Negation at the interfaces: Negation and existential quantification in German (B01)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 509468465

We investigate interactions of clausal negation (Neg) with the German indefinite quantifier ein. Quantifiers within the German middle field typically show surface scope towards one another but allow inverse scope under certain conditions. A pilot corpus study shows that inverse scope is sometimes also available when a quantifier is followed by nicht 'not'. Our research questions concern the conditions that license a) inverse scope between Neg and ein and b) the realization of Neg+ein as kein. The project also looks at idiomatic expressions, which often contain indefinite NPs but without the usual semantics of existential quantification. The research questions will be addressed by corpus studies and acceptability, comprehension, and production experiments.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1629: Negation in language and beyond (NegLaB)
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Markus Bader, since 1/2024; Dr. Sascha Bargmann, since 1/2024; Professor Dr. Gert Webelhuth, since 1/2024