Polarité négative et free choice dans les indéfinis de type que ce soit et n'importe

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In this paper, two series of French indefinite pronouns and determiners have been examined and compared. One series, the que ce soit type, covers all the distribution of negative polarity items far better than negative indefinite pronouns, but also the free-choice distribution, as any does in English. The other series, the n’importe type, is said to have only free-choice uses. We have compared the two sets of distributions and shown that negative polarity cannot be clearly distinguished from free choice: in both collocations, cases of universal and existential uses can be found. We have also established that the n’importe type is indeed possible in multiple polarity sensitive contexts, when not directly under the dependence of a negation. We conclude that the affinities between free-choice and negative polarity result from an extension of argumental selection on the complete set of reference in both cases, including virtual values. The key for both collocations is the absence of specification of individual items. The ability to employ the series n’importe in some real contexts is linked with a dissociation between the mental space of the selection and the mental space of a future (sometimes present) specification, dissociation which is not available with que ce soit (but is indeed available with any).