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Johnson 2004 - CDLI - UCLA

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The same three variations under negation also yield an interesting result: it is only the<br />

part of the sentence that has focal intonation that is negated, the rest of the sentence<br />

remains in force. The import of the negation of a particular focal constituent is often best<br />

highlighted through the use of a subsequent contrastive sentence.<br />

(14) a. Mary didn’t PUNCH the mayor on Wilshire Boulevard; (she BIT him)<br />

b. Mary didn’t punch THE MAYOR on Wilshire Boulevard; (she punched<br />

THE GOVERNOR)<br />

c. Mary didn’t punch the mayor ON WILSHIRE BOULEVARD, (she<br />

punched him IN A CAB COMING FROM THE AIRPORT)<br />

The point is that focal intonation dramatically changes not only the pragmatic<br />

appropriateness of a particular utterance, but also the truth conditions and hence the<br />

semantics of any particular assertion.<br />

The traditional view holds that the part of a sentence that is not focused is<br />

presuppositional just as “her husband” is presuppositional in “her husband is a fool.” This<br />

is basically correct in the vast majority of cases.<br />

(15) a. Her husband is not A FOOL.<br />

b. Mary didn’t punch the mayor ON WILSHIRE BOULEVARD.<br />

207

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