Disjunction, Focus, and Scope

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4318166
AutoresChung-Hye Han (Department of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada), Chung–hye Han (Simon Fraser University), Maribel Romero (0000-0001-9776-1479, University of Pennsylvania)
Ano2004
Volume35
Fascículo2
Páginas179-217
Data de publicação2004-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoLinguistic Inquiry (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0024-3892 • E-ISSN: 1530-9150
EditoraMIT Press - Journals (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1162/002438904323019048
OpenAlexW2129363545
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas18
Referências citadas25

This article presents the observation that disjunction cannot take wide scope in negative non-wh-questions and declaratives with a preposed negative element. This rules out the alternative question reading for non-wh-questions with preposed negation and the wide scope or reading for neg-inverted declaratives. We show that effects parallel to the ones associated with preposed negation can be reproduced in affirmative non-wh-questions and declaratives when focus is involved. We propose that preposed negation in non-wh-questions and preposed negative adverbials in declaratives necessarily contribute focus marking (in particular, verum focus) and argue that the lack of wide scope disjunction reading in both declaratives and non-wh-questions results as a by-product of the interaction between focus and the LF syntax of disjunctive structures, which we argue involves ellipsis

Ellipsis (linguistics) · Focus (optics) · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Negation · Reading (process) · Scope (computer science) · Syntax · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation