FENOMEN OSJETLJIVOSTI NA POLARITET REČENICE U ENGLESKOM JEZIKU
The Phenomenon of Polarity Sensitivity in English

Author(s): Melisa Bureković
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Syntax
Published by: Društvo za proizvodnju, promet i usluge "MELIGRAFPRINT" d.o.o. Zenica
Keywords: negative polarity; NPIs; polarity sensitivity; c-command; licensing; sentence acceptability;
Summary/Abstract: This academic monograph investigates the phenomenon of polarity sensitivity in English, with a particular focus on negative polarity items (NPIs), which are lexical elements that occur exclusively in non-affirmative contexts. The central objective is to examine the syntactic and interpretive conditions that govern NPI licensing, particularly the role of c-command in establishing grammatical acceptability. The study begins with a critical review of theoretical developments, tracing back to Klima (1964), who proposed that NPIs are derived from PPIs via a rule of suppletion, provided they occur within constituents marked by the semantic feature affective. This foundational insight led to two principal lines of inquiry: semantic and syntactic. Semantic approaches locate the source of licensing in abstract contextual properties such as downward entailment or Strawson-downward entailment. Syntactic theories, in contrast, view licensing as a structural dependency, most notably the c-command relationship between the NPI and its licensor, which is typically overt negation. Contexts that are not inherently negative, such as interrogatives, conditional antecedents, or comparatives, are explained through mechanisms like abstract negative operators, NEG-features, or negative implicatures. These elements establish a relation with a primary licensor, generally associated with negation. Within this framework, NPIs are considered licensed if they fall within the syntactic scope of negation. This monograph questions whether licensing can be fully explained by syntactic configuration alone, or whether semantic and pragmatic factors must also be taken into account. The empirical analysis focuses on sentences containing overt negation, either through negative markers such as not or n’t, or negative quantifiers such as nobody. The NPIs in question appear in topicalized, subject, object, or coordinated positions. Other licensing environments, including interrogative sentences and comparatives, are excluded from the analysis. To assess the correspondence between theoretical claims and native speaker intuitions, a judgment study was conducted in which native English speakers evaluated the acceptability of sentences with various NPI-licensor configurations. The results revealed a clear preference for sentences in which the licensor c-commands the NPI. However, a significant number of sentences without this structural relation were also rated as acceptable. These findings suggest that while c-command plays an important role in NPI licensing, syntactic accounts alone do not suffice. The acceptability of sentences lacking a direct structural relationship between the licensor and the NPI points to the need for additional semantic and pragmatic explanations.

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