Competence-based theories of island effects play a central role in generative grammar, yet the graded nature of many syntactic islands has never been properly accounted for. Categorical syntactic accounts of island effects have persisted in spite of a wealth of data suggesting that island effects are not categorical in nature and that…

This paper demonstrates that a formalization of the content of X-bar theory reveals very little substance in its claims. Six conditions that encapsulate X-bar theory are discussed: lexicality, succession, uniformity, maximality, centrality, and optionality. (50 references) (JL)

An empirical study of word order correlations, based on a sample of 625 languages, determined exactly what pairs of elements correlate in order with the verb and object. An alternative to the Head-Dependent Theory is presented: the Branching Direction Theory, based on consistent ordering of phrasal and nonphrasal elements. (85 references)…

Proposes that the theory of focus not only accounts for the definiteness restriction with respect to material extraposed from the noun phrase, but also contributes crucially to an explanation for the variable acceptability of sentences containing extractions from extraposed prepositional phrases. (58 references) (JL)

Four lexical features of a noun are relevant to agreement: semantic conditions on reference; person, number, and gender features of the referential index; concord features; and declension class. These features are correlated by a chain of binary constraints. Patterns of mixed agreement result from individual violations to the constraints. Three…

Presents a theory of feature representation that accounts for feature indeterminacy and feature resolution within the lexical functional grammar (LFG) framework. The representations discussed, together with minimal extensions of LFG's description language, enable a simple and intuitive characterization of both these phenomena. (Author/VWL)

It is proposed that syntactic processes (rules and constraints) may have a semantic basis. Evidence is presented that the constraint against backward pronominalization with indefinite antecedents derives from the semantic properties of various classes of definite noun phrases. (CK)

Explains the Greenbergian universals of modifier and adposition ordering as accidental side effects of diachronic derivation. An argument is made that disparate diachronic processes can conspire to give the effect of synchronic universals. For example, the ordering of modifiers may result from their generation by means of binding anaphor strategy.…

Deals with certain problems inherent in deriving anaphoric pronouns from bound variables. Syntactic rules applied to determine anaphora relations cannot be applied if anaphoric pronouns and their antecedents have identical underlying forms. An approach to anaphora which preserves some advantages of the bound-variable theory without the problems is…

An account of the phenomena that transformational syntax handled by means of "raising" is formulated in the context of cognitive grammar. Raising is analyzed as a special case of the metonymy that relational expressions exhibit in regard to their choice of overtly coded arguments. The transparency of these constructions is explained. (83…

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)

The assumption that the active/passive relation is structural in nature and therefore best expressed by a transformation is debated. The relation can be captured in the lexicon without a passive transformation. An interpretive rule is proposed to handle the problem. Passives are shown as generated by phrase structure rules. (SC)

It is argued here that English contains a distinct class of relative clauses called amount relatives. On the surface, these are much like restrictive relative clauses, but they have a syntax and semantics that align them more with comparatives than with restrictive relatives. (Author/KM)

Paper presented at the 1972 Summer Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Chapel Hill, N.C. (DD)