Rowlett, PA 1993, 'Remarks on sentential negation in French' , Catalan Working Papers in Linguistics, 3 (1) , pp. 153-169.

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Abstract

The goal of this article is to present a brief overview of the main arguments used (i.e., in Rowlett 1992a/b, 1993a/b/c) to cast doubt on an aspect of Pollock's (1989) analysis of sentential negation in French, namely his claim that the element pas is generated in the SpecNeg position in the base. It is argued that Pollock's analysis creates something of a theory-internal impasse since it is unable to satisfy both Haegeman and Zanuttini's (1991) Neg Criterion and the constraint on operator/variable pairings simultaneously, at the relevant level, i.e., LF. An alternative analysis, in which pas is generated in a position lower than SpecNeg and subsequently raised into SpecNeg, not only avoids the impasse, it also allows for a logical account of a number of empirical matters, namely the partitive/pseudopartitive alternation in indefinite direct objects, the impossibility of associating sentential negation with a PP-embedded pas and certain aspects of the syntax of imperatives.

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