Polar response particles in French as remnants of ellipsis

Abstract

Polar response particles have been at the center of lively debates in the recent and not so recent literature. One of these debates concerns the syntax of these particles, in particular whether they are pure sentential proforms or involve ellipsis. This paper examines the syntax of the French polar response particles 'oui, non', and 'si' in embedded contexts. On the basis of these particles’ sensitivity to finiteness, obviation, and antilogophoricity in embedded clauses, it argues that they are better analyzed as remnants of ellipsis.

Keywords

• polar response particles
• oui
• non
• si
• ellipsis