David Lightfoot's "How to Set Parameters: Arguments from Language Change" (1991), which adopts the principles and parameters approach developed by Chomsky as part of the theory of government and binding, is reviewed. (Contains 34 references.) (LB)

Revised version of a paper presented at the Spring Meeting of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, York, April 1971. (DD)

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)

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)