Polarity items
in superlative constructions
Jack Hoeksema
University of Groningen
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Structure of the talk
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Strawson entailment (Von Fintel 1999)
Strawson entailing contexts: superlatives,
restrictive adverbs (only)
Polarity items that appear in superlative
constructions
Polarity items that don’t appear in
superlative constructions
Comparison with only
Conclusions
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Downward and upward entailment

Every pig will be eaten  Every sow will
be eaten (downward entailment from
the general pig to the less general sow)

Some sow will be eaten  Some pig will
be eaten (upward entailment)
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Negative Polarity Items
Appear in downward entailing contexts
(Ladusaw 1979)
 Familiar problems with this analysis:
questions, superlatives, only
 Proposed solution for superlatives and
only: Strawson entailment

Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Strawson entailment
Jones is the tallest dairy farmer //
Jones is the tallest farmer
Jones is the tallest farmer
Jones is a dairy farmer
Jones is the tallest dairy farmer
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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And so
Strawson downward entailment is
downward entailment, with the added
premise that the presuppositions of the
conclusion are met
 And can be viewed as a generalization of
regular downward entailment

Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Application to only

Only Jones likes meat  Only Jones likes
beef (valid on the assumption that Jones
likes beef, otherwise invalid)
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Polarity items in superlative
contexts
a. He is the last person who would ever
admit any interest in love-stories.
b. Angela is the first one who ever did a
damn thing for me.
c. Emma is the tallest girl to ever win the
dance contest.
d. That was the best party ever!
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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More English examples: in X
a. We sailed through what must have been
the worst storm in years.
b. This meager lunch is easily the best meal
I have had in ages.
c. That’s the most interesting piece of
information I have had in weeks.
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Yet, in the world, alive
a.Last night’s game saw our greatest victory
yet.
b. This was the worst game I have yet had to
misfortune to attend.
c. It was said in the most unconscious manner
in the world.
d. I am glad to be alive.
e.I am the happiest man alive.
f. *There was a man alive.
g.There was not a man alive.
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Dutch NPIs that appear in
superlatives
Ooit ‘ever’
 In tijden ‘in ages’
 Ter wereld ‘on earth’
 Van zijn leven ‘of his life’

Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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German


Je, jemals ‘ever’
Überhaupt
a Sie war das schönste
Madchen das ich je gesehen hatte.
She was the beautiful-est girl
that I ever seen
had
“She was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen
b. The Beatles war die beste Band die es jemals gegeben hat.
The Beatles were the best band that it ever given
has
“The Beatles are the best band that ever existed”
c. Du bist für mich das liebste Mädchen überhaupt
You are for me the sweetest girl
at-all
NB: no counterpart to in ages, in years, in months etc
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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French: jamais, de ma vie
a. C’est la meilleure omelette que j’aie jamais mangée.
That’s the best
omelet that I’ve ever eaten
‘That is the best omelet I have ever eaten’
b. C’étaient les plus belles
vacances de ma vie.
It-was
the most beautiful vacation of my life
‘It was the most beautiful vacation of my life’
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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NPIs that shun superlatives
In the least
 *This is the most important document
that Fred was in the least excited about.
 In het minst
 Dit is het slechtste boek dat ik in het
minst geapprecieerd heb
 Im geringsten
 Diese Regierung ist die beste die wir
jemals/*im geringsten gehabt haben

