Argues that Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) languages exhibit properties that are consistent with the typology of Lehmann and Venneman in which the basic dichotomy is between Object-Verb and Verb-Object languages and that there is no reason to believe that there are fewer exceptionless generalizations to be made about SVO languages than there are about…

Presents an original description of the psychological processes involved in producing speech. (AM)

Examines some of the early uses of instrumental nouns unaccompanied by prepositions and considers the various meanings they conveyed, in order to show the kinds of changes they have undergone. A number of nominal forms have been adverbialized, and some have been replaced by prepositional phrases or other grammatical constructions. (SL)

Reports on an experiment in native speaker judgement of acceptability, designed to test the acceptability of variations on the time-manner-place order in German adverbs. Implications for teaching German are drawn. (AM)

It is contended that there are such things as discourse blocs, and that they are composed of discourse units glued together into a contextuated whole by bloc signals. There are three kinds of structures with which it is necessary to deal in order to discuss coherent discourse: the discourse bloc, the discourse unit, and the bloc signal.…

Literary Yiddish shows a high frequency of declarative sentences with the subject present and the verb in sentence-initial position, the so-called consecutive order. This construction was analyzed in one collection of 17 short narratives and with reference to a hypothesis of German grammarians regarding a similar structure in German. In this…

Examines sentence matching, a methodology frequently used in the second language literature to determine notions of grammaticality of nonnative speakers. Native speakers of French and second language learners of French performed a sentence-matching task focusing on three areas of French grammar: adverb placement, subject-verb agreement, and…

An analysis that seems adequate for simple constructions in a language may prove inadequate when more complex constructions are considered. A previous analysis of antipassive in Eskimo, attempting to refute two basic assumptions of relational grammar, becomes burdensome when its implications for a comprehensive analysis of all clause types are…

A framework is formulated to explain the context and content sensitivity involved in the meaning of utterances of sentences containing a modal auxiliary. It is argued that the English language is based in a relatively simple, well-structured semantic system, yet it is used on a highly complex world of communication. (Contains 39 references.) (LB)

The partitive genitive and other types of genitive are examined to show that despite Latin's rigid, well-defined case system, irregularities in the functioning of the system occur. This allows the system to maximize structural characteristics to offset potential ambiguities. (PMJ)

The author responds to issues raised in comments about a previous article, and defends his position of discussing Firthian insights from a generative point of view. (11 references) (CK)

Li's work, which expands the government binding (GB) literature on Chinese linguistics and contributes to understanding constituency and word order, is described. Important issues are noted, empirical or theory-neutral criticisms of Li's accounts are raised, and alternative solutions are offered. (21 references) (LB)

A study investigated the importance of sentence topic in written discourse. Training second language writers to identify sentence topics in drafts of their written work has been proposed as a central means of helping writers achieve greater coherence. The study explored the notion that "topic" is a psychological rather than linguistic concept, and…

Outlines how the current work in linguistics and psychology can be joined with rhetoric in the study of cohesion and suggests the ways in which this synthesis leads to both a literary and philosophical sense of form and a practical pedagogy for teachers. (MM)

Reports four experiments examining subject-verb agreement errors in Spanish and English. Discusses cross-linguistic differences within the framework of the computational model of grammatical encoding proposed by Kempen and Hoenkamp. Suggests that languages differ in the extent to which the selection of the verb is controlled by features on the…