Polarity items, n-words and minimizers in Catalan and Spanish

Catalan minimizers (expressions denoting some minimal quantity or extent) contain an overt negative marker. When subject to a number of diagnostic tests, their behavior is totally opposite to that of (negative) polarity items. Generally, minimizers behave like n-words, except in nonnegative polarity-licensing contexts, where n-words behave like polarity items and minimizers do not. This article argues that Catalan minimizers, rather than n-words, instantiate the true behavior of negative-concord terms. The fact the nwords may appear in nonnegative polar contexts should not be taken as typical of negativeconcord terms but rather as an exceptional phenomenon. As for Spanish, it possesses two classes of minimizers. One class is identical to the Catalan type. The other displays the behavior of true polarity items. The facts argue against identifying negative-concord terms with true polarity items, and, therefore, against subsuming negative concord under polarity licensing. 1 In...