ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the linguistic phenomenon of polarity sensitivity. It was motivated by the belief that the fine structure of the phenomenon requires a more articulated analysis than the standard one based on licensing conditions. Licensing provides only a partial characterisation of the distribution of polarity sensitive phrases, and an inadequate account for the reading variations they exhibit. However, the long tradition of polarity sensitivity being approached in these terms is a sizeable obstacle on the way towards a comprehensive analysis. Moreover, licensing has the ‘advantage’ that it fits into a typology of anaphoric relations established for other domains.
