對「否定極項」（NPI）的跨語言研究不僅揭露了語義對語法輸出所施加的限制性，也顯現了關於各個語言對於如何滿足這些限制所展現的差異性。這篇文章試圖對這個主題做出些許貢獻：我們討論英語NPI和越南語NPI之間在分佈上的一些差異。我們的討論首先簡要介紹背景概念和假設。越南語的語料則挑戰了現有的理論，並激發進一步的思考。最後我們提供了一個如何解決這個問題的草案。

The cross-linguistic research on “negative polarity items” (NPIs) not only reveals what constraints are imposed by semantics on the output of syntax but also provides insights into how individual languages differ with respect to the way they satisfy these constraints. This note makes a small contribution to this enterprise: it discusses some differences in distribution between NPIs in English and their counterparts in Vietnamese. The discussion is preluded by a brief introduction to background concepts and assumptions. The Vietnamese data are presented as a challenge which motivates further thought and investigation. A sketch of an approach is provided at the end.

NPI; 疑問詞; 越南語; 英語; 句法語義介面

NPI; question words; Vietnamese; English; syntax-semantics interface