Lecture 7, selected slides Flashcards
Assertive and non-assertive forms
Negative polarity items (NPI)
- Assertive contexts: some, already, still…
- Non-assertive contexts: (negated clauses and interrogatives) any, yet, ever…
**_Assertive _ **
She bought some flowers.
*She bought any flowers. (only grammatical in the ’free choice’ sense)
She told me about it already.
*She told me about it yet.
Non-assertive
She did not buy **any **flowers.
Did she buy any flowers?
She did not tell me about it yet.
Did she tell you about it** yet**?
**2) Assertive forms in non-assertive **contexts
• Assertive forms (some, already, etc) may occur in non-assertive
contexts, but always give rise to ’extra’ meaning (called ’implicatures’
in pragmatics). Interestingly, implicatures are fairly systematic.
Assertive Non-assertive
She bought some flowers. She did not buy some flowers.
*She bought any flowers.
(only grammatical in the ’free choice’
sense)
Did she buy some flowers?
She told me about it already. She did not tell me about it already.
*She told me about it yet. Did she tell you about it already
Assertive forms in negative declaratives
• Assertive forms in negatives – two types:
– Scope independent
– Scope sensitive
Assertive
She bought some flowers.
I went to some of his lectures.
Negative declaratives
She did not buy some flowers.
I didn’t go to some of his lectures
- Scope independent: Not all that interesting: Used in the real (or assumed) context of a previous utterrance, the wording (rather than the content) of which is rejected. (e.g. She didn’t just buy some flowers, she bought a ridiculous mass of flowers.)
- Scope sensitive: ’There were some flowers such that she didn’t buy them’.
’There were some lectures such that I did not go to them’
The subjunctive in dependent clauses
• The subjunctive is a finite verb form, although the only verb that
shows a tense distinction is BE.
- Forms: present subjunctive = base form of the verb
- Past subjunctive = were (only with BE)
Examples:
• The ’mandative’ subjunctive: In that-clauses as complement of
verbs, adjectives and nouns expressing a demand,
recommendation, proposal, intention, resolution, etc.
The committee proposed that the President be impeached.
We recommend that the road be built to the north of the site.
• Sometimes in adverbial (conditional) clauses in formal registers:
Even if this be the official view, it is unacceptable.
• The ’formulaic subjunctive’ – used in a number of fixed
expressions:
Comewhat may…
Suffice it to say that…
God save the King/the Queen! (’may God save the Queen’)
• The past (were) subjunctive – hypothetical/unreal contexts
If I were a rich man…
If I were a carpenter…
I wish the journey were over. (more natural: …the journey was over)
