Gives some examples of internal contradictions in the use of the Spanish subjunctive. Details these contradictions to show there is only a tenuous relationship between surface forms and semantic features and categories. (EKN)

Using framework of prototype semantics, TE-constructions (type of verbal construct in Japanese), are categorized according to underlying metaphors and related to central TE-construction in which K- 1K- indicate both motion and direction in physical space. Through descriptions, discussions, and examples, it is demonstrated that no adequate…

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)

Expands and develops the theory of "ser" and "estar" with predicate adjectives which was first presented in "Hispania" in May 1983. This theory holds that the selection of "ser" or "estar" in constructions with predicate adjectives expresses different types of implied comparisons. (SED)

Working within the natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) framework of Anna Wierzbicka, this study proposes reductive paraphrase explications for a range of first-person pronominal meanings. It is argued that NSM explications are preferable to conventional feature analysis because they are less subject to charges of arbitrariness and obscurity and…

This paper discusses the type of marking rule normally used in the production and interpretation of message forms for which semantic marking is possible. The structure and use of such rules is illustrated through a recent study of the semantics of personal address among the Balangingi' Samal, a Muslim group of the southern Philippines. The rule…

Criteria for defining individual members of the preposition word class are set forth. Arguments are presented against calling prepositions meaningless, yet it is conceded and explained that those which occur in wider contexts are vaguer due to their greater variability. The unitary, polysemous, and/or homonymous nature of prepositions are…

This research examines how semantic information influences syntactic parsing decisions during sentence processing. In the first experiment, subjects were presented lexical strings having syntactically identical surface structures but with two possible underlying structures: "The children taught by the Berlitz method," and "The…

Two experiments on unaided and cued recall of sentences presented in context to college students are reported in this study. Key nouns in the sentences were arranged to have uniform surface functions, but to vary independently in deep syntactic category and semantic function. Cued recall for sentences in which the semantic function of actor and…

Suggests that cumulative dynamic analysis of the semantic structure of the incoming message is subconsciously performed by interpreters. (Author/RL)

Translation may be compared to a cable composed of many simultaneous strands of transfer. In translation, there is replacement which involves general hierarchical organization, grammatical constructions and constituents, mapping of deep onto surface structures, classes, ordering, lexicon, phonology, concordance, points of ambiguity, and…

It was found that those who read English as a second language (ESL), like L1 individuals, use their knowledge of the world and contribute to information found in the text. However, ESL readers' contributions to the text may be marred by language interference, lack of background knowledge, faulty inferencing, and certain data- and…

The question of whether word meanings have internal structure identical in kind to the syntax of sentences is examined. Evidence is sought for the structural aspects of word meaning and the issue of whether judgements of similarity between words is based on meaning content or on meaning structure is raised. Four hypotheses were tested: (1)…

An analytic sketch of motion/location in more primitive spatio-temporal terms is presented. The earlier account (ED 096 825), showing various languages' most characteristic pattern for deriving a putatively-universal underlying representation of motion and location, is continued. The English pattern is characterized further (amplified by data from…

In early transformational generative grammar, it was assumed that all semantic interpretation would be done off deep structure, but with the proposals for the extended standard theory (EST) of Chomsky (1968, 1972) came the realization that certain aspects of semantic interpretation, such as focus and presuppostion and scope of quantifiers, must be…