Capturing expletive negation with complex left branches
A cross-linguistic perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8248731 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Léna Baunaz (0000-0003-4935-6369), Anne-Li Demonie |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Linguistic Variation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2211-6834 • E-ISSN: 2211-6842 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/lv.25019.bau |
| OpenAlex | W4416096631 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 30 |
In this paper, we examine the cross-linguistic syncretisms between markers of negation and ‘expletive negation’ ( exn ), i.e., a formal instance of negation lacking negative meaning, in fear -clauses. We argue that these syncretisms reflect structural proximity to the negative functional sequence (cf. De Clercq (2020) and Baunaz & Lander (2023) ) and that exn realises a high, epistemic modal feature (cf. Makri (2013) and Tsiakmakis & Espinal (2022) for Modern Greek). We then explain how the syncretisms can be captured in a uniform way. For this, we adopt the Nanosyntactic model of lexicalisation (cf. De Clercq et al. 2025 ), and so-called stored ‘complex left branches’ (cf. De Clercq 2019 ). Ultimately, we show that, under the assumption that exn is modal, all patterns can be accounted for by varying the shapes of lexical items, while keeping everything else equal
Feature (linguistics · Modal · Negation · Negation as failure · Sequence (biology · Syntactic structure · Language and cultural evolution · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
Expletive Negation
Universals in Comparative Morphology
Parametric Syntax
The Syntax of Negation
Polarity Sensitivity as (Non)Veridical Dependency
Deconstructing categories syncretic with the nominal complementizer
A cross-linguistic study of expletive negation
Negative Heads and the Neg Criterion
Expletive Negation and Logical Absorption
Craindre (“fear”) and expletive negation in diachrony
A Grammar of Basque
Adverbial clauses with -ig and the “ until -puzzle”
The Syntax of Complementation in Abkhaz
Greek non-negative min, epistemic modality, and positive bias
On the non-homogeneity of expletive negation in Greek and beyond
The Fine Structure of the Comparative
Structure and interpretation of declarative sentences
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |