The syntax of negative polarity items in Syrian Arabic based on the dialect of Deir Ezzor

Negative Polarity Items (NPIs) are pervasive among languages. Cross-linguistic examination of NPIs continues to shed light on the complexity of this phenomenon. One unfortunate fact is that NPIs in Arabic dialects have seen relatively little examination in comparison with NPIs in other languages, such as English, Dutch, and Greek. The present study aims at contributing to filling this lacuna in research. It is a descriptive and analytical study of the syntax of negative polarity items in the Arabic dialect of Deir Ezzor, a city on the Euphrates in the north-eastern part of Syria; this Arabic dialect is Mesopotamian and not Levantine. This thesis contributes to the study of NPIs by providing an extensive inventory of these items in an Arabic dialect and a deeper analysis of these items' behaviour and licensing conditions. This study moves beyond the already known negative polarity pronouns and determiners to discuss negative polarity auxiliary verbs and negative polarity lexical verbs. It also expands the discussion of the idiomatic NPIs by discussing minimisers and maximisers. This thesis discusses the largest number of NPIs in any Arabic dialect. It also sheds light on areas where a contribution is needed, such as a thorough examination of the licensing contexts, e.g., the subjunctive and comparatives. This study examines the licensing proposals and concludes that Giannakidou’s nonveridicality theory offers the needed account. This study proposes new ways to examine the contexts where the licensing is possible, e.g., considering the details of comparative structures and what makes them licensing environments for NPIs. This study concludes that further research is needed and that researchers should not limit their exploration to testing the proposals that account for the licensing problem. Details do matter, and the details are what we should be looking for.