@inproceedings{ea5b66d79b7642599f2cc4ad2a6f244f,
title = "The Licensing Contexts of Polarity-Sensitive Adverb Sǐhu{\'o} ({\textquoteleft}no matter what{\textquoteright}): A Force-Dynamic Analysis",
abstract = "The distribution of weak NPI adverbs such as sǐhu{\'o} ({\textquoteleft}desperately; no matter what{\textquoteright}) in Mandarin cannot be fully explained by the existing hypotheses about the general licensing conditions of NPIs such as downward entailment. This article attempts to provide a unifying explanation for the licensing contexts of the weak NPI adverbs sǐhu{\'o} by applying the force-dynamic model. I propose that the lexical meaning of sǐhu{\'o} carries a conceptual structure that involves a confrontation between two volitional forces at a physical or psychological/conceptual level. This analysis successfully explains why some verbs of implicit negation (such as j{\`u}ju{\'e} {\textquoteleft}refuse{\textquoteright}) can license sǐhu{\'o} while others cannot. It also explains why some affirmative predicates or apparently affirmative contexts can also license sǐhu{\'o}, because these predicates or contexts fulfill the semantic structure of force-confrontation. The force-dynamic analysis is also compatible with the historical development of the use of sǐhu{\'o}, which reflects a change from a physical interaction to a psychological or conceptual confrontation between two forces.",
keywords = "Polarity sensitivity, Adverbs, Force dynamics, Verbs of implicit negation",
author = "Yifa Xu",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.; 24th Workshop on Chinese Lexical Semantics, CLSW 2023 ; Conference date: 19-05-2023 Through 21-05-2023",
year = "2024",
month = feb,
day = "28",
doi = "10.1007/978-981-97-0583-2\_14",
language = "English",
isbn = "978-981-97-0582-5",
series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)",
publisher = "Springer Nature",
pages = "173--186",
editor = "Minghui Dong and Jia-Fei Hong and Jingxia Lin and Peng Jin",
booktitle = "Chinese Lexical Semantics",
}