Expression and Interpretation of Negation: An OT Typology (Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 77) - Hardcover

De Swart, Henriėtte

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9048131618 ISBN 13: 9789048131617

Publisher: Springer, 2009

Synopsis

t his book applies recently developed tools in strong and weak bidirectional op- mality theory (ot ) as well as an evolutionary modeling of ot in a bidirectional setting to the empirical domain of negation across a wide range of languages. I have long been intrigued by the patterns of semantic variation we find in natural l- guage, and negation has always been one of the topics I was fascinated by. In the past, I have proposed analyses of language-specific observations about not…until in English (de swart 1996), Dutch negative polarity items (n PIs) occurring outside the c-command domain of the licensor (de swart 1998b), the interaction of negation and aspect in French (de swart and Molendijk 1999), scope ambiguities with negative quantifiers in g ermanic (de swart 2000), and negative concord in r omance (de swart and sag 2002). a lthough I felt my proposals were contributing to a better understanding of the phenomena under consideration, they did not lead to an explanatory theory of cross-linguistic variation in the area of negation. Meanwhile, the discussion of semantic universals and cross-linguistic variation in meaning assumed more imp- tance in the literature (cf. von Fintel and Matthewson 2008), which made it all the more urgent to develop such a theory. o ther proposals came along in the literature, exploiting syntactic and lexical notions of variation, and making claims about u- versal grammar and typological generalizations.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This study in cross-linguistic semantics explores the territory where logic, natural language and typology meet. While we can all understand the semantics of negation in its role of altering truth values, this ambitious book aims to take the reader much further. A unified analysis of the linguistic ‘behavior’ of negation is hampered by the myriad variations in its syntax and semantics in languages around the world. This is true not just for the expression of negatives, but for their interpretation too.

De Swart deploys the framework of bi-directional Optimality Theory to develop a typology of the relationship between syntax and semantics in negation markers and negative indefinites. In this model, syntactic and semantic constraints act in concert to define the grammar of a language. Some languages are ‘double negative’, some ‘negative concord’, and others belong to subclasses identified by ‘strict negative concord’ ‘nonstrict negative concord’ or ‘negative spread’.

In addition to the above, the author analyses intermediate cases, and examines complex instances of double negation occurring in negative concord languages. Her OT analysis of the Jespersen cycle brings together typological and diachronic variation. This book’s unique combination of theoretical precision and wide empirical coverage make it essential reading for any researcher approaching semantic typology from a logical, linguistic or cognitive perspective.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9048131618
• ISBN 13: 9789048131617
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 297