In order to study the complexity of sentence combining in college students, 32 students from five basic composition courses were asked to perform three writing tasks at three distinct times during the eight-week instructional period. Each student was asked to rewrite a passage of kernel sentences, to write a composition in the argumentative mode,…

In order to explore the effect of semantic organization on the comprehension of sentences, this research, based on the hypothesis that fully grammatical sentences would be processed more easily than anomalous sentences, depended on data provided by 20 paid college students serving in individual sessions. Each student listened to 30 tape-recorded…

This paper examines the question of whether two labels should be used for the units traditionally called "sentence" and "clause" or whether the same label should be used and the units distinguished in some other way. Proponents of a two-level analysis have traditionally argued that sentences and clauses can have different…

This paper proposes a set of hypotheses on the nature of interrogration as a possible language universal. Examples and phrase structure rules and diagrams are given. Examining Tamazight and English, genetically unrelated languages with almost no contact, the author distinguishes two types of interrogation: (1) general, querying acceptability to…

This installment of the series on the passive considers the subject and the object of the verb under the following headings: part of speech, circumstantial objects and the relationship between clauses and sentences. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

The author feels that although the problem of pronominalization and of reference in general is at the very heart of syntactic investigation, transformational grammarians are unable to deal adequately with these problems. He finds their theory of referential indices (Chomsky, "Aspects of the Theory of Syntax") "completely beyond…

Volume II of "Discourse, Paragraph, and Sentence Structure in Selected Philippine Languages" begins with an explanation of certain assumptions and postulates regarding sentence structure. A detailed treatment of systems of sentence structure and the parameters of such systems follows. Data in the various indigenous languages are…

This test was designed to measure awareness of the relationship existing between sentences that are similar in specific semantic content but different in syntactic structure. The test consists of twenty-five items of the three-option multiple-response type, with the stem of each item being a "pattern" sentence to be matched with one of the three…

This outline of Bengali grammar is presented in five major sections: (1) noun, (2) verb, (3) noun phrase, (4) verb phrase, and (5) the sentence. Linguistic examples frequently are provided in order to illustrate grammatical generalizations. (RL)

A summary of problems in the study of structural complexity. Within the framework of a "morphology of utterances," the following topics are addressed: the criteria of intuition and common sense; the relationship of complexity of language and thought; and the possibility of a purely linguistic measure of complexity. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

This manual attempts to establish a hierarchy or sequence within the study of syntax. It is to serve as a textbook, and has as its aim the discussion and explanation of the structure of the correct "properly formatted" sentence. The approach is to begin with "text" and gradually work down. This tendency to begin syntactic research with the global…