A study of constructions in Japanese and in French including a negative polarity item and conveying a surprise or an exclamation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This study shows i) that the derogatory or exclamatory meanings conveyed by Japanese examples, like Taro-NANKA ga kita ('The like of Taro came') or Taro-ga nakunatta-NANTE ('What? Taro died?') are due to fact that NAN-KA (what-or) or NAN-TE (what-quotation) widen, in the same way as Negative Polarity Items, the domain of alternatives consisting of individuals or events, and ii) that French nominal sentences, like Michel qui est mort ! ('Michel that died!'), equally include an implicit WH word, quoi (what), which serves as domain widener and gives rise to a surprise meaning.