Negation and virtual argumentation
Arie Verhagen · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2007
This chapter discusses concepts on negation and perspectives such as mental spaces and sentential vs. morphological negation. It describes conventional linguistic constraints on intersubjective coordination, including the let alone construction, usage of barely and almost, and the negation system for intersubjective coordination. Some unsolved let alone problems include non-semantic negative polarity, pragmatic point in first conjunct, and the development of the meaning of let alone. It also provides solutions to the let alone concept by making syntactic and semantic negative polarity coincide, aligning semantics and pragmatics, and understanding the historical development of let alone. The chapter also expounds double negation and shows why not impossible does not equal possible.