The issue of data and evidence plays a crucial role in science. What counts as evidence within a theoretical framework is one of the central problems in contemporary linguistics. Although recent publications have focused on this methodological question and highlighted the relevance of different types of data, a fundamental aspect has been ignored:…

A significant problem in computational language learning is that of inferring the content of well-formedness constraints from input data. In this article, we approach the constraint induction problem as the gradual adjustment of subsymbolic constraints in a connectionist network. In particular, we develop a multi-layer feed-forward network that…

Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG), as a theory of the organization of natural languages, seeks to attain pragmatic, typological and cognitive adequacy. The attempt to achieve cognitive adequacy has been fraught with problems stemming from the vagueness of the concept and the difficulty of adapting to trends in psycholinguistics. Specifically,…

The general goal of the present paper is to demonstrate how cross-linguistic (contrastive) data can broaden the perspective in cognitive linguistic research on metonymy, which may raise a host of questions calling for a revision of some widely accepted views. A more specific, methodological goal is to show how the introspection-driven research and…

This paper examines Roy Harris' discussion of number and the language of science in his book "History, Science and the Limits of Language" in light of recent work in cognitive linguistics. While many of his points are valid, linguistic theory has since addressed some of these concerns by formulating usage-based, cognitive frameworks to explore and…

Numerous studies conducted in both the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic fields have established that the parents' socio-economic status (SES) influences several aspects of children's language production. Moreover, a number of psycholinguistic studies strongly suggest that these differences are due in part to differences in the nature and the…

This paper discusses the role played by cognition in three linguistic theories which may be labelled as "structural-functional": Functional (Discourse) Grammar, Role and Reference Grammar and Systemic Functional Grammar. It argues that if we are to achieve true cognitive adequacy, we must go well beyond the grammar itself to include the processes…

Previous studies have shown a correlation between working memory (WM) and syntactic complexity (variously defined) in language comprehension. The present study investigates this relationship in spontaneous language production, proposing a novel metric, informed by language development and disorders, where complexity is construed in terms of those…

Explores the processing implications of bi-scriptalism. (EKN)

Critical evaluation of Schlesinger's theory of language acquisition as expounded in Production of Utterances and Language Acquisition'' in The Ontogenesis of Grammar'', p63-101, New York: Academic Press, 1971. (RS)

Examines the claim that transformational rules are psychologically real, and applies this claim to all aspects of transformational grammar. (AM)

Studies are reported which support the hypothesis that there is a "critical period" for the complete and natural acquisition of language extending from about age two to puberty, and which indicate that the critical period is also relevant for dialect learning. (Author/RM)

Informal language learning is defined as learning assimilated without the pupil's awareness. (LG)

Reports on a study which explored the intonational differences between constant plus variable utterances and variable plus variable utterances, and which sought to use intonation to resolve the lexical additive vs syntactic representation of beginning productions. (AM)

Clinical semiotics is defined and discussed as the discipline having to do with the interrelation between specifically human methods of communicating and processing information and specifically human psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders. (Author/RM)