Chapter 11. The nature and licensing of hi:tʃ elements in Persian
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Dennis R. Storoshenko
Abstract
This paper examines the nature of elements such as hi:tʃkӕs “anyone” in Persian, which have been described as either Negative Polarity Items (Taleghani 2006) or Negative Concord Items (Kwak 2010) in prior literature. Such claims have typically been used to motivate analyses of Persian NegP as being high in the clause structure, above TP. This is in contrast to more recent analyses which have argued for a low position of negation (Kahnemuyipour 2017). Here, we present experimental evidence showing that c-commanding negation is not sufficient for licensing hi:tʃ elements, unlike English any. We also show that hi:tʃ elements have many properties in common with similar elements in Japanese and Korean, where there is less certainty in designating these as Negative Concord Items, and where negation is independently argued to be low. Thus, we claim, the distribution of hi:tʃ elements cannot be upheld as a proof of syntactically high negation, under either a polarity item or concord item analysis. We close the paper with a typological discussion, suggesting that the properties of hi:tʃ elements and their kin seem to be broadly shared among OV languages more generally.
Abstract
This paper examines the nature of elements such as hi:tʃkӕs “anyone” in Persian, which have been described as either Negative Polarity Items (Taleghani 2006) or Negative Concord Items (Kwak 2010) in prior literature. Such claims have typically been used to motivate analyses of Persian NegP as being high in the clause structure, above TP. This is in contrast to more recent analyses which have argued for a low position of negation (Kahnemuyipour 2017). Here, we present experimental evidence showing that c-commanding negation is not sufficient for licensing hi:tʃ elements, unlike English any. We also show that hi:tʃ elements have many properties in common with similar elements in Japanese and Korean, where there is less certainty in designating these as Negative Concord Items, and where negation is independently argued to be low. Thus, we claim, the distribution of hi:tʃ elements cannot be upheld as a proof of syntactically high negation, under either a polarity item or concord item analysis. We close the paper with a typological discussion, suggesting that the properties of hi:tʃ elements and their kin seem to be broadly shared among OV languages more generally.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Anaphoric potential of pseudo-incorporated bare objects in Persian 12
- Chapter 2. Persian quantifiers and their scope 44
- Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian 81
- Chapter 4. Middle Persian Ezafe 100
- Chapter 5. Ezafe and the article 130
- Chapter 6. Ezafe as a linking feature within DP 154
- Chapter 7. Mood selection in complement clauses in Persian 180
- Chapter 8. Three types of verb stem levelling in Tat 210
- Chapter 9. A null stem analysis of Persian copular verbs 231
- Chapter 10. Semi-anticausatives 263
- Chapter 11. The nature and licensing of hi:tʃ elements in Persian 282
- Language index 307
- Name index 309
- Subject index 313
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Anaphoric potential of pseudo-incorporated bare objects in Persian 12
- Chapter 2. Persian quantifiers and their scope 44
- Chapter 3. Why-stripping in Persian 81
- Chapter 4. Middle Persian Ezafe 100
- Chapter 5. Ezafe and the article 130
- Chapter 6. Ezafe as a linking feature within DP 154
- Chapter 7. Mood selection in complement clauses in Persian 180
- Chapter 8. Three types of verb stem levelling in Tat 210
- Chapter 9. A null stem analysis of Persian copular verbs 231
- Chapter 10. Semi-anticausatives 263
- Chapter 11. The nature and licensing of hi:tʃ elements in Persian 282
- Language index 307
- Name index 309
- Subject index 313
