Resumen de Feature representation and –tu(pas) in Quebec French

Marie Thérèse Vinet

• This paper offers an analysis of –tu(pas) in Quebec French in terms of feature composition. It is proposed that the features of –tu are checked both at PF and LF. It is argued that –tu represents a PF reflex of an emphatic stress on the last syllable of the prosodic unit Vfinite+tu and it is a LF reflex of a reinforcer in the internal domain of TP for certain types of mood-force expressions. However, it is not an inherent illocutionary Force marker. It is illustrated how –tu pas creates an aspectual effect in discourse and is connected to predicates with a built-in terminal point. Even though –tu pas must sometimes appear obligatorily together in the proposition, the two forms bring a different contribution to the meaning of the sentence. It is argued that –tu is a Force operator identified in the CP domain at LF and pas is a negative marker which is interpretated with a reverse positive polarity when it scopes over –tu.