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anymore
This is the best film that is shown here
anymore.
b. Government makes activists sound bad but it
is the best chance this country has anymore.
a.
From Levinson 2008
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Corpus data: ever, any, anymore
Table 1: Ever, any, anymore in superlative and some related contexts
context
superlative
the only
the first
the last
other contexts
Total
ever
623
101
103
25
3277
4129
%
15
2
2
0.6
79
100
any
37
12
14
4
6933
7000
%
0.5
0.2
0.2
99
100
anymore
8
765
773
%
1
99
100
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Minimizers don’t like superlatives
Table 2: Distribution of three English minimizers
a thing
% a word
% a damn thing
%
context
superlative
the only
1
0.5
1
2
the first
1
0.5
the last
other contexts
107
100
243
99
49 98
Total
107
100
245
100
50 100
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Auxiliary need
(32) a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
You need not worry about a thing.
*You need (OK: need to) work harder.
*That’s the most important thing you need do.
That’s the only thing you need do.
?That’s the first thing you need do.
That’s the last thing you need worry about.
Need I say more?
Little else need be done.
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Corpus data
Table 3: Distribution of the English auxiliary need
%
need
context
superlative
0,5
2
the only
the first
the last
99,5
471
other contexts
100
473
Total
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Remotely
a. The students were not remotely interested.
b. *The students were remotely interested.
c. *She is the best/worst student who is remotely
interested.
d. She is the only student who is remotely interested.
e. She is the first student who is remotely interested.
f. That was the last thing that was remotely funny.
g. Wake me up if it gets remotely interesting.
h. Was it even remotely interesting?
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Corpus data remotely
Table 4: Remotely
remotely
context
superlative
the only
7
the first
the last
1
other contexts
77
Total
85
%
8
1
91
100
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Dutch corpus data: ooit, enig, meer
Table 5: Distribution of Dutch ooit, enig,meer
ooit
%
enig
%
context
superlative
1685
10
10
1
the only
163
1
1
0.1
the first
32
0.2
the last
24
0.1
other contexts
15803
89
1187
99
Total
17707
100
1198
100
meer
2513
2513
%
100
100
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Dutch minimizers
Table 6: Distribution of three Dutch minimizers
een bal
% een woord
%
context
superlative
the only
1
0.2
the first
1
the last
other contexts
462 99.8
1815 100
Total
463
100
1816 100
een zier
%
1 0.2
403 100
404 100
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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Modal auxiliary hoeven
Table 7: Distribution of Dutch hoeven
hoeven
%
context
superlative
the only
35
2
the first
the last
2
0.1
other contexts
2060
98
Total
2097
100
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In de verste verte ‘remotely’
Table 8: Distribution of Dutch in de verste verte
context
superlative
the only
the first
the last
other contexts
Total
in de verste verte
4
345
349
%
1
99
100
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German: je/jemals, mehr
Table 9: Je(mals) ‘ever’ and mehr ‘anymore’
je(mals)
%
mehr
context
superlative
109
13
the only
9
1
the first
4
0.5
the last
other contexts
731
86
682
Total
853
100
682
%
100
100
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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German minizimers don’t like
superlatives either
Table 10: Three German minimizers
context
superlative
the only
the first
the last
other contexts
Total
ein Sterbenswort
15
15
%
100
100
ein Pfifferling
12
12
%
100
100
Ein Wort
69
69
%
100
100
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German brauchen
Table 11: German brauchen
context
superlative
the only
the first
the last
other contexts
Total
1
381
382
%
0.3
99.7
100
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Superlatives versus Only


Only John ever goes there.
John is the least likely person ever to win
the race.


*Only John has seen her in ages
John is the best student I’ve had in ages



Only candidates with a PhD need apply
*The best candidate who need apply is John
The only candidate who need apply is John
Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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More corpus data
Table 12: Need, hoeven, brauchen
context
Superlative
Only
Other
Total
Need
56
419
477
%
12
88
100
Hoeven
347
1741
2088
%
17
83
100
Brauchen
63
319
382
%
16
84
100
Table 13: In years (etc), in jaren (etc)
context
Superlative
Only
Other
In X (English)
210
288
%
42
58
In X (Dutch)
354
679
%
34
66
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conclusions
Only some NPIs are acceptable in
superlative contexts
 Typically, NPIs in superlative contexts extend
the domain of quantification (ever, alive, in
years) and are adjuncts
 Any, enig (nonadjuncts) are possible in
superlative contexts, but rare
 The NPIs licensed by superlatives are not
the same as the NPIs licensed by only
 Strawson entailment fails as a uniform
explanation of licensing patterns of NPIs

Negation workshop, Utrecht, June 17 2010
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