
Polar response particles in French as remnants of ellipsis
Author(s) -
Jérémy Pasquereau
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
glossa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2397-1835
DOI - 10.5334/gjgl.1064
Subject(s) - ellipsis (linguistics) , syntax , linguistics , polar , computer science , physics , philosophy , astronomy
Polar response particles have been at the center of lively debates in the recent and not so recent literature. One of these debates concerns the syntax of these particles, in particular whether they are pure sentential proforms or involve ellipsis. This paper examines the syntax of the French polar response particles oui, non, and si in embedded contexts. On the basis of these particles’ sensitivity to finiteness, obviation, and antilogophoricity in embedded clauses, it argues that they are better analyzed as remnants of ellipsis.