Focus particles and negative scope: Both evidence for syntactic integration?

Abstract

This article reports empirical work on the tests or judgement criteria which are used to determine the integration status of dependent clauses. Specifically it looks at focus particles and negative scope as indicators of such status in adverbial clauses. Some uses of these tests have produced conflicting results, which might suggest that they are not reliable criteria. Our empirical study suggest that both may be useful independently, but some factors may interfere with each other, producing falsified findings. Additionally, we observe that the test only works with certain sorts of focus particles, not with all, which could also potentially cause misleading findings.

Keywords

• adverbial clauses
• integration
• experimental syntax
• negatives
• focus particles