French polar response particles and neg movement

摘要

I present new data from European French involving embedded polar response particles (a.k.a.yes/noparticles) in response to negative questions and develop a novel proposal which integrates the insights of previous analyses (e.g. Holmberg in Lingua 128:31-50, 2013; Roelofsen and Farkas in Language 91(2):359-414, 2015). The main puzzle has to do with the interpretation ofnon'no' (bare or followed by a clause), which may assert its antecedent or the negation of its antecedent. It is shown that the meaning ofnon-responses varies as a function of the scope of negation with respect to various operators in its antecedent. Polar response particles in French are analyzed as the spell-out of a Polarity head which has moved from a lower position. The various interpretations of polar response particles are modelled as being constrained by the interaction between the necessity of the movement of the Polarity head and a constraint on scope preservation. The ramifications of this proposal for related phenomena (e.g. 'low negation' in English, N-word responses) are then discussed.