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Inquiries in Hispanic Linguistics: From theory to empirical evidence
Edited by Alejandro Cuza, Lori Czerwionka and Daniel Olson
[Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 12] 2016
► pp. 111–130

On the mistaken identity of negated epistemics

| University of Iowa

The focus of this paper is the characterization of Spanish subjunctive complements to negated epistemic predicates (e.g., creer ‘to believe’), other negated predicates (e.g., ver ‘to see’), and emotive predicates (e.g., lamentar ‘to regret’). I illustrate that various properties of subjunctive complements to negated epistemics overlap with the other two types, a novel observation. I claim that negated epistemic predicates manifest with either an evidential (like indicative-selecting predicates) or evaluative (like emotives) function, accounting for the overlapping properties. Furthermore, the pragmatic classification of the predicate affects the type and scope of negation. Finally, I claim that the subjunctive mood in true negation-triggered contexts is due to anti-veridical semantics, which has the effect of creating an unbounded complement clause event.

Keywords: Epistemic contexts, Mood distribution, Negation, Subjunctive
Published online: 1 November 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.12.07gie
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Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Bove, Kathryn
2020. Chapter 2. Mood selection in a contact variety. In Variation and Evolution [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 29], ► pp. 34 ff. DOI logo
Gielau, Elizabeth
2021. Chapter 4. Negation and mood in epistemic contexts. In East and West of The Pentacrest [Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 33], ► pp. 83 ff. DOI logo

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