On Additional Roles of Utterances of Double Negative Sentences

Abstract

    Sometimes an utterance of a (logically) double negative sentence conveys the content of the corresponding positive sentence, and moreover communicates an additional content (e.g., one “weakening” or “strengthening” it) or plays an additional role. Leading accounts of such utterances－Horn's and Levinson's－have some serious problems mainly because they assume that such utterances depend on it that those of the corresponding positive sentence often convey some typical meaning. In this paper I attempt to analyze additional roles of utterances of double negative sentences without such assumption. The analysis seems more adequate than Horn's and Levinson's also in the light of a certain general feature of negative sentences.