Minimizers and quantifiers: a window on the development of negative markers.
Jacopo Garzonio, Cecilia Poletto · 2008
In this work we examine the diachronic development of two types of negative markers showing that their semantic evolution is similar, as they have both undergone a stage when they become monotone decreasing quantifiers. However, their position is different: the first type, called minimizers, are part of a complex DP, while the second is a bare quantifier. Their original syntactic position determines the final position where they are merged when they are reanalyzed as standard negative markers: the bare quantifier is located in a position dedicated to bare QPs, while minimizers move to a higher position in the low IP area.