Craig,
You're right that "last" is not a negative polarity item. In this example, "ever" is the negative polarity item. Many negative polarity items occur in irrealis contexts as well, as Bruce pointed out, and it's the "will" that provides the irrealis context in the sentence we're talking about. I got the function of "last" wrong.
"Last," however, behaves like the superlative it is, arising historically from OE "latost." "Last" and "latest" are a doublet in modern English and "latest" developed in the 15th c. We can say, for example, "She was one of the two last people to see him alive" or, as in the film title, "The Last Man on Earth." These are both places where an number word cannot occur. We can get "the second last man on earth" but not "the last second man on earth." This suggests that "last" is an adjective. Semantically it overlaps with ordinals and also can as an ordinal, just as nouns can function as other lexical categories.
Herb
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2010 7:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Independent clause or noun phrase
I would classify "last" as an ordinal numeral: first, second, third...last. Different grammars differ in where they draw the lines for the determiners, but ordinal numbers are often in that group (sometimes called postdeterminers since they come after the core determiners like "a," "the," "this," "his" and so on). It has an identifying function. The one we are talking about (the one in
reference) is the last one.
I don't think it has negative polarity, just the sense that in the continuing list of "grill brushes" this is the final one. You can negate it: this is not the last grill brush you will ever need."
Maybe "ever" doesn't extend as much as never because "forever" is an option (whereas "fornever" is not). "You will need the grill brush forever."
Craig>
The last grill brush you will ever need.
>
> Is this a sentence at all? To assume an understood "This is" or "It
> is" won't account for it as they have very different meaning possible
> references. One almost demands that the brush be in the vicinity for
> reference. The other might well reference a brush that has yet to be
> created.
>
> I'd take "ever" as a simple adverb with the caveat that it must
> precede the verb it modifies. Perhaps it also needs something such as
> "will" in front of it.
>
> The understood "that" not stated in the clause is a relative pronoun
> that serves as the direct object of "will need."
>
> Is "last" anything more than a simple adjective? Does it function any
> differently than, say, "ultimate"?
>
> tj
>
>
>
> On Thursday 12/23/2010 at 7:45 am, Scott Lavitt wrote:
>> Happy holidays all.
>>
>> I've been a member of this listserve for years and occasionally seek
>> your collective opinion. Question: how does one parse the following?:
>>
>> The last grill brush you will ever need.
>>
>> I could see this as an independent clause, with "you" as the subj.
>> and "The last grill brush" as the DO, but that doesn't seem right.
>> Seems there is an implied "It is," making the above a noun phrase,
>> and therefore not an independent clause. Thoughts?
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Scott Lavitt
>>
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