Obligatory Triggers under Negation

Abstract

In this paper, we present two experimental studies which test the different predictions of two theories for the obligatory occurrence of the presupposition triggers ”again” and ”too” (German ”auch” and ”wieder”) under negation. One theory assumes that ”again” and ”too” are inserted to avoid a mandatory exhaustivity implicature that contradicts the context. A second theory assumes that the insertion of ”again” and ”too” follows from a principle Maximize Presupposition (Heim 1991). We provide experimental evidence that shows that both triggers are not obligatory under negation. This supports an approach which works with obligatory exhaustivity implicatures and speaks against an analysis using Maximize Presupposition.