Negative Polarity and Scalar Semantics in Spanish* Raúl Aranovich University of California Davis
Introduction The Spanish indefinite pronouns nada ‘nothing’, nadie ‘no one’, nunca ‘never’, and ningún N ‘no N’, often referred to in the literature as nwords, have a limited distribution. When they precede the verb, they count as an expression of negation (1a).1 But when they follow the verb, they must occur with the negative adverb no ’not’ or with another nword in preverbal position. (1)
a.
b.
c.
Nadie ha leído este poema. none has read this poem ‘Nobody has read this poem.’ López *(no) sabe nada. López (not) knows nthing ‘López (doesn’t) know(s) anything.’ Nadie ha leído nunca ninguno de estos poemas. nbody has read never none of these poems ‘Nobody has ever read any of these poems.’
The fact that multiple negative expressions (nwords or the negative adverb no ‘not’) can appear in the same clause without giving rise to multiple negations qualifies Spanish as a negative concord language. Among negative concord languages, Spanish belongs to the class that does not allow preverbal nwords to occur with the negative particle no (2). (2)
*Nadie no ha leído este poema. none not has read this poem ‘Nobody hasn’t read this poem.’
There is an abundant literature on Spanish negative constructions and negative concord in