7 “People widnae understand that, wint they no?”: Negative anchor tag questions in northern British Englishes
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E Jamieson
Abstract
Canonical tag questions in English are generally of the opposite polarity to the anchor clause they are attached to. These questions request confirmation of their anchor clause, and are taken syntactically to be ellipsis constructions. However, in some Scots and northern British English varieties, a surprising alternative possibility is found. While tag questions on negative anchor clauses can be positive polarity questions, they can also include two seemingly negative markers. Comparing data from a judgment task conducted with Scots speakers with data from the Scots Syntax Atlas corpus, I propose a novel analysis for these tags based on their pragmatic and syntactic properties, arguing that these are not “double negation” or “negative concord” constructions but are rather check moves, with one marker situated high in the left periphery. This analysis has consequences for neo-performative syntax more generally, demonstrating that head movement into this discourse domain is possible.
Abstract
Canonical tag questions in English are generally of the opposite polarity to the anchor clause they are attached to. These questions request confirmation of their anchor clause, and are taken syntactically to be ellipsis constructions. However, in some Scots and northern British English varieties, a surprising alternative possibility is found. While tag questions on negative anchor clauses can be positive polarity questions, they can also include two seemingly negative markers. Comparing data from a judgment task conducted with Scots speakers with data from the Scots Syntax Atlas corpus, I propose a novel analysis for these tags based on their pragmatic and syntactic properties, arguing that these are not “double negation” or “negative concord” constructions but are rather check moves, with one marker situated high in the left periphery. This analysis has consequences for neo-performative syntax more generally, demonstrating that head movement into this discourse domain is possible.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
-
Part 1: Sociosyntactic theory
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Sociosyntax and the weight of the linguistic within sociolinguistics 25
- 3 Spelling out grammatical variation 59
-
Part 2: Sociosyntactic evidence
- 4 Comparative relativizers in American English: A puzzle from the margins of like 97
- 5 Variation and the English participle/preterite relation 125
- 6 Constructing syntactic dialect maps of American English 163
-
Part 3: Sociosyntactic approaches
- 7 “People widnae understand that, wint they no?”: Negative anchor tag questions in northern British Englishes 193
- 8 A snapshot of the emerging because-X construction 227
- 9 Polish newcomers acquiring questions and questioning in a local dialect 257
- Index
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
-
Part 1: Sociosyntactic theory
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Sociosyntax and the weight of the linguistic within sociolinguistics 25
- 3 Spelling out grammatical variation 59
-
Part 2: Sociosyntactic evidence
- 4 Comparative relativizers in American English: A puzzle from the margins of like 97
- 5 Variation and the English participle/preterite relation 125
- 6 Constructing syntactic dialect maps of American English 163
-
Part 3: Sociosyntactic approaches
- 7 “People widnae understand that, wint they no?”: Negative anchor tag questions in northern British Englishes 193
- 8 A snapshot of the emerging because-X construction 227
- 9 Polish newcomers acquiring questions and questioning in a local dialect 257
- Index
