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Capturing expletive negation with complex left branches

A cross-linguistic perspective

 | University Côte d’Azur/CNRS, BCL
 | Masaryk University
Published online: 11 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.25019.bau
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the cross-linguistic syncretisms between markers of negation and ‘expletive negation’ (exn), i.e., a formal instance of negation lacking negative meaning, in fear-clauses. We argue that these syncretisms reflect structural proximity to the negative functional sequence (cf. . 2020. The morphosyntax of negative markers. A nanosyntactic account. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and . 2023. Modal negators in Romeyka Greek and the negative functional sequence. RGG 45(1). 1–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and that exn realises a high, epistemic modal feature (cf. Makri, Maria-Margarita. 2013. Expletive negation beyond Romance: Clausal complementation and epistemic modality [MA dissertation]: University of York. and Tsiakmakis, Evripids & Maria Teresa Espinal. 2022. Expletiveness in grammar and beyond. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 7(1).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar for Modern Greek). We then explain how the syncretisms can be captured in a uniform way. For this, we adopt the Nanosyntactic model of lexicalisation (cf. De Clercq, Karen, Pavel Caha, Michal Starke & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd. 2025. Nanosyntax: State of the art and recent developments. In Pavel Caha, Karen De Clercq & Guido Vanden Wyngaerd (eds.), Nanosyntax and the lexicalisation algorithm, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and so-called stored ‘complex left branches’ (cf. De Clercq, Karen. 2019. French negation, the superset principle and feature conservation. In Miriam Bouzouita, Anne Breitbarth, Lieven Danckaert & Elisabeth Witzenhausen (eds.), Cycles in language change, 199–227. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Ultimately, we show that, under the assumption that exn is modal, all patterns can be accounted for by varying the shapes of lexical items, while keeping everything else equal.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data
    • 2.1Pattern 1: neg1 = neg2 = exn
    • 2.2Pattern 2: neg2 = exn
    • 2.3Pattern 3: ne…pas
    • 2.4Interim summary
  • 3.Expletive negation is not expletive in fear-clauses
  • 4.Nanosyntax
    • 4.1General
    • 4.2Complex left branches
  • 5.Analysis
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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