Negative Polarity Items in Telugu

Abstract

The paper presents a unified account of licensing conditions of Negative Polarity Items (NPI) in Telugu. Based on the distribution of NPIs in complex clauses, we state that negation c-commanding NPI at the base-generated. Consequently, features checking between negation and NPI restricts the alternatives on the scale inherent to NPIs. The morphological realization of NPI in the non-negative contexts is different from the context with overt negation. The NPIs show the following distribution. NPI occurs in subject position; A negative licensing Multiple NPIs. There are three types of NPIs: wh-element, quantifier and idiomatic expression. In complex clauses, wh-elements block long-distance licensing. In contrast, quantifiers and idiomatic expressions do not block long-distance licensing.