These expressions appear within a “licensing context,” which may be either an affirmative statement or a negation. For 10 points each:
[10h] The phrase “at all” is an example of the negative type of these expressions, because it is grammatical in the sentence “I didn’t like it at all” but not in the sentence “I did like it at all.” Words like “somewhat” are examples of their positive type.
ANSWER: polarity items [accept positive polarity items or PPIs; accept negative polarity items or NPIs]
[10m] Standard English uses negative polarity items because it lacks this phenomenon, in which double negatives intensify rather than canceling out to produce an affirmation.
ANSWER: negative concord [or emphatic negation; prompt on concord]
[10e] Certain affirmative statements can also license negative polarity items, such as in the antecedent phase of this kind of sentence: “If you want any points at all, then you should say the right answer.”
ANSWER: conditional sentence
<S, Social Science>