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Cognitive Constraints and Island Effects
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Hofmeister, Philip; Sag, Ivan A. – Language, 2010
Competence-based theories of island effects play a central role in generative grammar, yet the graded nature of many syntactic islands has never been properly accounted for. Categorical syntactic accounts of island effects have persisted in spite of a wealth of data suggesting that island effects are not categorical in nature and that…
Descriptors: Generative Grammar, Phrase Structure, Role, Syntax
Iconicity and Generative Grammar.
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Newmeyer, Frederick J. – Language, 1992
A theme running through much of the functionalist literature in linguistics is that grammatical structure often has an "iconic" motivation. Claims supporting this theme are discounted, and the implications are discussed of iconic relationships in language for the autonomy hypothesis and the evolution of language. (190 references)…
Descriptors: Generative Grammar, Generative Phonology, Linguistic Theory, Syntax
Why Can You "Have a Drink" When You Can't "*Have an Eat?"
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Wierzbicka, Anna – Language, 1982
Argues that sentences in the "have a V" frame are not idiosyncratic, but exhibit orderly and systematic behavior and are governed by strict semantic rules. Discusses 10 subtypes, each with a slightly different semantic formula. (EKN)
Descriptors: Deep Structure, Generative Grammar, Language Patterns, Language Research
Raising and Transparency.
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Langacker, Ronald W. – Language, 1995
An account of the phenomena that transformational syntax handled by means of "raising" is formulated in the context of cognitive grammar. Raising is analyzed as a special case of the metonymy that relational expressions exhibit in regard to their choice of overtly coded arguments. The transparency of these constructions is explained. (83…
Descriptors: Cognitive Structures, Linguistic Theory, Phrase Structure, Semantics
Contrast, Discourse Prominence, and Intensification, with Special Reference to Locally Free Reflexives in British English.
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Baker, C. L. – Language, 1995
Locally free reflexives in British English are analyzed as intensified nonnominative pronouns, subject to a contrastiveness requirement and a requirement that the character referred to be more central than other characters in the set. The extent to which discourse prominence marking can mimic locality marking may explain conversions of intensives…
Descriptors: Contrastive Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Foreign Countries, Form Classes (Languages)
A New Tool for Discourse Analysis: The Vocabulary-Management Profile.
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Youmans, Gilbert – Language, 1991
Proposes the Vocabulary-Management Profile, a tool for discourse analysis. The number of new words introduced in a moving interval of text 35 words long is counted and a curve created by plotting the number of new words in a successive interval at the midpoint of the interval. Analyses of text by George Orwell and James Joyce are presented. (JL)
Descriptors: Computational Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, English (Second Language), Generative Grammar
Syntactic Variation and Change in Progress: Loss of the Verbal Coda in Topic-Restricting as Far as Constructions.
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Rickford, John.; And Others – Language, 1995
This article examines the variable absence of the verb in "as far as" constructions, which serve as qualifiers or topic restrictors in English. (46 references) (Author/CK)
Descriptors: Comparative Analysis, Computational Linguistics, Diachronic Linguistics, Discourse Analysis