Swedish Answer Particles

@cite{holmberg-2016}

Swedish has a three-way answer particle system:

• ja — affirmative ("yes")
• nej — negative ("no")
• jo — polarity-reversing affirmative (contradicts a negative context)

Jo is the paradigm example of a polarity-reversing particle, the same class as German doch and French si. It assigns [+Pol] while presupposing a negative context (negative question or negative assertion).

Swedish is polarity-based: "Dricker han inte?" → "Ja" = "He does drink."

Swedish also allows verb-echo answers alongside particles (mixed strategy).

structure Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.AnswerParticle : Type

A Swedish answer particle entry.

• form : String

  Citation form

• polarity : Core.Polarity

  The polarity this particle assigns

• requiresNegativeContext : Bool

  Does this particle require a negative context?

• isPolarityReversal : Bool

  Is this a polarity-reversing particle?

• blockedInNegativeContext : Bool

  Is this particle blocked (ungrammatical) in negative contexts? @cite{holmberg-2016} p165: Swedish ja is ungrammatical (not just infelicitous) as a response to negative questions.

instance Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.instReprAnswerParticle : Repr AnswerParticle

Equations

• Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.instReprAnswerParticle = { reprPrec := Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.instReprAnswerParticle.repr }

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.instReprAnswerParticle.repr : AnswerParticle → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.ja : AnswerParticle

ja — standard affirmative. Assigns [+Pol]. Blocked in negative contexts: "Dricker han inte?" → *"Ja" is ungrammatical (@cite{holmberg-2016}, p165). Swedish uses jo instead.

Equations

• Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.ja = { form := "ja", polarity := Core.Polarity.positive, requiresNegativeContext := false, blockedInNegativeContext := true }

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.nej : AnswerParticle

nej — standard negative. Assigns [-Pol].

Equations

• Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.nej = { form := "nej", polarity := Core.Polarity.negative, requiresNegativeContext := false }

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.jo : AnswerParticle

jo — polarity-reversing affirmative. Assigns [+Pol] while contradicting a negative context.

"Dricker han inte?" (Doesn't he drink?) → "Jo" = "He does drink" (reverses the expected negative polarity)

Cannot be used in response to positive questions or out of the blue: "Dricker han?" (Does he drink?) → *"Jo" is infelicitous (no negative context to reverse)

Equations

• Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.jo = { form := "jo", polarity := Core.Polarity.positive, requiresNegativeContext := true }

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.jo_is_reversal : jo.isPolarityReversal = true

jo is a polarity-reversing particle.

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.ja_not_reversal : ja.isPolarityReversal = false

ja is not polarity-reversing.

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.jo_ja_same_polarity : jo.polarity = ja.polarity

jo and ja both assign positive polarity. The difference is context: jo requires a negative context, ja does not.

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.ja_blocked_in_negative : ja.blockedInNegativeContext = true

ja is blocked in negative contexts — this is why jo exists.

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.ja_jo_complementary : ja.blockedInNegativeContext = true ∧ jo.requiresNegativeContext = true ∧ ja.requiresNegativeContext = false ∧ jo.blockedInNegativeContext = false

ja and jo are in complementary distribution: ja is blocked where jo is required (negative contexts), and jo is blocked where ja is available (positive contexts).

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.joMarking : Core.InformationStructure.PolarityMarkingEntry

jo as a polarity-marking entry for cross-linguistic comparison.

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

def Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.profile : Semantics.Questions.PolarAnswerProfile

Swedish polar answer profile: polarity-based, mixed strategy (particles + verb echo), with polarity reversal (jo).

Equations

• Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.profile = { system := Semantics.Questions.AnsweringSystem.polarityBased, strategy := Semantics.Questions.AnswerStrategy.mixed, hasPolarityReversal := true }

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.swedish_polarity_based : profile.system = Semantics.Questions.AnsweringSystem.polarityBased

Swedish is polarity-based.

theorem Fragments.Swedish.AnswerParticles.swedish_has_reversal : profile.hasPolarityReversal = true

Swedish has polarity reversal.