German polarity-sensitive items #

This file defines the German polarity-sensitive items: the indefinite irgendein, the modal brauchen 'need' and the punctual erst 'only then'. Each entry records the environments in which the item is attested, and the licensing theory of Semantics/Polarity/Licensing.lean predicts which environments license it.

Irgendein is an existential indefinite with free-choice effects under modals. Kratzer and Shimoyama attest it under possibility and necessity modals, under negative quantifiers such as niemand 'nobody' and auf keinen Fall 'in no case', under bezweifeln 'doubt' and in an embedded question, and they find it ungrammatical under the inflectional negation nicht unless irgend is stressed. It is also fine in an episodic sentence, where it signals the speaker's ignorance or indifference, which is not a licensing environment. Brauchen with a zu-infinitive occurs only with a negative or with nur or bloß 'only'. It is a weak negative polarity item, licensed by höchstens eine 'at most one' as by keiner 'no one' ([Zwa98] (3)); Büring and Gunlogson, and Schaebbicke, Seeliger and Repp in a rating study, find it licensed by niemand and kein and out in a positive polar question. Erst is the positive polarity until of Karttunen's chart, the connective German.TemporalConnectives.erst.

TODO #

The licensing theory licenses every weak negative polarity item in a question, after van Rooy, so it admits brauchen in the positive polar question that Büring and Gunlogson star; the rating study reserves questions for superweak items.

References #

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def German.PolarityItems.irgendein :

PolarityItem

Irgendein is an existential indefinite with free-choice effects, attested in questions, under bezweifeln, under possibility and necessity modals and under negative quantifiers.

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Instances For

NPI #

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def German.PolarityItems.brauchen :

PolarityItem

Brauchen 'need' with a zu-infinitive, a weak negative polarity item: Höchstens eine Frau wird sich zu verantworten brauchen 'At most one woman need justify herself', Keiner wird solch eine Prüfung durchzustehen brauchen 'No one need go through such an ordeal' ([Zwa98] (3a), (3b)). The rating study of Schaebbicke, Seeliger and Repp finds it intermediate under the merely downward-entailing kaum, with a median of 4 of 7 between 5.5 under kein and 1.5 in a positive question.

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