Universal 1951:
- Original
- If a negative polarity item (NPI) (in particular an auxiliary) can occur in some affective context, it will also appear in all contexts to the right of this context:
comparative < conditional < interrogatives < negatives.
- Standardized
- IF a negative polarity item (in particular an auxiliary) can occur in a comparative context, THEN it can also occur in a conditional context.
IF a negative polarity item (in particular an auxiliary) can occur in a conditional context, THEN it can also occur in an interrogative context.
IF a negative polarity item (in particular an auxiliary) can occur in an interrogative context, THEN it can also occur in a negative context. - Keywords
- negative polarity item, auxiliary, comparative, conditional, interrogative, negative
- Domain
- syntax
- Type
- implicational hierarchy
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- languages surveyed in Edmondson 1981, Edmondson 1983
- Source
- Edmondson 1981, Edmondson 1983: 51
- Counterexamples
