polarity (n.)

A term used by some LINGUISTS for the SYSTEM of POSITIVE/ NEGATIVE CONTRASTIVITY found in a LANGUAGE. The distinction between ‘positive’ and ‘negative polarity’ may be expressed SYNTACTICALLY (e.g. not in English), MORPHOLOGICALLY (e.g. happy v. unhappy) or LEXICALLY (e.g. high v. low).

A term sometimes used in the study of TONE languages, referring to cases where a tone is always opposite that of a preceding or following tone (tonal polarity).