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Contribution to Book
Or, Wh- and Not: Free Choice and Polarity in Malagasy
Proceedings of Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (2005)
  • Ileana Paul, The University of Western Ontario
Abstract
This paper explores the distribution of Free Choice Items (FCI) and Negative Polarity Items (NPI) in Malagasy. Both FCIs and NPIs in Malagasy are syntactically complex: they are expressed by disjunctions of wh-words. It is shown that this morphosyntactic structure directly reflects their semantics. In other words, FCIs and NPIs are semantically as well as syntactically disjunctive. Moreover, the Malagasy data support analyses of disjunction as a polarity sensitive element.
Keywords
  • Free choice,
  • Polarity,
  • Malagasy
Publication Date
2005
Publisher
XII
Citation Information
Ileana Paul. "Or, Wh- and Not: Free Choice and Polarity in Malagasy" Proceedings of Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association (2005)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/ileanapaul/10/