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CAS LX 502 Semantics

CAS LX 502 Semantics. 6b. NPIs 6.3. Negative Polarity Items. A class of words that seems to be unhappy except in kind of “negative” environments. I didn’t eat any candy. I haven’t ever cooked pumpkin pie. Pat didn’t lift a finger to help move the chairs. *I ate any candy.

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CAS LX 502 Semantics

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  1. CAS LX 502Semantics 6b. NPIs 6.3

  2. Negative Polarity Items • A class of words that seems to be unhappy except in kind of “negative” environments. • I didn’t eat any candy. • I haven’t ever cooked pumpkin pie. • Pat didn’t lift a finger to help move the chairs. • *I ate any candy. • *I have ever cooked pumpkin pie. • *Pat lifted a finger to help move the chairs.

  3. NPIs • Except it’s not that simple. Negation isn’t required, but something is. What? • Did you eat any candy? • Have you ever cooked pumpkin pie? • If you ate any candy, you will be sick. • If you have ever cooked pumpkin pie, we will hire you. • Every child who has eaten any candy is eligible. • No child who has eaten any candy is eligible. • *Some child who has eaten any candy is eligible. • *Every child has ever cooked pumpkin pie. • No child has ever cooked pumpkin pie. • *Some child has ever cooked pumpkin pie.

  4. NPIs and quantifiers • The behavior with quantifiers is interesting, maybe it can give us a clue: • [every N that… OK …] … BAD … • [no N that… OK …] … OK … • [some N that… BAD …] … BAD … • I did not verb … OK … • I verbed … BAD … • Hmm.

  5. NPIs and minimization • One thing that these NPIs seem to have in common is that they kind of refer to a minimum of some kind. • I don’t have any potatoes. • I haven’t ever planted potatoes. • Pat didn’t lift a finger to help us weed the garden. • Not even the smallest amount. • I have 3 potatoes  I have 2 potatoes. • I don’t have 2 potatoes  I don’t have 3 potatoes. • I don’t have the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes. • I have the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes. • The difference between the last two seems to be in how informative they are. The first tells us everything, the second, nothing.

  6. Entailment patterns • A potato is a vegetable. • So if I have a potato, I have a vegetable. • Vegetable is a super-property of potato. • All potatoes are vegetables. • Some vegetables are not potatoes. • I have a potato is upward entailing. If it is true, it is also true of a super-property. • If I don’t have a vegetable, I don’t have a potato. • I don’t have a potato is downward entailing. If it is true, it is also true of a sub-property. • If I don’t have a potato, I don’t have a Russet potato.

  7. Minimizing and entailment patterns • Minimizing only makes a useful contribution in downward entailing environments. • No matter how many potatoes I have, I also have (at least) the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes. • What would the point be of saying I have (at least) the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes? • But if I don’t have (at least) the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes, then I certainly don’t have more. • If I don’t even have (at least) the smallest imaginable amount of potatoes, I basically don’t have any potatoes.

  8. NPIs live in DE environments • This makes some sense. But what about the quantifiers? • Every vegetable is edible. • Every potato is edible. • Every potato is tasty. • No vegetable is edible. • No potato is edible. • No potato is tasty. • Some vegetable is edible. • Some potato is edible. • Some potato is tasty.

  9. NPIs live in DE environments • If you bought a vegetable, I won. • If you bought a potato, I won. • Did you buy a vegetable? No. • Did you buy a potato? No. • Ok, the question case is less clear.

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