Abstract
Abstract This paper examines expletive negation in root clauses (surprise negation sentences and wh-exclamatives) in Hungarian. We argue that Hungarian has three distinct negation positions, each corresponding to a truth-reversal operation on a different level. When the negator nem ‘no’ is merged in the CP layer (in the head position of the Speaker Deixis Phrase), this yields surprise negation sentences, corresponding to negation at the level of presuppositions (expletive negation). The negator being merged as the head of NegP within the extended TP yields standard negation (at the propositional level). In wh-exclamatives, the negator is head-adjoined to T0, which results in negation at the level of implicatures (expletive negation). In addition to pointing out this mapping between syntactic position and semantic-pragmatic interpretation, we also argue that the data from Hungarian present a strong case against a raising analysis of expletive negation.
Highlights
Unauthenticated | Downloaded 02/14/22 09:58 AM UTCActa Linguistica Academica 68 (2021) 4, 553–583 framework, postulating that in both cases, the negator occupies the same syntactic position (Neg0 of a Negation position (NegP) above the predicate (TP)), with the crucial difference being that in the case of expletive negation, the negator is licensed by a higher non-veridical operator
In wh-exclamatives, the negator is head-adjoined to T0, which results in negation at the level of implicatures
We will argue that in surprise negation sentences, an expletive negator in Speaker Deixis Phrase (SDP) can freely cooccur with a standard negator in NegP: this precludes any analysis of expletive negation in surprise negation sentences as a case of raising, and it means that raising cannot be a general mechanism of expletive negation
Summary
Acta Linguistica Academica 68 (2021) 4, 553–583 framework, postulating that in both cases, the negator occupies the same syntactic position (Neg0 of a NegP above TP), with the crucial difference being that in the case of expletive negation, the negator is licensed by a higher non-veridical operator In his in-depth analysis of Italian, Greco (2018, 2019b) introduces a finer distinction between strong expletive negation and weak expletive negation (based on licensing facts related to strong NPIs and N-words). We will find that the observation of Delfitto, Melloni & Vender (2019) that expletive negation in surprise negation sentences differs from all other types of expletive negation in terms of semantic/pragmatic effect (negation on the presuppositional vs the implicational level) is clearly reflected in syntactic position: while the expletive negator in surprise negation sentences is merged high in the functional left periphery (SDP in the broader topic field), the expletive negator in all other cases is TP-internal, being head-adjoined to T0.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
