Abstract This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation designed to test the interpretation of the optional doubling of the negative markers no and pas in Expletive Negation (EN) contexts and in preverbal Negative Concord Items (NCI) contexts in Catalan. We show that in EN contexts a negative interpretation of no is preferred to an expletive one, with non-negative readings being less widespread than expected from what is described in traditional grammars. In NCI contexts the overt presence of no basically contributes to a single negation interpretation, thus confirming the status of Catalan as a Negative Concord language. We also show that, in the absence of discourse environments, pas in both EN and NCI contexts shows a variable interpretation, a characteristic of negative polarity items. Our results indicate that pas does not increase the amount of negative interpretation of no in EN contexts, or of double negation in NCI contexts, but is an item dependent on the interpretation of no. We conclude that the strengthening role of Catalan pas (at stage two of Jespersen’s cycle), while associated with the expression of metalinguistic negation, does not reverse the truth or falsity of a proposition.

中文翻译：

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演讲者如何解读否定标记和否定标记……加泰罗尼亚语

摘要本文报道了一项实验研究的结果，该实验旨在测试在否定否定（EN）语境中和在加泰罗尼亚语的否定共和项（NCI）语境中否定标记no和pas的加倍解释。我们表明，在EN语境中，否定的解释比无谓的解释更可取，非否定性读法的普及程度低于传统语法中的预期。在NCI上下文中，否的明显存在基本上有助于单个否定解释，从而确认加泰罗尼亚语是负面协和语言的地位。我们还表明，在没有话语环境的情况下，pas在EN和NCI上下文中都显示出变量解释，即负极性项目的特征。我们的结果表明，pas不会增加在EN语境中否定否定解释的数量，或者在NCI语境中否定否定解释的数量增加，而是取决于否定项的解释。我们得出的结论是，加泰罗尼亚语pas（在Jespersen周期的第二阶段）的强化作用与元语言学否定的表达相关联，但这并不能逆转命题的真实性或虚假性。