Discusses the possessive constructions in English, in particular, the postponed construction. (An example of the postponed construction is "a book of John's," contrasted with "John's book," the preposed construction.) The study contrasts the possessive "of" with the "of" in other constructions and concludes…

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)

Refutes the theory that indirect requests are ambiguous. Arguments for it are examined and an attempt is made to expose the weaknesses in the kinds of tests generally used to detect "illocutionary" ambiguity. An alternative analysis in the framework of semantics and the pragmatics of directive speech acts is suggested. (AMH)

Reviews the comments of Goldsmith on Firthian Prosodic Analysis (FPA) and its relationship with Autosegmental Phonology (AP). It is argued that AP has maintained the insights of FP while providing additional analytic possibilities. The authors examine Goldsmith's misinterpretations and clarifies the characteristics of FPA. (94 references) (CK)

Examines the idea of a mismatch between grammaticality and acceptability. Evidence is used to refute the claim that ungrammatical but acceptable sentences are theoretically plausible in the case of the sentence, "A not unhappy person entered the room." (AMH)