TY  - JOUR
A1  - Mazzarella, Diana
A1  - Gotzner, Nicole
T1  - The polarity asymmetry of negative strengthening
T2  - Glossa : a journal of general linguistics
N2  - The interpretation of negated antonyms is characterised by a polarity asymmetry: the negation of a positive polarity antonym (X is not interesting) is more likely to be strengthened to convey its opposite ('X is uninteresting') than the negation of a negative polarity antonym (X is not uninteresting to convey that 'X is interesting') is. A classical explanation of this asymmetry relies on face-management. Since the predication of a negative polarity antonym (X is uninteresting) is potentially face-threatening in most contexts, the negation of the corresponding positive polarity antonym (X is not interesting) is more likely to be interpreted as an indirect strategy to minimise face-threat while getting the message across. We present two experimental studies in which we test the predictions of this explanation. In contrast with it, our results show that adjectival polarity, but not face-threatening potential, appears to be responsible for the asymmetric interpretation of negated antonyms.
KW  - negation
KW  - polarity
KW  - antonyms
KW  - negative strengthening
KW  - politeness
KW  - face
Y1  - 2021
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/59942
SN  - 2397-1835
VL  - 6
IS  - 1
PB  - Open Library of Humanities
CY  - London
ER  -