The main objective of this paper is to show that the syntactic behavior of negative polarity items (NPIs) allows us to assess whether or not an argument undergoes A-movement in Japanese. Japanese has two types of NPIs. One type of NPI, which is referred to as the ‘argument modifier’ type, is licensed with reference to the surface A-position of the argument which it modifies (i.e. this type of NPI is licensed in a position in which the argument appears after A-movement, if it applies) and the other, which is referred to as the ‘floating modifier’ type, can be licensed in the underlying theta-marking position where its host argument is first merged (i.e. the position before the host undergoes A-movement). Data regarding the two types of NPIs reveal that in Japanese, subject raising is conditioned by the property of tense (T): if T carries a Case feature to value the Case feature of a nominative argument, it also has an EPP feature to induce subject raising, but if T does not carry any Case feature, it does not have an EPP feature. The NPI data also show that in Japanese, negative nai is head-raised when it is associated with a predicate with some verbal properties.

中文翻译：

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日语的负极性，A-动作和从句结构

本文的主要目的是证明负极性项目（NPI）的句法行为使我们能够评估日语中某个论点是否经历了A运动。日语有两种类型的NPI。一种NPI类型（称为“参数修改器”类型）是根据其修改的参数的表面A位置进行许可的（即，该类型的NPI被许可在该参数出现在后面的位置） A-Motion（如果适用）和另一种（称为“浮动修饰符”类型）可以在最初合并其宿主参数的基础theta标记位置（即，宿主经历A之前的位置）获得许可-运动）。有关两种类型的NPI的数据表明，在日语中，升读主题取决于时态（T）的性质：如果T带有一个Case特征以重视主语参数的Case特征，则它还具有EPP特征以引起主语抬高，但是如果T不带有任何Case特征，则它不具有EPP特征。NPI数据还显示，日语为负当nai与具有某些言语特性的谓词关联时，就会被抬高。