A phrase-structural analysis of preverbal word orders in three Mayan languages (Tzotzil, Jakaltek, Tz'utujil) is presented. At the heart of the analysis is an account of intonational phrasing and the distribution of several intonational phrase clitics in Tzotzil and Jakaltek. (70 references) (Author/LB)

Explores markedness of languages and language change in relation to their roles in the consistency of language. Concludes typology provides no explanations in itself, but rather through data which need explanations and form a testing ground for linguistic theories. (Author/BK)

Offers a method for using structural analysis of literature, specifically, students discussed both structure and content within the context of four short stories, thus enriching their understanding of each by way of contrast. (SRT)

Considers the results of an analysis of "creative" alternative names for the New York Exposition and Conference Center, which were collected in a newspaper contest. When comparing these results with those of a prior analysis of "practical" computer file names, it appears that the principles governing naming are analogous in…

Comanche's mutation system, at first glance a relatively simple one, poses the following problems of analysis for both: (1) the variation in phonological substance manifested by the mutating segments themselves; and (2) the larger contextual pattern within which this mutation takes place. Comanche appears to exhibit a slightly skewed but typical…

A discussion of possessives, determiners, and modifiers covers the following topics: nonuniformity of nouns, distributional differences between demonstratives and definitive articles, and German possessives and the determiner-modifier continuum. (Contains eight references.) (LB)

The structure of any and all written discourse can be described using four basic relationships (those implied by "therefore,""but,""and then," and "and") and three combined relations between sentences and clusters of sentences. (DD)

Noam Chomsky proposed that when children learn a language they do not learn to imitate given sentences; rather, they learn rules by which an infinite number of sentences can be produced and understood. This essay discusses the impact which this has had on the way educators view language and learning. (KC)

The structural linguist's techniques for measuring stress, juncture, and gradations of pitch permit a closer study of a poem's movement than conventional scansion allows. (RL)

A preliminary investigation was conducted to determine the extent of linguistic borrowing in Chicano literature. The findings indicate the use of loanwords, loanblends, and loanshifts, but no examples of hybrid creation and grammatical borrowing. The use of loans correlates with characters marked by negative social qualities, which expresses a…

Examines Pierre Bourdieu's basic theory on language and criticisms of structuralism, transformational grammar, and the speech act theory as they appear in Language and Symbolic Power. Bourdieu's theories are applied to the colonial and postcolonial language situation in Nigeria. (JP)

Examines issues raised by corpus linguistics concerning the description of language. The article argues that it is necessary to start from correct descriptions of linguistic units and the contexts in which they occur. Corpus linguistics has joined with language teaching by sharing a recognition of the importance of a larger, schematic view of…

Grosjean and Gee's prosodic structure theory is applied to second-language listening comprehension. It is argued that second-language students whose native language is syllable-timed do not have a mechanism to deal with unstressed syllables and must create one. The absences of this mechanism helps explain difficulties in listening comprehension.…

Stylistics, the art of making effective choices in writing, depends on synonymy. This means that writers, depending on the purpose, the audience, and the context of their messages, will rephrase those messages to improve their effectiveness. Paraphrasing messages to fit the needs of particular situations depends on a number of stylistic variables…

Focuses on several myths and fallacies prevalent in the field of French grammar. The importance of keeping up-to-date with language and grammatical usage is stressed, since the rules of language do change. Thus, the validity of the linguistic content of French grammar books must be questioned, so that any outmoded or invalid concepts can be…