On the syntactic derivation of negative sentence adverbials

Abstract

Abstract We consider recent Government-Binding work on sentential negation, e.g. by Pollock, and evaluate a fundamental assumption made about the syntax of negative clauses. While accepting that ne is generated as the head of NegP, we reject the dual claim that pas is characteristically: (a) a maximal projection, and (b) base-generated as the specifier of ne. We offer a three-sided argument against such an analysis, invoking: (a) the incompatibility of the proposal with the status of pas as a nominal; (b) the interaction between pas, etc, and indefinite direct objects; and (c) the syntax of ‘adverbials’. We go on to consider Obenauer's work on ‘quantification at a distance’ and Battye's work on ‘nominal quantification’. On the basis of this work, we posit that pas is generated lower in clause structure, either VP-adjoined or as the head of a determiner-less direct object DP.

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