Minimizer negative polarity items in non-negative contexts

Abstract

Minimizer strong NPIs such as ``lift a finger'' are known to be more restricted in their occurrence than weak NPIs like ``ever''. Sedivy 1990 points to contexts with a ``negative side message'' in which ``lift a finger'' can occur but ``ever'' cannot. The paper provides a short overview over the relevant contexts and proposes an extension of a representational theory of NPI licensing with the following components: First, an utterance content is introduced that enriches the primary truth-conditional content by conventional implicatures and generalized conversational implicatures. Second, ``ever''-type NPIs can be licensed by weak NPI licensors, but only in the primary truth-conditional meaning of an utterance. ``Lift-a-finger''-type NPIs can only be licensed in the scope of negation, but the licensing can be checked at the representation of the enriched meaning of an utterance.