Licensing Negative Fragments and the Interpretation of Comparison
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Simona Herdan
Abstract
This paper uses Bošković's feature checking analysis of negative concord to propose a solution to the problem of apparently unlicensed negative concord items in comparative/equative structures in Romanian. I will argue that a PFdeletion analysis of phrasal comparatives and equatives introduced by ca provides the structure against which Bošković's analysis can be successfully applied. Furthermore, the proposed solution also accounts for the impossibility of licensing negative polarity items in the same configuration. The key to the distinction in grammaticality appears to be the feature makeup of the negative concord item niciodată and the negative polarity item vreodată. In the last part of the paper, I also explore possible solutions to the remaining puzzle regarding variability in the NPI licensing properties of sentential and phrasal comparatives.
Abstract
This paper uses Bošković's feature checking analysis of negative concord to propose a solution to the problem of apparently unlicensed negative concord items in comparative/equative structures in Romanian. I will argue that a PFdeletion analysis of phrasal comparatives and equatives introduced by ca provides the structure against which Bošković's analysis can be successfully applied. Furthermore, the proposed solution also accounts for the impossibility of licensing negative polarity items in the same configuration. The key to the distinction in grammaticality appears to be the feature makeup of the negative concord item niciodată and the negative polarity item vreodată. In the last part of the paper, I also explore possible solutions to the remaining puzzle regarding variability in the NPI licensing properties of sentential and phrasal comparatives.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Null Expletives and Case: The View from Romance 1
- On the Existence of Null Complementizers in Old French 19
- On the Lack of Transparency Effects in French 37
- On the Syllabification of Prevocalic /w/ in Judeo-Spanish 51
- Word Order and Minimalism 69
- The Status of Old French Clitics in the 12th Century 89
- Towards a Unified Account of Positive and Negative Polarity: Evidence from Romanian 105
- Correlativization and Degree Quantification in Spanish 121
- Imperfect Variation and Class Marking in the Old Spanish Third Conjugation 143
- Licensing Negative Fragments and the Interpretation of Comparison 157
- Developing I-Language in L1 and L2 173
- Crypto-Variation in Italian Velar Palatalisation 193
- Antisymmetry and the Typology of Relative Clauses: Morphological Evidence from Romance 209
- Romance Paths as Cognate Complements: A Lexical-Syntactic Account 227
- Discriminating Pitch Accent Alignment in Spanish 243
- Proscriptions…Gaps…and Something in Between: An Experimental Examination of Spanish Phonotactics 261
- Romanian Palatalization: The Role of Place of Articulation in Perception 277
- Putting in Order the Spanish DP 291
- The Domain of Palatalization in Romanian 307
- Rhotic Metathesis Asymmetries in Romance: Formalizing the Effects of Articulation and Perception on Sound Change 321
- The Left Edge in the Spanish Clausal Structure 339
- Index 359
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Null Expletives and Case: The View from Romance 1
- On the Existence of Null Complementizers in Old French 19
- On the Lack of Transparency Effects in French 37
- On the Syllabification of Prevocalic /w/ in Judeo-Spanish 51
- Word Order and Minimalism 69
- The Status of Old French Clitics in the 12th Century 89
- Towards a Unified Account of Positive and Negative Polarity: Evidence from Romanian 105
- Correlativization and Degree Quantification in Spanish 121
- Imperfect Variation and Class Marking in the Old Spanish Third Conjugation 143
- Licensing Negative Fragments and the Interpretation of Comparison 157
- Developing I-Language in L1 and L2 173
- Crypto-Variation in Italian Velar Palatalisation 193
- Antisymmetry and the Typology of Relative Clauses: Morphological Evidence from Romance 209
- Romance Paths as Cognate Complements: A Lexical-Syntactic Account 227
- Discriminating Pitch Accent Alignment in Spanish 243
- Proscriptions…Gaps…and Something in Between: An Experimental Examination of Spanish Phonotactics 261
- Romanian Palatalization: The Role of Place of Articulation in Perception 277
- Putting in Order the Spanish DP 291
- The Domain of Palatalization in Romanian 307
- Rhotic Metathesis Asymmetries in Romance: Formalizing the Effects of Articulation and Perception on Sound Change 321
- The Left Edge in the Spanish Clausal Structure 339
- Index 359
