Source at https://www.linguisticanalysis.com/.Languages differ with respect to the possibility of introducing a
negative operator between an auxiliary verb and a participle inside
aspectual periphrases; whereas Lithuanian perfect forms allow
negation in that position, Spanish rejects it. The goal of this paper
is to offer an analysis of this contrast, which contributes to our understanding of low negation in the clausal domain. We propose that
when negation follows an auxiliary verb, it is merged in a Polarity
Phrase placed below AspP within the event domain. This low negation gives rise to an inhibited event reading, which expresses that the
subject refrains himself from initiating the event. We argue that the
possibility of introducing a negative operator between a participle
and an auxiliary is conditional upon the hierarchical level in which
the relevant participle is formed. We show that in Spanish, this verbal
form is built above Asp and as a result, low negation would intervene
between the verbal stem and the participial morphology. On the
contrary, in Lithuanian, participles are formed in the event domain,
below AspP. Low negation can, thus, be added without breaking the
internal make up of the participle
