The Macedonian negation operator and cliticization

Abstract

The paper focuses on the interaction between clitics and the negation operator, and on how this interaction affects stress in different dialects of Macedonian. The basic claims are, first, that there is no free variation in the relationship of the clitics and the negation operator; the variation is, nstead, only across dialects; and, second, that the phonological relationship of the clitics to the negation operator depends on the strength of Neg and on the values for the verbal, [±V], and the nominal, [±N], features of the head of the clause. In the dialect in which Neg is strong, the clitics encliticize to it. In the dialect with a weak Neg we have two distinct strategies. In clauses in which V is instantiated by a [+V, -N] category, the negation operator merges and forms a single phonological word with V and any modal, auxiliary, or pronominal clitics that find themselves wedged between Neg and V. In clauses in which V is instantiated by a [+V, +N] category, however, the negation operator merges and forms a single phonological word only with the clitics, to the exclusion of the instantiation of V. Since the clitics in clauses with [+V, -N] heads are typically verbal, while the clitics in clauses with [+V, +N] heads gravitate towards a second position, the analysis has an important theoretical ramification: it contributes to determining the relationship between second position and verbal clitic placement.