructions in traditional dialects of British English

En aquest article, investigo, dins d'un marc minimista, com es compon en anglès britànic no-estàndard la concordança negativa en construccions que contenen l'adverbi negatiu neither, l'extensor general (n)or nothing, i l'adverbi escalar hardly emprant dades del corpus Freiburg English Dialect. Sostinc que neither, (n)or nothing i hardly estableixen una relació de concordança sintàctica amb un altre element negatiu dins l'oració, cosa que resulta en la interpretació com a negació simple de la cadena formada per vàries expressions de la negacióIn this paper, I investigate, within a minimalist framework, how negative concord is composed in non-standard British English constructions containing the negative adverb neither, the general extender (n)or nothing, and the scalar adverb hardly using data from the Freiburg English Dialect corpus. I argue that neither, (n)or nothing and hardly establish a relation of syntactic agreement with another negative element in the clause which results in a single-negation interpretation of the chain formed by several instances of negation

The syntax of the confirmatory pragmatic particle 'innit'

En este artículo se propone un análisis sintáctico de la partícula innit mediante un enfoque cartográfico de las partículas pragmáticas y la teoría de actos de habla. Defendemos que cuando innit funciona como partícula facilitativa e epistémica no es una question tag, sino una partícula pragmática confirmatoria que requiere que el interlocutor confirme que la proposición ha de ser tratada como parte del common ground. Además, la negatividad inherente de la partícula confirmatoria innit explica algunos paralelismos entre la sintaxis de las oraciones declarativas con innit, la sintaxis de las preguntas con question tags y la sintaxis de las preguntas polares negadas donde la negación se interpreta en una posición alta (fuera de Sintagma Tiempo).In the present paper a syntactic analysis is put forward for the particle innit within a cartographic approach to pragmatic particles and a theory of speech acts. I claim here that when functioning as facilitative and epistemic, innit is not a non-canonical question tag, but rather a confirmatory pragmatic particle that requires the addressee to confirm that the proposition asserted is treated as common ground. Furthermore, the fact that the confirmatory particle innit is inherently negative explains some parallelisms between the syntax of declarative clauses containing innit, the syntax of questions with question tags and the syntax of negated polar questions where negation is interpreted high (outside Tense Phrase)

Lexical variation and Negative Concord in Traditional Dialects of British English

In the present paper I investigate, from a Minimalist perspective and using data from the Freiburg English Dialect corpus, the patterns of Negative Concord (NC) attested in different Traditional Dialects of British English. By arguing that lexical variation exists in the negative operator used to express sentential negation, which is truly semantic in Standard English but carries an interpretable negative feature in Traditional Dialects of British English, I explain why NC, understood as syntactic Agree between [iNeg] and [uNeg] features, is attested in the latter but not in the former. In the same vein, by arguing that in Traditional Dialects of British English two lexical entries are possible for n-words which contrast in the interpretability of the negative feature they carry ([iNeg] vs. [uNeg]), the optionality of NC in the studied Non-Standard dialects of English as well as the different patterns observed in the data can be accounted for

Minimizers and maximizers as different types of polarity items

This chapter examines the properties of minimizers and maximizers (i.e. minimal and maximal extent- or quantity-denoting expressions) in English, Catalan, and Spanish. Special emphasis is put on (i) establishing which type of polarity item these expressions align with, and (ii) identifying connections between them and other elements of the polarity landscape such as negative quantifiers and Negative Concord Items. It is shown that different minimizers and maximizers pattern with Affective Polarity Items, Negative Polarity Items, or Positive Polarity Items in the three studied languages, and that English minimizers behave similarly to negative quantifiers when negation is adjacent to them, while in Catalan and Spanish they behave like Negative Concord Items when headed by the particle ni 'not even'. Vulgar (taboo word) minimizers, which have been argued to carry an incorporated zero numeral in the literature, are claimed to be lexically ambiguous between zero-incorporated structures and Affective Polarity Items

On the syntax of English minimizers

The syntactic behaviour of English minimizers such as (not) a/one word, (not) a/one bit and (not) sleep a/one wink is puzzling: while they can behave as polarity items (PIs) in non-negative and negative contexts, they become negative quantifiers (NQs) when merged with a negation in negative contexts. Unlike previous accounts, where emphasis is put mainly on highlighting the similarity of minimizers to any-PIs and on supporting the contribution of an even-reading, I integrate the peculiar behaviour of minimizers in English within an analysis of negative indefinites as existential quantifiers that can structurally associate with negation in different ways. I claim that English minimizers contain three basic ingredients: a Numeral Phrase, a Focus particle and, in negative contexts, a Negative Phrase, not. The presence of a Focus particle even in the structure of minimizers plus the flexible merging possibilities of not with respect to the other two components of the minimizer result in their NQ-like behaviour, which can be now fully integrated into a theory of negative indefinites as syntactic objects that are compositionally built

The diachronic syntax of negated adjuncts in English

In this paper we investigate the diachronic changes in negation and Emphatic Focus that are responsible for the distribution of negated adjuncts in Present Day English. These can occur clause-medially and clause-initially, but generally not clause-finally. While clause-initial negated adjuncts move to the left-periphery triggering Negative Inversion for emphasis, clause-medial negated adjuncts are argued to occur in their first-merged position as vP-adjuncts. We relate the inability of clause-final negated adjuncts to express sentential negation to the loss of Prosodic-movement and Negative Concord in the transition from Late Middle English to Early Modern English. The eventual loss of Negative Concord is related to the reanalysis of negative words from non-negative (i.e. [uNeg]) to negative (i.e. [iNeg]). Upon loss of Prosodic-movement, reanalysis of negative words as [iNeg] results in the rise of Negative Inversion to express Focus