Understanding how native speakers acquire the phonological patterns in their language is a key task for the field of phonology. Numerous studies have suggested that phonological learning is a biased process: certain phonological patterns are easily accessed and learned by the speakers, while others show acquisition difficulties. These differences…

The visual-manual modality of sign languages renders them a unique test case for language acquisition and processing theories. In this commentary the authors describe evidence from signed languages, and ask whether it is consistent with Ambridge's proposal. The evidence includes recent research on collocations in American Sign Language that reveal…

We examine metonymy at psycho- and neurolinguistic levels, seeking to adjudicate between two possible processing implementations (one- vs. two-mechanism). We compare highly conventionalized "systematic metonymy" (producer-for-product: "All freshmen read 'O'Connell'") to lesser-conventionalized "circumstantial…

Current models of idiom representation and processing differ with respect to the role of literal processing during the interpretation of idiomatic expressions. Word-like models (Bobrow & Bell, 1973; Swinney & Cutler, 1979) propose that idiomatic meaning can be accessed directly, whereas structural models (Cacciari & Tabossi, 1988;…

Word order is one of the earliest aspects of grammar that the child acquires, because her early utterances already respect the basic word order of the target language. However, the question of the nature of early syntactic representations is subject to debate. Approaches inspired by formal syntax assume that the head-complement order,…

Muysken argues for four general "strategies" that characterize language contact phenomena across several levels of description. These strategies are (A) maximize structural coherence of the first language (L1); (B) maximize structural coherence of the second language (L2); (C) match between L1 and L2 patterns where possible; and (D) use…

Lexical semantics is the field of cognitive science which attempts to explain how speakers learn to use and accept sentences like "She filled the glass with water" but avoid and reject sentences like "She poured the glass with water," often with poor or impoverished evidence. In order to explain why some verbs alternate in…

This paper argues that we are moving toward a more experimental approach to language, one which is characterized less by introspective judgments and more by empirical evidence. The first section of the paper is a general discussion of the directions linguistic theories are taking. The second section discusses some of the fundamental problems…

This article discusses sentence structure and sentence production as an integral process that reflects the given situation as perceived by the speaker, and not merely as a grammatical combination of words. The role of predicativity in sentence production is outlined. (CLK)

Experimentally manipulated differences in mental state can systematically alter the linguistic intuitions which speakers render about acceptability of sentences. The processes underlying intuitions must be taken into consideration when they are used as empirical data to test grammatical theories. A theory of introspection must be part of the…

The author presents this monograph as essentially a "prise de position" with regard to certain of the central questions in current debates over the nature of human linguistic systems and techniques of analyzing and describing them. While it is presumed that the reader is already acquainted with the issues being debated in linguistics in the…

To determine what psycholinguistic evidence (or external evidence) such as slips of the tongue, monosyllabic word blends, and novel word games reveals about syllable structure, this study focused on psycholinguistic research on the English and German syllable. English and German provide a good testing ground for evaluation of external evidence…

A discussion of how a Briton's educational level, social class, sex and age all go to determine the degree of linguistic difficulty he finds acceptable in reading matter; and how these determinants of acceptability relate to readability as measured by word and sentence lengths. (Author)

This article questions the validity of a mathematical theory of communication as applied to the study of language. The main argument is that the linguist must consider the vertical ordering of elements as well as the linear quality of language. (Text is in French.) (AM)

This article discusses communication as a subject of psycholinguistic study, with reference to amnesiacal aphasia. The aphasic's problem is presented as a rupture of the communicative act, on the linguistic as well as on the extra-linguistic level. (Text is in French.) (AM)