The syntax of negation in French: contrariety versus contradiction

Abstract

In registers where ne is maintained, ne must form a negative association with another element (e.g. pas , personne ) when negation has a contradictory, but not when negation has a contrary reading. Contradictory negation, used to deny a proposition, has a Q(uantifying) value which must be construed in French since ne is [+neg, −Q] as opposed to pas [+neg, +Q]). In contrast, contrary negation, not used to deny a proposition but rather used to weaken an assertion, has no Q value and can be expressed by ne alone. This cannot be accounted for by a Dynamic Agreement analysis (Rowlett, P., 1998. Sentential Negation in French. Oxford University Press, Oxford) which considers pas as the sole overt operator of sentence negation. Both ne and pas contribute to the semantic interpretation of the sentence. While ne is associated with contrary negation and deontic modality, pas is associated with contradictory negation and epistemic modality.