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    Negative polarity
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    The comparative adjective is able to license negative polarity items in its comparative complement.

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    The comparative adjective is able to license negative polarity items in its comparative complement. In the examples below, the comparative adjective licenses the negatively polar verb hoege need. As the adjectives involved do not themselves license negative polarity items, it may be concluded that it is the comparative element, -er or mear more, which take care of this:

    Example 1

    a. Dat de nederlaech grutter wurden wie as hoegd hie
    that the defeat bigger become was than needed had
    That the defeat became bigger than necessary
    b. De man spriek fen syn swolch reinwetter mear as hoegde
    the man spoke of his draught rain.water more than needed
    The man spoke more than needed of his sip of rainwater

    The negative polarity item ea ever can also be found in the comparative complement:

    Example 2

    a. Se rekke makliker as ea mei minsken yn 'e kunde
    she got easier than ever with people into contact
    She got into contact with people more easily than ever
    b. Dy middeis ferkocht er minder as ea it gefal west hie
    that afternoon sold he less than ever the case been had
    That afternoon he sold less than had ever been the case

    In the last two examples, where the comparative complement is a proposition, it is also possible to put the complementiser dat that in between as than and ea ever, as shown in the examples below:

    Example 3

    a. Dy middeis ferkocht er minder as dat ea it gefal west hie
    that afternoon sold he less than that ever the case been had
    That afternoon he sold less than had ever been the case
    b. Alles is moaijer en grutter as dat ea minskemûle seit
    everything is more beautiful and bigger than that ever people.mouth says
    Everything is more beautiful and bigger than a human being could ever say

    The negatively polar adverb ea ever has been placed before the subject in the above examples. Placement after the subject, which would otherwise be quite normal for adverbs, is awkward:

    Example 4

    a. ?Dy middeis ferkocht er minder as it gefal ea west hie
    that afternoon sold he less than the case ever been had
    That afternoon he sold less than had ever been the case
    b. ?Alles is moaijer en grutter as minskemûle ea seit
    everything is more beautiful and bigger than people.mouth ever says
    Everything is more beautiful and bigger than a human being could ever say

    The comparative not only licenses negative polarity in its comparative complement, but it also licenses negative polarity on its modifiers, seeing that the negative polarity item folle much, very is grammatical in the modifier position of comparatives:

    Example 5

    folle dúdliker
    much clearer

    In contrast: the negative polarity item folle much, very cannot be licensed by the partitive adjective construction:

    Example 6

    *Ik ha folle dúdlik-s heard
    I have much clear.PA heard
    I have heard many clear things

    Negation must be present to license folle much, very in the partitive adjective construction:

    Example 7

    Ik ha net folle dúdlik-s heard
    I have not much clear.PA heard
    I have not heard many clear things

    Folle much, very can usually be replaced by a Noun Phrase (NP) which is not negatively polar and which consists of the indefinite article and a noun denoting a large quantity:

    Example 8

    a. Ik ha in protte dúdlik-s heard
    I have a lot clear.PA heard
    I have heard a lot of clear things
    b. Ik ha net in protte dúdlik-s heard
    I have not a lot clear.PA heard
    I have not heard a lot of clear things

    Such a replacement is, however, not possible when folle much, very modifies a comparative, as shown in the examples below:

    Example 9

    a. Dat is folle dúdliker
    that is much clearer
    that is much clearer
    b. *Dat is in protte dúdliker
    that is a lot clearer
    that is a lot clearer

    Not all negative polarity items which occur in the complement of the comparative can occur in the scope of a superlative. Like ordinary comparatives, the inherent comparative oar / oars different, else, licenses negative polarity in its comparative phrase:

    Example 10

    Hy prate flugger en oars as hoegde
    he talked faster and different than needed
    He talked faster and different than he needed to

    Unlike ordinary comparatives, the inherent comparative oar/oars does not license the negative polarity item folle much, very in its modifier position:

    Example 11

    a. Folle flugger
    Much faster
    b. *Folle oars
    Greatly different

    However, phrases such as folle oars greatly different were grammatical in nineteenth-century Frisian. In Modern Frisian, negation must be present, as below:

    Example 12

    Net folle oars
    not much different
    Not very different

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    Literature

    More details can be found in Hoekstra (2000).

    References:
    • Hoekstra, Jarich2000Sa en net oars of: waar vergelijking en ontkenning elkaar ontmoetenBesten, Hans den, Elffers, Els & Luif, Jan (eds.)Samengevoegde woorden: voor Wim Klooster bij zijn afscheid als hoogleraarUniversiteit van Amsterdam135-144
    ABOUT THIS TOPIC
    Author(s):
    Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening
    Category:
    Frisian Syntax
    Publication date:
    14 May 2020
    Keywords:
    negative polarity
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