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Contrastive Focus, French N-words and Variation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2016

Marie-Thérèse Vinet
Marie-Thérèse Vinet*
Affiliation:
Université de Sherbrooke
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to argue that the similarities and differences in the interpretation of n-words (personne, rien, etc.) in two closely related dialects of French can be explained by considerations linked to lexical properties as well as to properties of contrastive stress in Universal Grammar. The minor lexical differences in the two systems are related to the fact that only in Standard French is a single negation reading ruled out when an adverbial negative marker bearing [+neg, −T, −Asp] features, i.e., pas, appears in the scope of an unstressed n-word. A general principle is proposed to account for the fact that a contrastively focused n-word always blocks the local relation which seems necessary for a negative concord reading. It is observed that the presence of an intervening quantifier between the negative quantifier and the n-word always induces a Double Negation reading.

Résumé

Résumé

Le but de cet article est de montrer que les similarités et les différences observées quant à l’interprétation des mots-n (personne, rien, etc.) dans deux dialectes étroitement reliés du français peuvent s’expliquer par des propriétés lexicales et des propriétés liées à l’accentuation contrastive en Grammaire Universelle. Les différences lexicales dans les deux systèmes se résument au fait que seul le français standard rejette la lecture avec négation unique lorsqu’un marqueur de négation adverbial portant les traits [+neg, −T, −Asp], c’est-à-dire pas, apparaît dans le champ d’un mot-n non accentué. Un principe général est proposé pour rendre compte du fait qu’un mot-n avec une accentuation contrastive bloque toujours la relation locale qui semble nécessaire pour obtenir une lecture négative concordante. On peut observer que l’interposition d’un quantifieur, entre le quantifieur négatif et le mot-n, entraîne toujours une interprétation avec double négation.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 43 , Special Issue 01 1: Grammaire et variation , March 1998 , pp. 121 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Linguistic Association 1998

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