ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the status of non-negative medial adjunct PPs. It examines the distribution of negative adjunct PPs. As pointed out by Haegeman there is a tendency in the generative tradition to consider medial adjunct PPs unacceptable in absolute terms, in contrast to medial adverbs. The chapter outlines an account for the asymmetry in the distribution of negative adjunct PPs, and in particular for their strong preference for medial position. It explores the syntax of sentential negation. The distribution of question tags reveals that among negative PPs, postverbal argument PPs pattern differently from postverbal adjunct PPs. The chapter analyses argument–adjunct asymmetry in terms of a clause-typing account of sentential polarity, which crucially postulates a licensing relation between a polarity head in the C-domain and a constituent which encodes negation. It shows that medial nonnegative adjunct PPs are attested both in American and in British English, though with low frequency.
