Proposes that NPs determined by the generic indefinite article represent abstract concepts and as such are not inherently different from indefinite NPs appearing in copulative predicates. (Author/RM)

A number of syntactic constructions claimed by linguists to be restricted to main clauses are shown to occur in a variety of subordinate clause types. It is shown that an adequate solution will involve a complex interaction of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic factors. (Author/RM)

A number of experimental tasks were conducted in which subjects were asked to interpret and create novel noun-noun compounds. Results indicate that semantic relationships that hold between members of these compounds cannot be characterized in terms of a finite list of appropriate compounding relationships. (CHK)

Data from a number of language (Slavic, Romance, Modern Greek) concerning predicate agreement with the polite plural (semantically singular, but plural in surface structure) suggest that more verb-like predicates tend to agree with the surface subject, while more noun-like predicates tend to agree with the underlying subject. (Author/KM)

Problems of number inconsistency are discussed which arise in Italian when singular distributive quantifiers float rightward off of subjects, leaving these subjects plural. (Author/RM)

Two aspects of definite and indefinite noun phrases in Spanish grammar are discussed here: specificity, marked by the mood of restrictive relative clauses, and existential import, deriving from the linguistic environment. Differences between referential and attributive descriptions are explained. (CK)

This paper offers a functional explanation for the existence and for the special properties of movement rules in natural languages. The hypothesis is advanced that raising, lowering, and fronting rules all serve the function of increasing the prominence of objective content in surface structure. (CK)

Work supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Harvard University and by the Language Research Foundation. Considers the properties and use of the word even'' in English. (VM)