Does 稀に have negative polarity?


In English, you have the following phenomenon:

> ○ I sometimes play jazz piano.
>
> ? I rarely play jazz piano.

That is, when you have a predicate that usually does not take place, you can
use "sometimes" with it, but "rarely" is weird without further context, like
"I play various styles of piano, but I rarely play jazz piano."

That is to say, "rarely" is not just specifying that the frequency you do the
action is very low, but that you are somehow doing it less than expected.

You can contrast this with ○"I play jazz piano every once in a blue moon",
which really just is saying you play jazz piano with a very low frequency.

Linguistically, I think this means "rarely" has a "negative polarity". As
supporting syntactic evidence, it licenses negative polarity items like "any":
○"I (never→)rarely see _any_ of them", vs ×"I (always→)sometimes see _any_ of
them".

Is 稀に negative like "rarely", or can you use it naturally with the following
sentence?

> ○たまにジャズピアノを弾きます。
>
> （○／？）稀にジャズピアノを弾きます。




No, I don't believe 稀に has negative polarity. I think 「稀にジャズピアノを弾きます」 sounds
more like "I do play jazz piano, although infrequently." than "I don't play
jazz really, except for rare occasions". Here are some examples.

> 私は同氏から稀に御手紙は頂戴しておりましたものの、御目にかかったのは前後にただ一度だけ  
>  _Although I occasionally/infrequently received letters from him, I saw him
> in person only once_  
>  ([寺田寅彦](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000042/files/24414_24584.html))
>
> 巴里(パリ)にては夏のさかりに夕立なし。 ... 紐育（ニューヨーク）にては稀に夕立ふることあり。  
>  _In Paris, we don't have showers in midsummer. ... In New York, there are
> infrequent showers._  
>  ([永井荷風](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001341/files/50288_37676.html))

「稀にしか…しない」 form, on the other hand, has the negative polarity. (If I
understand correctly, that is.)

> 名まで覚えてありがたがるほどの歌人は稀にしかいないものだ。稀にだっていればこんなありがたいことはない。  
>  _One only rarely encounters poets whose name deserves remembering. When one
> does, even rarely, it's a fortune_.  
>  ([北大路魯山人](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001403/files/49960_37760.html))
>
> これまで噂ばかりで稀にしか聴けなかった多くの仏蘭西系統の作品  
>  _Many French works, which I had often been told about but only rarely
> listened to_  
>  ([梶井基次郎](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000074/files/422_19700.html))

In high school, we are often advised to translate _rarely_ with explicit
negative clause, 「めったに…しない」.

> I rarely play jazz piano.  
>  「ジャズピアノはめったに弾きません．」




No, I don't believe 稀に has negative polarity. I think 「稀にジャズピアノを弾きます」 sounds
more like "I do play jazz piano, although infrequently." than "I don't play
jazz really, except for rare occasions". Here are some examples.

> 私は同氏から稀に御手紙は頂戴しておりましたものの、御目にかかったのは前後にただ一度だけ  
>  _Although I occasionally/infrequently received letters from him, I saw him
> in person only once_  
>  ([寺田寅彦](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000042/files/24414_24584.html))
>
> 巴里(パリ)にては夏のさかりに夕立なし。 ... 紐育（ニューヨーク）にては稀に夕立ふることあり。  
>  _In Paris, we don't have showers in midsummer. ... In New York, there are
> infrequent showers._  
>  ([永井荷風](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001341/files/50288_37676.html))

「稀にしか…しない」 form, on the other hand, has the negative polarity. (If I
understand correctly, that is.)

> 名まで覚えてありがたがるほどの歌人は稀にしかいないものだ。稀にだっていればこんなありがたいことはない。  
>  _One only rarely encounters poets whose name deserves remembering. When one
> does, even rarely, it's a fortune_.  
>  ([北大路魯山人](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001403/files/49960_37760.html))
>
> これまで噂ばかりで稀にしか聴けなかった多くの仏蘭西系統の作品  
>  _Many French works, which I had often been told about but only rarely
> listened to_  
>  ([梶井基次郎](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000074/files/422_19700.html))

In high school, we are often advised to translate _rarely_ with explicit
negative clause, 「めったに…しない」.

> I rarely play jazz piano.  
>  「ジャズピアノはめったに弾きません．」

