On two types of polar interrogatives in Hungarian and their interaction with inside and outside negation
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Beáta Gyuris
Abstract
The paper provides a survey of the form types of Hungarian polar interrogatives containing the negative particle nem ‘not’ and of their interpretational features, and discusses the possibilities of formally modeling the observable distinctions. First a general review of the basic syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of polar interrogatives is provided, with special attention to the differences between two root interrogative form types in Hungarian. It is argued that the distinction between outside and inside negation readings proposed by Ladd (1981) for English can also be detected in Hungarian, with the help of particular morphosyntactic tests. The application of the tests reveals that whereas the intonationally marked negative polar interrogatives have both outside and inside negation readings, those marked by morphological means only possess the former one. The tests are also shown to detect interpretational distinctions having to do with the types of bias that the particular forms are compatible with. Without providing a fully-fledged formal modeling, the paper discusses possible strategies for capturing the above distinctions in terms of the proposals made in Romero & Han (2004), Repp (2013) and Krifka (2017).
Abstract
The paper provides a survey of the form types of Hungarian polar interrogatives containing the negative particle nem ‘not’ and of their interpretational features, and discusses the possibilities of formally modeling the observable distinctions. First a general review of the basic syntactic, semantic and pragmatic properties of polar interrogatives is provided, with special attention to the differences between two root interrogative form types in Hungarian. It is argued that the distinction between outside and inside negation readings proposed by Ladd (1981) for English can also be detected in Hungarian, with the help of particular morphosyntactic tests. The application of the tests reveals that whereas the intonationally marked negative polar interrogatives have both outside and inside negation readings, those marked by morphological means only possess the former one. The tests are also shown to detect interpretational distinctions having to do with the types of bias that the particular forms are compatible with. Without providing a fully-fledged formal modeling, the paper discusses possible strategies for capturing the above distinctions in terms of the proposals made in Romero & Han (2004), Repp (2013) and Krifka (2017).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The grammatical realization of polarity contrast 1
- From polarity focus to salient polarity 9
- Verum focus, sentence mood, and contrast 55
- Complementizers and negative polarity in German hypothetical comparatives 89
- Veridicality and sets of alternative worlds 109
- Biased declarative questions in Swedish and German 129
- On two types of polar interrogatives in Hungarian and their interaction with inside and outside negation 173
- Two kinds of VERUM distinguished by aspect choice in Russian 203
- Polarity focus and non-canonical syntax in Italian, French and Spanish 227
- In search for polarity contrast marking in Italian 255
- Index 289
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The grammatical realization of polarity contrast 1
- From polarity focus to salient polarity 9
- Verum focus, sentence mood, and contrast 55
- Complementizers and negative polarity in German hypothetical comparatives 89
- Veridicality and sets of alternative worlds 109
- Biased declarative questions in Swedish and German 129
- On two types of polar interrogatives in Hungarian and their interaction with inside and outside negation 173
- Two kinds of VERUM distinguished by aspect choice in Russian 203
- Polarity focus and non-canonical syntax in Italian, French and Spanish 227
- In search for polarity contrast marking in Italian 255
- Index 289
