Abstract
English bare long appears to be a negative polarity item. But a more revealing way to think of it is to say that bare long just needs something to be present that can carry it along, within its containing DP, to a pre-indefinite article position. Negation is one such something; degree words are another. Bare long differs in this respect from a long time, with a long time showing no need for either negation or a degree word. The reason is that a long time contains no silent TIME in need of licensing. The apparent negative polarity character of bare long is a side effect of its containing TIME.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 151-160 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | English Linguistics |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2020 |
Keywords
- degree
- long
- negation
- polarity
- time
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language