The present thesis takes on the topic of how polarity focus works in the Catalan language. It focuses on the sequences formed by a polarity element sí “yes” or no “no”, combined with que to...Show moreThe present thesis takes on the topic of how polarity focus works in the Catalan language. It focuses on the sequences formed by a polarity element sí “yes” or no “no”, combined with que to introduce a clause, forming sí que, sí que no and no que no sentences. These sequences have been studied in the literature individually, but not a lot has been said in terms of comparison. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to compare and analyze the sentences introduced by these sequences, as well as their distribution based on their triggers and the context they appear in. The account given indicates various findings. Firstly, sí/no + que sequences can introduce answers to polarity questions, as well as respond to a previous utterance indicating polarity emphasis. Moreover, they can also be used in contrastive settings. However, the three sequences cannot always appear in the same contexts unrestrictedly. Case and point, it is argued that sí que no and no que no are not interchangeable, despite both of them seemingly denoting negative polarity emphasis.Show less
