A note on the compatibility between interrogatives and negation
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Published:
27-09-2017
Main Article Content
Vol 44 (2017), Notes, pages 507-526
Submitted: 22-07-2016
Accepted: 07-11-2016
Published: 27-09-2017
Abstract
It has been repeatedly noted that negation blocks the properly interrogative reading
of interrogative sentences, which either receive a rhetorical interpretation (Who has not read The
Quixote?) or imply a D-linked reading of the wh-element (Which one has not read The Quixote?).
This article studies cases where negation does not block the interrogative interpretation without
the need for a D-linked reading. We argue that those are cases of negative events where negation
corresponds to a structurally low position. We argue that this pattern of data is explained in an
analysis where focus moves through the high polarity proyection, so negation competes with a
displaced wh-element, unless this becomes a topic. When negation occupies a lower position, that
incompatibility does not arise because focalised constitutens do not move through that projection.
of interrogative sentences, which either receive a rhetorical interpretation (Who has not read The
Quixote?) or imply a D-linked reading of the wh-element (Which one has not read The Quixote?).
This article studies cases where negation does not block the interrogative interpretation without
the need for a D-linked reading. We argue that those are cases of negative events where negation
corresponds to a structurally low position. We argue that this pattern of data is explained in an
analysis where focus moves through the high polarity proyection, so negation competes with a
displaced wh-element, unless this becomes a topic. When negation occupies a lower position, that
incompatibility does not arise because focalised constitutens do not move through that projection.
Keywords:
negation, interrogatives, negative event, focalisation, relativised minimality
Article Details
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