Double negation in strict negative concord languages: Analyzing constituent negation

In this talk, I analyze double negation (DN) readings in strict negative concord (NC) languages. Current analyses of strict NC languages often consider negative markers in strict NC languages as not semantically interpretably negative. Instead, negation is introduced with an abstract negative operator that is triggered when grammatically necessary. Such an analysis predicts that strict NC languages should never have DN readings, given multiple negative elements in the same clause. I present three contexts where DN readings are available in Slavic languages, posing a problem for current syntactic accounts of strict NC. DN readings are notably available with certain prepositional phrases and with small clauses (Fitzgibbons (2010); McMahon & Pember (2022)). I propose that there is a third context where DN readings are available in Slavic languages that should be included when analyzing DN readings in strict NC: constituent negation can result in DN readings in Slavic languages. To account for these available DN readings, I suggest using two separate abstract negative operators; such an analysis means that the negative marker in Slavic languages can be analyzed as the same semantically non-negative lexical item in all cases. Data from five different Slavic languages are presented in support of this analysis.