A Unified Account for the Additive and the Scalar Uses of Italian Neppure
Alda Mari, Lucia M. Tovena · Amsterdam studies in the theory and history of linguistic science. Series 4, Current issues in linguistic theory · 2006
In this paper we present a unified analysis of the negative concord item of Italian neppure. This item has an additive and a scalar interpretation corresponding to too and even of English. Our claim is that, under both of these interpretations, neppure presents a class or series as closed. The way to establish this closure is different in these two cases: in the first one the class is closed extensionally by enumeration of its members. Under the second neppure closes the series intensionally by providing a criterion of membership and the closing elements (its associate). To establish this result in relation with the scalar use of neppure, we use Rooth's (1985) theory of presupposition with focus.