B04

Project Overview

This project analyzes how coordination and negation interact in terms of scope, focusing on “negative coordination,” where a negating element precedes a conjoined or disjoined phrase and interacts with the coordinator. The central goal is to identify the source of scope mismatches between negation and coordinators in different coordination structures. Any adequate analysis must integrate multiple interacting components, thereby engaging with the Negation Paradox.

Research Questions & Theoretical Framework

This project asks whether these mismatches stem from negation (Neg-Plus), from the coordinator (Neg-Only), or from their interaction. In doing so, it directly address the main research question of Area B of the CRS: QB How can we explain similarities and interactions between negation and other grammatical categories?. Concretely, the project addresses: (i) What causes apparent scope mismatches in negative coordination? (ii) How do languages vary with respect to these patterns? (iii) To what extent are these mismatches (anti-)licensed by stress, focus, or other grammatical factors? The research also investigates Gapping sentences where negation in the first conjunct may or may not take scope over the second conjunct (Repp 2009) and ask whether these interpretive options, within individual languages and cross-linguistically, pattern with the scope mismatches found in the first part of the project. Third, it consider coordinated sentences without ellipsis, in which negation in the first conjunct can nevertheless take scope over the second conjunct, suggesting that the principles Repp (2009) proposes for Gapping may extend beyond elliptical contexts.

Methodologies & Data

First, the project revisits the data from Szabolcsi & Haddican (2004), who examine cases where negation c-commands a coordinated DP and show that languages differ in the scope of the coordinator (conjunction vs. disjunction). In some languages, the coordinator can outscope negation, apparently violating De Morgan’s laws. The study expands its sample to include additional European intonation languages and West African tone languages, aiming to reassess existing theoretical accounts from a broader typological perspective. In further research phases, the project will also explore related constructions (e.g., neither … nor) and further broaden the typological sample.