Focus and Quasifocus on the Basque Negative Statements

Abstract

Although the notion "focus of inquiry" has received much well-deserved attention over the past couple of decades, its definition and behavior in negative clauses has been given only the most desultory consideration. This work deals with the negative statements and shows that four independant criteria make it imperative for Basque grammatians to distinguish between focus, defined exactly as in positive statements, and quasifocus, wich is the focus occurring in the denied positive clause