30.86, Disc: Polarity-reversing Particle

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-30-86. Tue Jan 08 2019. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 30.86, Disc: Polarity-reversing Particle

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Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2019 01:23:08
From: Elena Moser [elemoser at gmail.com]
Subject: Polarity-reversing Particle

 
Dear all, 

Do you know of a polarity-reversing particle in the language(s) you speak/work
on? 

A short definition and examples follow below.

Polarity-reversing particles are particles that function as positive answers
to negative questions; however, in contrast to other answer particles such
as yes and no, they specifically express disagreement with the negative
proposition of the questions. 
Some examples come below. The abbreviation REV indicates a polarity-reversing
particle. This term was coined by Holmberg (2016: 6).
 
Swedish
Q. Är det inte varm idag? 
[is it not hot today]
It’s not hot today?
 
A. Jo (det är det)!
[REV it is it]
Yes, it is!
 
German
Q. Hast du deine Hausaufgaben nicht gemacht?
[have you your homework not done]
Have you not done your homework?
 
A. Doch (gestern schon)!
[REV yesterday already]
Yes, (I have already done them yesterday) !
 
 
French
Q. Il n’est pas là Basil?
[he NEG=be NEG here B. ]
Isn’t Basil here?
 
A. Si!
[REV]
Yes, he is!
 
 
Hungarian
Q. Ők nem beszélnek angolul?
[3PL no speak.3PL English]
They don’t speak English?

A. De.
[REV]
Yes, they do.
 
Data from a previous cross-linguistic investigation on answers to polarity
questions suggest that polarity-reversing particles are predominantly found in
Germanic languages (see Moser 2018). This result is congruent with findings in
Da Milano’s (2004) study on the Mediterranean area. However, currently, there
is no good cross-linguistic dataset about this feature; consequently, a
broader assessment of its distribution is not warranted.  
For my final project at the master’s level, I want to explore the distribution
of polarity-reversing particles in a more in-depth study. In order to do this,
I will make use of all resources available to me (reference grammars,
etymological dictionaries, language corpora, etc.). Because information on
polarity-reversing particles is scarce, I greatly appreciate any help.
 
References: 
Da Milano, Federica. 2004. Le domande sì/no nelle lingue del mediterraneo.
Archivio Glottologico Italiano, 1. 3–40.
Holmberg, Anders. 2016. The syntax of yes and no. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Moser, Elena V. 2018. Answers to Polarity Questions: A Typological Study.
Retrieved 2018-09-20,
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1219275/fulltext02.pdf.



Linguistic Field(s): Typology



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