Argues that WH-Movement in American Sign Language (ASL) is a leftward specifier of CP. Also argues that the occurrence of rightward WH-elements derives from independently motivated syntactic and discourse factors leading to the appearance of WH-elements in a sentence- or discourse-final positions--not by rightward WH-movement. This analysis…

Reviews "The Transition from Infancy to Language: Acquiring the Power of Expression" (L. Bloom). Underscores that Bloom's account of word learning represents an ethnographic, theoretic, and research approach that explores development by starting with the child, and looks at the many behaviors of the child and views these in relation to…

This article discusses preliminary research that found that more than 90 percent of sentences written by children or for children contain verbs from 1 of 13 verb semantic-syntactic subsets. A strategy for assessing a child's knowledge of verbs from each subset is described, along with an assessment protocol. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Syntactic priming studies demonstrate that exposure to a particular syntactic structure leads speakers to reproduce the same structure in subsequent utterances. Explanations for this phenomenon rely on either the retrieval of morphosyntactic features associated with the verb in the prime sentence or the preservation of the mapping between message…

An analysis of the use of the English particle "also" in discourse is presented. First, previous analyses of "also" and of related particles "even, only" are outlined and critiqued. It is argued that these analyses draw inadequate conclusions about the particles' usage patterns and meaning. A formulation of the…

The so-called deviant character of a set of non-native texts is examined by looking closely at how sentence syntax realizes and affects textual functions. Two broad groups of syntactic phenomena are considered: subordination and "marked structures," such as passives and clefts. Emphasis in this paper is on the following four ways in which syntax…

This paper describes and analyzes the complementation patter of Hausa aspectual verbs, examining some instances of aspectual verb complementation that have not been addressed in previous research. It attempts to show that, syntactically, the phenomenon of Control in this type of complementation exists in Hausa. It demonstrates that the…

Prepositions are usually presented as prepositions of time or place, and prepositions associated with certain verbs and adjectives. However, this type of presentation overlooks the bases for preposition usage and in turn fails to convey those bases to learners. An alternative approach to the analysis of prepositions from a notional perspective is…

This article discusses the difference between French and English constructions of motion and change of place, by contrasting French and English examples of such constructions. (CLK)

A deep structure underlying sentences with modal adverbs and verbs in English is discussed. Semantic and syntactic similarities are pointed out in support of a suggestion that both surface structures have a common deep structure source. Possible ways of dealing with modality in a generative grammar are presented. (Available from: See FL 508 214.)…

This article discusses two syntactic processes known as chaining and linkage, insofar as they are relevant to Chuave, a Papuan language spoken in the East New Guinea Highlands. These processes are discussed in relation to Chuave medial verbs. (CLK)

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)

This paper offers a functional explanation for the existence and for the special properties of movement rules in natural languages. The hypothesis is advanced that raising, lowering, and fronting rules all serve the function of increasing the prominence of objective content in surface structure. (CK)

Defines the difference between lexical and propositive nomination, and examines their interrelation. Clarification of syntactic problems allowed for by distinguishing nominative and communicative aspects of a sentence is discussed, and the relationship of semantic syntax to traditional syntactic theory is also discussed. (RM)

An explanation is offered of aspect in imperative verb forms and in certain infinitive verb forms in Russian. Three presuppositions or conditions of appropriateness are postulated and their correlation to the aspect of an imperative or infinitive form discussed. (RM)