Open AccessThe polarity asymmetry of negative strengthening: dissociating adjectival polarity from facethreatening potential
Author(s) -
Diana Mazzarella,
Nicole Gotzner
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
glossa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2397-1835
DOI - 10.5334/gjgl.1342
Subject(s) - polarity (international relations) , negation , asymmetry , interpretation (philosophy) , face (sociological concept) , polarity symbols , psychology , linguistics , computer science , natural language processing , physics , philosophy , chemistry , quantum mechanics , biochemistry , breakdown voltage , voltage , cell
The interpretation of negated antonyms is characterised by a polarity asymmetry: the negation of a positive polarity antonym (X is not interesting) is more likely to be strengthened to convey its opposite (‘X is uninteresting’) than the negation of a negative polarity antonym (X is not uninteresting to convey that ‘X is interesting’) is. A classical explanation of this asymmetry relies on face-management. Since the predication of a negative polarity antonym (X is uninteresting) is potentially face-threatening in most contexts, the negation of the corresponding positive polarity antonym (X is not interesting) is more likely to be interpreted as an indirect strategy to minimise face-threat while getting the message across. We present two experimental studies in which we test the predictions of this explanation. In contrast with it, our results show that adjectival polarity, but not face-threatening potential, appears to be responsible for the asymmetric interpretation of negated antonyms.