New book: Celtic linguistics

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Negation, Referentiality and Boundedness in Gwenedeg Breton
A Case Study in Markedness and Asymmetry

NATHALIE SCHAPANSKY, Simon Fraser University

Negative sentences are considered to be marked vis-a-vis their positive
counterparts. However, the markedness of sentence negation cannot be
solely defined in terms of the presence or absence of a polarity
particle, as shown for Gwenedeg, a Breton dialect spoken in south
central Brittany, in the area known as Morbihan. Gwenedeg Breton has
been ignored in theoretical works because of its low prestige and its
phonological differences, which are reflected in its own spelling system
respected in this work.
Breton, a verb-second language (V2), displays both negative and positive
sentence particles. The markedness of sentence negation is realized
rather by structural and semantic/pragmatic asymmetries.
Structural asymmetries (chapter two) are associated with Breton V2. They
relate to the notion of Predicate Domain, which must be bound. Whereas
the negative particle binds the predicate domain, its positive
counterparts do not. Hence preverbal noun phrases (NPs) serve to bind
the predicate domain in affirmative but not in negative sentences. Two
of the three preverbal positions available in affirmative sentences
remain accessible in negative sentences. Semantic/pragmatic asymmetries
(chapter three) pertaining to the V2 order relate to referentiality. In
Breton, referential NPs can bind the predicate domain and appear
preverbally while non-referential NPs marked by the preposition ag 'of'
cannot. Potential binders for the predicate domain depend also on
auxiliary selection. The auxiliary 'to be' associated with states shows,
in the present tense, four forms demanding subject or non-subject
binders. They are sensitive to the position and definiteness of their
subjects and two of them do not occur in negative sentences. The
auxiliary 'to have', associated with events, demands a referential
subject and has no preferred binders. However, this auxiliaryis used
with eventive readings of state predicates obtained obtained only with
referential subject. In negative sentences (chapter four), semantic
asymmetries relate to aspect--event predicates are interpreted as
stative--, and to the irrealis modality,-- indefinite NPs are
interpreted as non-referential under the scope of negation. In Breton,
this rule applies to the universal quantifier with a wide scope reading
and to the existential quantifier with a narrow scope reading, being
replaced in negative sentences by negative polarity items.
        Non-referential NPs marked by ag, which represent undefined substes of
entities, must occur in postverbal position. Pragmatic asymmetries
relate to the distinction presupposition versus assertion, and to
metalinguistic negation, a marked kind of negation, which does not
affect the aspect of event predicates nor the referentiality of NPs
under its scope.  Hence the universal quantifier with a wide scope
reading, the existential quantifier with a narrow scope reading, and the
eventive reading of state predicates can occur under the scope of
metalinguistic negation. This analysis is extended to other languages.

ISBN 3 89586 918 X.
LINCOM Studies in Indo-European Linguistics 05.
Ca. 200 pp. EUR 48.06 / USD 52 / DM 94 / # 31.



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