Towards a uniform analysis of any

Bibliographic Data

ID4569110
AuthorsRobert Van Rooij (0000-0001-6819-6685, University of Amsterdam, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume16
Issue4
Pages297-315
Publication date2008-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNatural Language Semantics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0925-854X • E-ISSN: 1572-865X
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11050-008-9035-1
OpenAlexW2017816466
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

In this paper, Universal any and Negative Polarity Item any are uniformly analyzed as ‘counterfactual’ donkey sentences (in disguise). Their difference in meaning is reduced here to the distinction between strong and weak readings of donkey sentences. It is shown that this explains the universal and existential character of Universal- and NPI-any, respectively, and the positive and negative contexts in which they are licensed. Our uniform analysis extends to the use of any in command and permission sentences. It predicts that whereas the use of any in permission sentences is licensed and gives rise to a universal reading, it is not licensed in command sentences

Counterfactual thinking · Donkey · Epistemology · Existentialism · Linguistics · Negation · Permission · Speech act · Utterance · Advanced Algebra and Logic · Computer Science · History · Logic, Reasoning, and Knowledge · Mathematics · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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