This article proposes a formal model of the human language faculty that accommodates the possibility of 'attrition' (modification or loss) of morphosyntactic properties in a first language. Modeling L1 grammatical attrition entails a quite fundamental paradox: if the structure of the language faculty in principle allows for attrition of…

There is significant variation in the literature on how demonstratives are characterized semantically, leading to divergent syntactic analyses of demonstratives. A major source of this disagreement regards how distance specifications relate to the demonstrative: whether [+/- speaker] is an integral property of the demonstrative or not. I argue…

Language attracts everyone on earth. That is because we have and use language. Although there are some minority languages that have limited expressions such as the lack of writing systems in "Aynu itak" and "Shona" languages, they can effectively express their emotion and thought with their languages. In addition, every human being can acquire…

This is the second supplement to "A Bibliography of Generative-Based Grammatical Analyses of Spanish." It includes all available materials that have appeared since February of 1975. This bibliography contains two general divisions: phonology and syntax/semantics. Information regarding the location of reviews and abstracts is included in most of…

There is a set of difficult Spanish grammar questions (ser-estar, preterite-imperfect, subjunctive-indicative, word order, and prepositions) in which the description of the semantic component is essential. Even though generative formulations treat them in differing ways, these questions possess the common characteristic of associating a form…

Three grammars that, since the 50's, have supplemented or offered alternatives to traditional grammar are discussed in this article. The role of grammar in communicative utterances and the underlying considerations in describing a grammatical system are analyzed. Then, brief summaries about and comments on structural linguistics, tagmemic grammar,…

The possible usefulness of computer poetry is concerned with what the programmer can learn about language, about poetry, and about poets. The problems in designing computer programs to construct poetry include considerations in generating well-formed sentences which have the added restrictions that poetry requires: meter, rhyme, logic, diction,…

The approaches of traditional grammar, descriptive linguistics, and generative grammar are largely complementary rather than exclusive. Traditional grammar defines eight parts of speech according to meaning or function and concerns itself almost wholely with the written language. Descriptive linguistics postulates that English has a set of unique…

This dissertation is an attempt to characterize the notion "exception to a rule of grammar" within the context of Chomsky's conception of grammar as given in "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax." This notion depends on a prior notion of "rule government"--in each phrase marker on which a transformational rule may…

TWO OF THE MAJOR GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS MUCH STUDIED BY MANDARIN GRAMMARIANS IN THE PAST DECADE ARE THE EXISTENCE OF PARTS OF SPEECH AND THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE IDENTIFICATION OF SUBJECT AND OBJECT IN SENTENCES. THE GOAL OF THIS STUDY IS TO DEAL WITH A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS IN CONNECTION WITH THE NOTIONS OF SUBJECT AND OBJECT IN MANDARIN CHINESE…

After outlining the structural linguistic approach to form classes in general and Spanish nouns and adjectives in particular, the author concludes that "nouns and adjectives in Spanish cannot be characterized in any satisfactory fashion by their occurrence in morphological or syntactic frames." The grammatical framework used for this study is "the…

This reference text of Tagalog grammar provides extensive description with illustrative examples of the language. Language classification and grammatical analysis are predicated on principles of transformational generative grammar. Seven categories of materials include: (1) pronunciation, (2) basic sentence structure, (3) nominals and their…

PRESENTED IN THIS PAPER IS A SIMPLIFIED DESCRIPTION OF AN ALGORITHM FOR TRANSFORMATIONAL ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH SENTENCES. IT IS NEITHER ASSUMED NOR IMPLIED IN THIS ALGORITHM THAT ANY KIND OF PRIOR ANALYSIS (EITHER STRING OR CONSTITUENT ANALYSIS) IS REQUIRED AS A PREREQUISITE. IN ORDER TO DEFINE THE SET OF ALL TRANSFORMS, THE AUTHORS FIRST DEFINE A…

Recommends introducting appropriate grammar instruction following pattern drill on various structures. Examples given (from French) are: partitive articles, certain perfect tense forms, and personal pronouns. This makes possible instruction entirely in the target language. For grammatical models, distributive structuralism and…