Abstract
This paper gives an insight into a productive type of construction in Italian that can be broadly characterised by the absence of verb, the presence of an initial n-word—from a surfacy point of view, and is interpreted as a full sentence, more precisely as a negative existential sentence. It is proposed that the sentential interpretation is possible because the negative expression requires tripartite structure at some abstract level of representation. The negated existential type of sentence is linked to the intersective relation imposed by the n-word and the constraint of empty intersection. The use of different n-words is interpreted as an overt marking of different perspectives on the situation described and result in different ways of satisfying conservativity.
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Tovena, L.M. (2008). Negative Quantification and Existential Sentences. In: Comorovski, I., von Heusinger, K. (eds) Existence: Semantics and Syntax. Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, vol 84. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6197-4_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6197-4_7
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