The Evaluability Hypothesis: The syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of polarity item licensing: 183 (Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today) - Hardcover

Brandtler, Johan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9027255660 ISBN 13: 9789027255662

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co, 2012

Synopsis

Although the field of polarity is well researched, this monograph offers a new take on polarity sensitivity that both challenges and incorporates previous theories. Based primarily on Swedish data, it presents new solutions to long-standing problems, such as the non-complementary distribution of NPIs and PPIs in yes/no-questions and conditionals, long distance licensing by superordinate elements, and the occurrence of polarity items in wh-questions. It is argued that polarity sensitivity can be understood in terms of evaluability. Lacking any immediate predecessor in the literature, evaluability refers to the possibility of accepting or rejecting an utterance as true in a communicative exchange. Intriguingly, the evaluable status of a clause is shown to have syntactic correlates in Swedish, mirrored in the configuration of the C-domain. This book is of interest to scholars studying the interplay between syntax, semantics and pragmatics, particularly those working on negation and polarity.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Co
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9027255660
• ISBN 13: 9789027255662
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 213