English Auxiliary Diagnostics: NICE Properties #
@cite{huddleston-1976} @cite{palmer-2001}
@cite{huddleston-1976} coined the NICE acronym for four properties of English auxiliaries identified by Palmer: Negation, Inversion, Code, Emphasis.
| Property | Test | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Negation | Direct negation with not | He can not go |
| Inversion | Subject-aux inversion in questions | Can he go? |
| Code | VP ellipsis (stranding) | He can and she can too |
| Emphasis | Emphatic stress for verum focus | He CAN go |
End-to-End Chain #
This file creates a three-link chain from Fragment to empirical data:
Fragment (AuxEntry: form, auxType, negForm)
→ NICE profile (per-entry, derived from Fragment fields)
→ SAI predictions (each NICE property maps to an SAI context)
→ SAI data (Phenomena.WordOrder.SubjectAuxInversion)
Each link is verified by theorems: changing a Fragment entry's form or
negForm breaks the NICE profile theorems, and changing an SAI datum's
acceptability breaks the prediction theorems.
Types #
The four NICE properties.
- negation : NICEProperty
- inversion : NICEProperty
- code : NICEProperty
- emphasis : NICEProperty
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- Phenomena.AuxiliaryVerbs.Diagnostics.instBEqNICEProfile.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false
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Classification functions #
How many NICE properties does this form exhibit?
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Full auxiliary: exhibits all 4 NICE properties.
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Link 1: Fragment → NICE Profiles #
Per-entry NICE profiles. Each derives auxForm and auxType from the
Fragment AuxEntry, making the connection structural: changing a Fragment
entry's form breaks the corresponding theorem.
Full NICE profile for a true auxiliary Fragment entry.
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Contracted negation: whether the Fragment entry has a negForm.
Paradigm gaps (may, am) lack contracted forms.
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Ought has partial NICE: negation (oughtn't) and emphasis (He OUGHT to go)
but not code (?He ought and she ought too). Inversion is set to false
following @cite{huddleston-1976}'s conservative classification, though
Ought he to go? is grammatical for many speakers (especially BrE).
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Classification theorems #
Per-entry form verification #
These theorems verify that NICE profiles match their Fragment entries.
Changing a Fragment entry's form field breaks the theorem.
Contracted negation bridge #
@cite{huddleston-1976} notes NICE Negation is about direct negation with not; contracted negation (-n't) is a stronger sub-property with paradigm gaps at may and am.
Link 2: NICE Properties → SAI Predictions #
Each NICE property maps to a specific SAI context type. Full auxiliaries participate directly; lexical verbs require do-support.
| NICE Property | SAI Context | Aux Example | Lex Verb (do-support) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inversion | matrixWh/matrixYN | Can he go? | Does he go? |
| Negation | sententialNegation | Sue is not eating | Sue does not eat |
| Code | vpEllipsis | She can too | He does too |
| Emphasis | emphatic | She IS eating | Sue DOES eat |
NICE Inversion → SAI: auxiliaries invert in matrix questions; lexical verbs cannot (do-support required).
NICE Negation → SAI: auxiliaries raise past negation; lexical verbs cannot (do-support required).
NICE Code → SAI: VP ellipsis strands auxiliary or do-support.
NICE Emphasis → SAI: auxiliaries bear verum focus directly; lexical verbs need do-support.
Do-support is the repair strategy when lexical verbs (which lack NICE properties) need to participate in SAI contexts. All four NICE contexts have grammatical do-support alternatives in the SAI data.
Link 3: NICE Emphasis ↔ Polarity Stress #
NICE Emphasis (emphatic stress on auxiliary for verum focus) is the same phenomenon as polarity stress: prosodic prominence on the auxiliary targets truth/polarity rather than content alternatives (@cite{hohle-1992}).
NICE Emphasis maps to polarity stress on the auxiliary: both describe prosodic prominence on AUX signaling verum focus. The PolarityStress datum confirms this with "John DOES drink" (stressed AUX in declarative).
Content focus is distinct from NICE Emphasis: stressing the subject ("JOHN drinks") targets content alternatives, not polarity.
Aggregate Collections #
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